What is ADHD? How to Recognize and Understand it

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often thought of as a person’s inability to stay focused, stay on task, and/or having an excessive amount of energy, so much so that they cannot remain still when the moment calls for it. However, these characteristics of ADHD are merely the surface of what is going on in the person’s mind.

So, what is ADHD? And what is happening in the mind of a person with ADHD? What are they experiencing? How is this different than the next person? And, what causes ADHD? Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, when taking the diagnosis at face value or what the name implies, can create an assumption about what a person may experience; however, this is not exactly accurate. ADHD is not a true deficit (or lack) in attention.

It is more accurately described as a difference in attention and a variation in how long a person maintains their attention on a particular activity, task, or topic. A person who is not diagnosed with ADHD may be able to regulate their attention for as long as needed to see the activity, task, or topic to completion. The non-diagnosed person may take planned breaks; however, they will be able to come back to what they were attempting to complete.

Those diagnosed with ADHD may set out with the same intentions, but they are more likely to get sidetracked by many different things, either in their surroundings or in their thoughts. Like the non-diagnosed person, they may plan breaks but struggle to get back on task.

This often prevents the person diagnosed with ADHD from being able to complete the task on time or sometimes at all. Now that we have seen the contrast between those who have been diagnosed with ADHD and those who have not, we will take a look at what exactly is happening in the mind of a person who has ADHD, along with the previously posed questions, to help recognize, understand, and care for yourself or the person diagnosed.

What causes ADHD?

What causes Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is still being evaluated, with experts providing several explanations without any solid agreement. Many experts will say ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, while others will say it is something that is inherited from the child’s parents. Still others will say that it is directly caused by the environment(s) in which the child is raised.

The Brain Activity of a Person with ADHD

With this last possibility (the person’s environment creating the change in the brain that leads to ADHD), the thought is that the person learns to respond to their environment in such a way that their brain develops or changes its patterns based on trauma; in other words, ADHD is a trauma response.

Taking this explanation further, those with ADHD experience things that are traumatic, and their brains respond with a predominantly flight response. Meaning, they will escape to their thoughts and imagination instead of being in the present moment. This explanation of the cause of ADHD requires further analysis to examine the validity of the claim; however, it does touch on what may be happening in the person’s mind.

The present moment is often overwhelming, whether that be due to anxiety, a sense of inadequacy or incompetence within the individual, or a combination of these two, along with many other factors. The response to these overwhelming moments is often to stop all engagement with the moment and think about something more soothing and/or exciting.

The person then begins to build or expand on the initial thought that takes them out of the moment, which can often lead to an entire conversation or movie-like scene taking place in their mind. All of this can happen while in conversation with another person, and while it may look like they are engaged in the conversation, they are deep inside their mind, having imaginary conversations or playing out their thoughts.

The person often eventually realizes they are in their imagination or “daydreaming” as it is often commonly called, and the person will come back to the conversation only to realize several moments have gone by, and that they do not know what has been said, and may not remember the topic when they do.

This can be frustrating not only for the person having a conversation with those diagnosed with ADHD, but also for the person with ADHD. What is often reported by those with ADHD is embarrassment and a sense of feeling like they are “dumb,” “stupid,” or “not like everyone else,” among other less desirable thoughts.

Differences in Brain Function

The part of the brain that experiences the most notable differences in functionality for those with ADHD is the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex oversees planning, moderating social behavior, personality, and decision-making. These are highly necessary and impactful functions, so when a person’s brain has difficulty in regulating and facilitating these functions, it creates barriers for the person, and their life is altered.

For those with ADHD, social events earlier in life are more likely to create the most significant barriers in life. Often, people with ADHD may take part in a social event at which a particular moment may spark an emotional reaction.

Maybe a joke is made, and they want to add to the moment with a comment or additional joke. The struggle can come from knowing what is relevant to the moment and appropriate for the setting. This can lead to the person making a comment or joke that is not received well by the group.

This makes the person with ADHD question their ability to interact with others and can create social anxiety. Sometimes, the person may not be able to recognize that the comment was not well received due to struggles in recognizing social signals.

Planning is another area of life in which those with ADHD often struggle. From planning their next thirty minutes to planning the day, week, month, and beyond, those with ADHD can struggle with prioritizing, and they will often struggle with how to organize those priorities to make effective use of their time, energy, and resources.

The person with ADHD will start creating a list of priorities and place things that could be done later in the day or even tomorrow at the top of the list. This is due in part to the pressure of the other tasks. It would be easier to do something on the list rather than struggle with the bigger or more important items on the list.

Those with ADHD often have a sense of what they are capable of and perceive that they cannot perform those more difficult tasks (whether it is an accurate perception or not is open to question). This results in the person completing the less important tasks and using up a great deal of mental energy, leaving little room for moving on to those bigger tasks.

How to Help Those with ADHD

Understanding what ADHD is and how a person with ADHD might respond to certain situations can inform those around them, as well as yourself (especially if you think you might have ADHD), as to what specifically the person might be going through at that time. With that understanding, the next step is to educate yourself further about ADHD.

Once you know more about the diagnosis, determine whether seeking a counselor/therapist would be best for you or the person you are looking to help. If you decide counseling would be the best option, know that the counselor will guide you with care and compassion and help you or the person work through any struggles.