I hereby dictate to change the definition of ADHD to:
Attention
DYSREGULATION
Hyperactivety
Disorder
The original wording that makes up the ADHD appreviation is misleading and one of the reasons why it took 30 something years to first of all even suspect, let alone diagnose my neurological condition.
So let’s get this straight; a person with ADHD can consentrate/pay attention/focus, very well in fact, but is almost completely unable to command on what that something is at any given time.
We do have to remember ADHD is a spectrum and while it’s one of our most researched neurological disorders, the pathophysiology is still not completely clear. It’s very hard to study a living brain and try to find out how the sylinders fire up at different times, and if those responses are in fact normal or not.
Sidenote: I’m not a doctor but I have over 30 years of field experince inside my brain.
From what I understand; the ADHD brain is lacking of norepinephrine and possibly has problems and miscommunications within the neural pathways that are linked to executive functioning, attention, impulsivity and hyperactivity.
Saying someone with ADHD can’t pay attention and stay focused on anything is just plain wrong and it misleads even those who actually do have ADHD and hinder them from getting help. We can and do pay attention but the problem is regulating said attention.
From my own experience I can tell that I am in fact often focusing on the wrong thing and hyper aware of some little nuisance like a clothing tag or someone chewing. On a good day though when my brain seems to have been able to stash away some extra norepinephrine and decides to barf it all out at once, it feels like I’m on top of the world; I’m super focused on a fun project, I get so much done at once, I’m brilliant, shiny and strong, I don’t need food, drink or sleep. But then there is the crash, I’m all out and shut down like a robot.
I think when we talk about understanding and managing ADHD we should shift our focus (eh eh) from ”lack of attention” to ”regulating attention”. I believe that would be better understood both by the person with ADHD, and the normies around them.
Overall the communication between a so called normal brain and an ADHD one is quite hard because neither can quite understand how the other can or can not just decide on what to focus on at will.
This is an unfiltered diary of anything and everything related to a personal ADHD journey. In true neurospicy fashion, the entries will shapeshift according to who-the-fuck-knows-what-and-when. Try to keep up.
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Definitely going to keep tabs on you and your journey and would love to have some conversations around this.
With it being a deficit or dysregulation, how have you achieved to get something back to regulation? Are you trying to alter your diet so that you can add in specific nutrients and other things so that you get the proper fuel for your brain on a given day?
I’m here for all and any adhd related talk :)
Well, in theory you can spark the dopamine in brain with legal stimulants like sugar, caffeine and nicotine, and that is why so many undiagnosed adhd people are addicted to those. But obviously it’s a shitty bandaid for a big problem.
I’ve done anything and everything in my life to make it accomodate my symptoms (which I did not know were all adhd) and no matter how much sleep, what diet, how relaxed and low stress my life on paper is, the adhd doesn’t go away and effects everything in my life. I was at my wits’ end when I got diagnosed and started my med trial only this week but I can already tell you that’s it’s going to be my savior. But where I think good healthy lifestyle does play a key role in is overall health, and to make sure it supports your body if you go on medication because there can be side effects.
That's good to hear, that you’re getting better on it. I’m hoping we catch it early enough with our son that he doesn’t need medication but can correct it holistically. He’s of an age where pharmaceutical concoctions will have permanent and unintended consequences on his body and I am trying to avoid that like the plague.
Adhd does not get better with age, diet, therapy or lifestyle changes, it just doesn’t. But yes medication can have an effect on growth and stuff like that and it’s a balancing act to find what is the best way for each individual person and age. I don’t think children need medication as much because their only responsibility is to play. Adhd gets worse the older you get and more responsibilities you have, at least that has been my experience.
I hope you understand and read up on adhd being a comorbidity and left untreated it can and most probably will lead to other health complications down the line. I say this with an experience of someone who had a safe and healthy upbringing, much better than the average ”american-style” diet and life, but still very much had adhd cause me immense trouble all through my life.
ADDitude Magazine has really good and helpful information on their site and great Youtube videos with everything to do with ADHD.