Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett

which is not a good thing, okay? It means that you're assuming that there's some kind of underlying unchanging essence, which is responsible for, in fact, there is something called psychological essentialism where you don't even know what the essence is. You just assume it's there and that it's the cause of all these symptoms. But a diagnosis is just a description of symptoms.

which is not a good thing, okay? It means that you're assuming that there's some kind of underlying unchanging essence, which is responsible for, in fact, there is something called psychological essentialism where you don't even know what the essence is. You just assume it's there and that it's the cause of all these symptoms. But a diagnosis is just a description of symptoms.

And diagnoses are mostly useful for billing, right? hours of treatment. They're not optimized for describing pockets of behavior or collections of behavior that tend to go together.

And diagnoses are mostly useful for billing, right? hours of treatment. They're not optimized for describing pockets of behavior or collections of behavior that tend to go together.

So there are multiple serotonin receptors. There are multiple dopamine receptors. They don't all do the same thing. Serotonin doesn't do one thing. Dopamine doesn't do one thing. It does different things in different places in the body and the brain, depending on what the receptors are. And also, every resource of resilience and every symptom of difficulty has a context to it.

So there are multiple serotonin receptors. There are multiple dopamine receptors. They don't all do the same thing. Serotonin doesn't do one thing. Dopamine doesn't do one thing. It does different things in different places in the body and the brain, depending on what the receptors are. And also, every resource of resilience and every symptom of difficulty has a context to it.

There are requirements, the way our society is structured, there are requirements for sitting and paying attention to something for long periods of time. And that requirement is hidden in the background. It's there so frequently that we forget that that's the condition upon which diagnoses are made. First of all, ADHD is not one set of symptoms. It's a variety.

There are requirements, the way our society is structured, there are requirements for sitting and paying attention to something for long periods of time. And that requirement is hidden in the background. It's there so frequently that we forget that that's the condition upon which diagnoses are made. First of all, ADHD is not one set of symptoms. It's a variety.

There's a lot of variation in the way that you can have different symptom profiles and have the same diagnosis because it's just descriptive and there are lots of symptoms. Some of those symptoms also occur and they overlap with other syndromes, other diagnostic clusters. But the point is that they all... When you diagnose someone, it makes it sound like that's a property of that person.

There's a lot of variation in the way that you can have different symptom profiles and have the same diagnosis because it's just descriptive and there are lots of symptoms. Some of those symptoms also occur and they overlap with other syndromes, other diagnostic clusters. But the point is that they all... When you diagnose someone, it makes it sound like that's a property of that person.

But it's not. It's a property of a person in the context that they're in.

But it's not. It's a property of a person in the context that they're in.

Well, right. And the way that school is organized is you sit for long periods of time. Well, it may be that there are other circumstances in which not holding your attention on one thing for a long period of time could be advantageous. My point is that there are very few things that are just categorically good or categorically bad. There's always a hidden condition.

Well, right. And the way that school is organized is you sit for long periods of time. Well, it may be that there are other circumstances in which not holding your attention on one thing for a long period of time could be advantageous. My point is that there are very few things that are just categorically good or categorically bad. There's always a hidden condition.

There's always a hidden context. And so I think it's really important to foreground that context.

There's always a hidden context. And so I think it's really important to foreground that context.

It's not productive for that context. And that may sound like weasel words or it may say, you know, but it's not because it's important that... And competencies are by context. And again, I would say this is not, you know, me being a bleeding heart, you know, progressive or whatever. I mean, I am a bleeding heart progressive, but this is not an example of that.

It's not productive for that context. And that may sound like weasel words or it may say, you know, but it's not because it's important that... And competencies are by context. And again, I would say this is not, you know, me being a bleeding heart, you know, progressive or whatever. I mean, I am a bleeding heart progressive, but this is not an example of that.

This is an example of me being pragmatic.

This is an example of me being pragmatic.