#i hate it when people use the phrase societal adhd because i have adhd and its not the same

[tipytap]

love how we went “look we have these amazing devices that connect everyone to all the knowledge in the world!” and companies went “what if i took that and irreversibly damaged an entire generation’s brain chemistry”

[wiltedeyesandtwistedlies]

What is ADHD?

ADHD stands for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. It’s named after it’s two most common symptoms, and some people really hate that.

Causes:

While no one has been able to find a direct cause, it does run in families. If you have ADHD and have a child, there’s a roughly 70% chance that child also has ADHD. Likewise, you can have no history of it in your family, and still have ADHD, it’s just very unlikely. (It is most likely your family members went undiagnosed and you were just the first to be diagnosed.) 

Being exposed as a child to toxins like lead may also be a cause. So might having certain illnesses like meningitis. Poor nutrition or substance abuse during pregnancy is also linked to causing ADHD.

All of these “causes” aren’t direct causes. They increase the chances, yes, but don’t garuntee you’ll have ADHD because of them. You could have all these possible causes, and still not have ADHD.

So what exactly is ADHD?

It is a neurodivergency (biological change in the brain) that disrupts our executive functions.

Executive Functions = a group of advanced thinking skills that basically run the rest of our brain.

Executive functions are what make a person able to:

stay focused

plan ahead

organize

resist temptations

stop something once they start

regulate their emotions

and be mentally flexible.

So people with ADHD have Executive Dysfunctions instead. And can struggle with any or all of the symptoms above. This is what links all types of ADHD. 

Executive dysfunction is what causes ADHDers to be unable to do simple tasks. By that I mean physically incapable of completing certain tasks. For example, say you need to fill out a form to bring to your bank. It’s a simple form you already have printed out and have your pen poised over the first blank line. You understand the question being asked, you know what you would answer, but you can’t bring your pen to touch the paper. Your arm won’t move. Your brain is blocking you from completing this task. It won’t let you continue and would rather think about ANYTHING else. So instead you’ve cleaned your whole apartment, donated to Goodwill, signed up for a dog daycare program you just read about, and went on a hike to avoid this simple form that just wants to verify your name and new address. (better example)

Executive dysfunction is also what causes ADHDers to hyperfixate. As said above, executive functions control the brain’s ability to focus. In the previous example I showed how executive dysfunctions can block you from focusing on even simple things. The flip side to that is how ADHD makes you focus way to much on one particular thing, whether you want to or not. When you hyperfocus, that hyperfixation is all you can think about. You can’t give attention to anything else. If it doesn’t involve your hyperfixation, your brain won’t spare it a second thought and will force you to ignore and forget everything else. You don’t even have to like your hyperfixation. It could be an uncomfortable subject or one that makes you very sad or angry, but you can’t stop thinking about it. 

Issues like these are what leads to the belief that people with ADHD are extremely lazy and always procrastinate. This is a false presumption and one of many reasons why going undiagnosed is so traumatizing. It is an uncontrollable biological thing your brain does that cannot be stopped and trying to do so can make it much worse. You can do things to strengthen your executive functions, but you can never change the physical makeup of your brain. 

Types of ADHD:

There are three types of ADHD. The differences are only in the way ADHD is presented/what symptoms are shown.

Primarily hyperactive-impulsive type

Primarily inattentive type

Primarily combined type

Originally, the hyperactive-impulsive type was the only one to be diagnosed. It was also thought that only young boys could have ADHD, and that they grew out of it as soon as they became an adult. Pretty recently it was found that girls could have ADHD too, not just boys. Even more recently doctors realized most kids with ADHD did not grow out of it, that it just changed how it was presented when they got older.

This is largely because the inattentive type went unnoticed for a long time. More info on a probable reason why can be found here.

Primarily hyperactive-impulsive type:

People with this type are often described “as if driven by a motor” and have very little impulse control. They are always moving, squirming, and talking even in the most inappropriate settings and situations. They are very impatient, impulsive, and often interrupt others. It is not something they can control and are often frustrated with themselves for this behavior.

Primarily inattentive type:

Previously called ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder, this type mostly shows symptoms involving the ability to pay attention. People with this type have an extremely hard time focusing and have very short attention spans. They often “space out” and no matter how much they want to pay attention, have difficulty staying focused. 

This type is most common in adults and women. Often, children with hyperactive-impulsive type grow up and start to experience mostly inattentive symptoms, leading to the assumption they have out grown their ADHD entirely.  

Primarily combined type:

People with this type have a combination of ADHD symptoms that cannot be put solely in either hyperactive-impulsive or inattentive categories. 

Some terms that pop up a lot: 

There are a lot of words and phrases that are used when discussing ADHD that not everyone knows. A lot of the time, we assume everyone reading our posts already know what these terms mean and don’t explain. That can be very confusing to people who don’t already know. I’ve already explained many of them, but there are still a few common ones I didn’t define yet. So here are some terms and their meanings that will be useful to know when reading ADHD resources:

Neurotypical = a “typical” brain, one that isn’t neurodivergent. Depending on context, can be used to describe a person, a type of brain, social groups, and societal practices

Neurodivergency = the difference in a brain’s development or current state compared to a typical brain (ADHD, autism, OCD, and many more are all examples)

Neurodivergent = used to describe a person who has a neurodivergency, a person who’s brain has developed into a state that is different from a typical brain

Extra info:

There are many other things (such as RSD and time blindness) that can accompany ADHD. I don’t know if all people with ADHD experience them, but I do know they are very common. This post is already a lot so I’m going to make a separate post about them and link it here.