Imagine being the school band director and waking up at 1 a.m. on the day of a big parade to realize that you never booked the school bus to transport your students.
For Lisa Burden, this experience was more than a nightmare. It was a wake-up call to her own shortcomings. While exceptionally bright and creative, she also had to contend with another side of herself. She’d struggled since childhood with challenges like being able to keep track of things and being told she talked too much.
“There were responsibilities that I would just forget to do. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to do them,” she told The Epoch Times. “I came to a point when I had to admit I could not keep it all in my head. I’ll have a thought, and then I don’t know when I’ll have that thought again.”
While attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that can undermine a person’s ability to navigate our modern age, in some ways, it is more helpful to think of it as a mismatch of mental abilities. ADHD involves symptoms of inattentiveness, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity, among others.
People with ADHD have brains that think differently in a world that’s become more sedentary and rigid. Experts say seeing ADHD through a new lens can help adults strengthen their thinking, improve their relationships, and accentuate their strengths.
Maybe It Is ADHD
About 15.5 million—or 6 percent—of American adults have been diagnosed with ADHD. About half were diagnosed as adults, with one-third of those diagnosed receiving treatment, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To be diagnosed with ADHD as a child, one needs to have six symptoms involving inattentiveness, hyperactivity, or impulsivity. An adult diagnosis requires five.
Those symptoms include the following:
- Trouble paying attention or being easily distracted
- Being disorganized
- Procrastinating
- Inability to plan or organize
- Difficulty recalling daily tasks
- Losing things frequently
- Being extremely talkative or frequently interrupting
- Trouble multitasking or focusing on larger projects
- Finding it hard to follow instructions or finish projects
- Inability to sit still for lengthy periods
- Fidgeting
- The need to be constantly moving
- Prioritizing immediate rewards over future rewards
There are a few other criteria, too, including symptoms that have been around since before age 12, with clear evidence that they are severe, frequent, and persistent enough to cause problems in at least two areas of life, such as at work, school, church, or home.
Finally, hormonal and mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, or a psychotic disorder, must be ruled out. However, there is no definitive diagnostic tool, such as bloodwork or brain scans, for ADHD.
Beyond Stereotypes
Experts understand ADHD better than they did two decades ago. The stigma is lifting, and awareness is growing, according to Marcy M. Caldwell, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment and assessment of adult ADHD.
She told The Epoch Times that social media has given voice to people who are describing their experiences with ADHD and raising it as a possibility for many people who might not have considered it previously.
For a number of years, ADHD was stereotypically considered a disorder associated with young boys. That, particularly, left a lot of girls undiagnosed in childhood who went on to be diagnosed as adults.
However, professionals are beginning to better understand that symptoms can vary depending on race, sex, and age, Caldwell said. They are also noting that children often don’t outgrow ADHD, as was previously believed in most cases. Rather, she said symptoms relapse and remit throughout life depending on other circumstances.
“In that waxing and waning, the symptoms can come up again around major life events,” Caldwell said. “In normal life, the major events come up at different times. But in 2020, we were all hit with a major life event, so there was a big upsurge in diagnosis that happened after COVID as everyone was adjusting to very new circumstances.”
Pillars of Brain Health
Caldwell described the ADHD brain as working as an off-on light switch, whereas a neurotypical brain can adjust lighting with a dimmer switch. That is, for those with ADHD, the light switch is either on—hyperfocusing, usually with enjoyable tasks—or off for tasks that aren’t as pleasurable.
It takes far more energy, she said, for someone with ADHD to use their brain like a dimmer switch, though it can be done. That energy can come from the following foundational health pillars:
- Sleep
- Exercise
- Nutrition
- Medication
- Meditation
- Connection
“Those are six really hard things, and there’s a lot involved with them. You don’t have to do all of them,” she said.
However, on a day when you don’t get much sleep, you can try one of the others to boost your brain energy, typically exercise, according to Caldwell.
Movement as Fuel
Any exercise is great for boosting energy, though specific exercises may be more tolerable to different brain states, said Caldwell. Rowing, running, and walking are helpful for those who are inattentive. Meanwhile, sports like soccer or karate—during which you must respond to a constantly changing environment—are good for those struggling with hyperactivity and impulsivity.
The problem, Caldwell added, is that most people try to change how their brains work so they can function in the world rather than changing the world for how their brains work. That means if you need to move more, as many with ADHD do, consider using a standing or treadmill desk, take frequent breaks, and exercise before work to build up energy stores.
“A lot of people start out with more ability to regulate their tasks and attention, and as the day goes on, they have less capacity to do that,” she said. “Save things that aren’t as taxing for later in the day.”
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