Most people have a couple of these but it isnt to the point where they cant function. ADHD is the point where it does.
An ADHD brain is essentially interest driven. It isnt so much a lack of attention and focus but missapplied attention and focus. The reason for this is thought to be a chemical imbalance of dopamine and norepinephrine. Dopamine is tied to motivation and norepinephrine is essentially the fight or flight neurotransmitter. This is why people with ADHD tend to have little issue focusing on a fun task or a task that is urgent and induces considerable stress. The former raises levels of dopamine and the latter norepinephrine. It is also why the first line drug treatments involve stimulents which help normalize both of these.
If the behaviors that you see in yourself are causing distress, you may want to ask your doctor/mental health provider to be assessed. That said, I would keep in mind that it is usually not cheap and if that is a significant barrier for you, look for pay as you can mental health providers in your area if they exist
The bit about having difficulty focusing on tasks that are uninteresting or not urgent is striking a chord with me. Lots of half finished projects where I’ve done all the interesting bits and suddenly lose all motivation to see it through to completion. Thanks, I’ll investigate this further when possible.
If you have some other mental-diversion like autism, bipolar or dyslexia then chances are high you have overlap with properties of other neurodivergent people.
Its also possible to be “functional and normal” but still have a neurodivergent brain. Disabilities are subjective in context of the (social) world around you.
Neurotypical people experience most ADHD symptoms some of the time, but not at a frequency that significantly negatively impacts their life. Similar to depression, everyone gets sad but only some are clinically depressed.
I know it’s ridiculous to use a bingo board meme as a diagnostic tool but should I be concerned if I got a whooooole lot of these?
Everybody sneezes if you sneeze 100 times in a day then it’s a problem
Most people have a couple of these but it isnt to the point where they cant function. ADHD is the point where it does.
An ADHD brain is essentially interest driven. It isnt so much a lack of attention and focus but missapplied attention and focus. The reason for this is thought to be a chemical imbalance of dopamine and norepinephrine. Dopamine is tied to motivation and norepinephrine is essentially the fight or flight neurotransmitter. This is why people with ADHD tend to have little issue focusing on a fun task or a task that is urgent and induces considerable stress. The former raises levels of dopamine and the latter norepinephrine. It is also why the first line drug treatments involve stimulents which help normalize both of these.
If the behaviors that you see in yourself are causing distress, you may want to ask your doctor/mental health provider to be assessed. That said, I would keep in mind that it is usually not cheap and if that is a significant barrier for you, look for pay as you can mental health providers in your area if they exist
The bit about having difficulty focusing on tasks that are uninteresting or not urgent is striking a chord with me. Lots of half finished projects where I’ve done all the interesting bits and suddenly lose all motivation to see it through to completion. Thanks, I’ll investigate this further when possible.
alright it’s officially time for me to talk to my doctor
Depends on how often you experience these symptoms! If you experience them daily or nearly constantly, it would be worth investigating.
If you have some other mental-diversion like autism, bipolar or dyslexia then chances are high you have overlap with properties of other neurodivergent people.
Its also possible to be “functional and normal” but still have a neurodivergent brain. Disabilities are subjective in context of the (social) world around you.
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Neurotypical people experience most ADHD symptoms some of the time, but not at a frequency that significantly negatively impacts their life. Similar to depression, everyone gets sad but only some are clinically depressed.