#still can't really exercise cause of chronic illness tho oops

[elfrooot]

I read somewhere that the brain makes more dopamine at night time.

One of the problems caused by ADHD is that dopamine doesn't bind to reward receptors well. For neurotypical brains, task = dopamine reward. For ADHD brain task = not enough dopamine reward = a ton of extra mental effort = overwhelm and exhaustion from sustained mental effort.

I haven't actually found a source on the brain producing more dopamine at night, but it follows that more dopamine at night = more productivity.

It's essentially the same thing that causes addictive behaviours towards both substances that give easy dopamine, and things like video games and infinite scrolling.

So many of the symptoms of ADHD are essentially our brains screaming WHERE THE FUCK IS MY DOPAMINE REWARD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Amphetamines like Dexadrine ect. are really the only thing that will help with this, as far as I know. There are things you can do to try and up your dopamine baseline, but those things can be near impossible for people with unmedicated ADHD, and without the meds the dopamine still won't bind well.

For example, exercise can increase your dopamine baseline, if you're able to do it safely. Before going on my ADHD meds I'd never experienced a "Runners High", exercise just left me exhausted and pissed off.

Interestingly, people with bipolar have similar symptoms, and the neurological disorders are often misdiagnosed as each other. But, as I understand it, the underlying cause of the symptoms in bipolar are to do with the brain releasing too much dopamine at once?

ADHD at night: I could write a book. I could get my Master’s Degree. I could go to the club and come home with 12 new friends. I could get a job at that club and meet the mother of my children. I could cure every disease and use my wealth to bring world peace.

ADHD during the day: Fold laundry too hard :( Come back next week