8 Surprising Symptoms of ADHD That No One Talks About

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder — ADHD, is known by most as a deficiency in your ability to regulate attention, simply put. But is this a correct interpretation? No.

ADHD is a lot more complex than we think. In fact, there are 3 types: the inattentive type, the hyperactive type, and the combined type. Knowing this, it is easy to deduct that those with the inattentive type of ADHD “cannot pay attention”, those with the hyperactive type “cannot sit still”, and those with both….well, you “must be screwed”. Right?

For a long time, I thought this too. Until I got diagnosed with ADHD at 21 years old. Little did I know, most of the difficulties I’ve had since I was a child could be attributed to my ADHD. And let me just say, there are A LOT of them.

After lots of research, and talks with doctors as well as my fellow ADHD folks, I have chosen a few behaviours that are ADHD-related; let’s dive in.

1. Overstimulation

Overstimulation, simply put, can be described as excessive mental or physical stimulation. ADHD is a processing disorder, which means those with ADHD brains may have a harder time differentiating between necessary and unnecessary stimuli. This can lead us to pay more attention to all sorts of stimuli in our day-to-day life than non-ADHD brains do not. This can cause exhaustion, stress, and even anxiety.

2. Emotional Dysregulation

A common symptom of ADHD is emotional dysregulation. It is common for ADHDers to react largely to both a sad and happy event. Here’s how: in a neurotypical brain, if we are looking forward to getting ice cream at the end of a nice summer day, and we drop that ice cream on the floor, our amygdala (which is responsible for our decision making and emotional regulation) will relay a message to our prefrontal cortex (the part of our brain that can be known as the ultimate decision-maker), that everything is okay; it’s just ice cream and we can get another scoop. In ADHD brains; however, the connection between our amygdala and prefrontal cortex is faulty, which can mean that one lost scoop of ice cream can result in a bad mood or even a tantrum. Although this may seem discouraging, this also works oppositely, in regards to positive emotions. ADHDers tend to get more excited and feel their happier emotions more strongly than neurotypicals, too.

3. Lack of Motivation Due to A Dopamine Deficiency

Unbeknownst to many, ADHD causes a deficiency in the effectiveness of dopamine reuptake. This means that there is less dopamine available for use. This is important because dopamine is the key neurotransmitter involved in motivation. Without it, it may be almost impossible to get yourself out of bed in the mornings, start a task, finish a task, build a routine, and more. This is why many ADHDers are labelled as “lazy” when in reality, they have a dopamine deficiency.

4. Cannot Do One Thing At A Time

Because of the dopamine deficiency mentioned in the previous point, ADHDers often find themselves multitasking, CONSTANTLY! Doing one thing and one thing alone may seem too tedious. Doing multiple things at the same time allows our brains to produce enough dopamine for us to get things done.

5. Sleep Issues

Although those with ADHD tend to be more fatigued, this does not mean they get a well-rested sleep each night. Often, those with ADHD; particularly the hyperactive type, may suffer from a racing mind, hyperactivity, and bodily jitters as they try to fall asleep, making it that much harder to do just that!

6. Hyperfocus

Have you ever heard a new song, and listened to it on a loop until you are sick of it? What about trying new food, that you stock up and eat it every single day until the thought of it makes you want to puke. How about starting a new TV show and not sleeping until you’ve finished it? These things, to some degree, are totally normal! But when this becomes a reoccurring scenario, and if you find yourself noticing this happening in different domains, you might be hyperfixating. Hyperfocus can be described as when you are intensely fixated on something for an extended period of time. Hyperfocus can be tied to anything, really, and can be very individual to each person.

7. Little To No Tolerance For Boredom

This point coincides with point number 3, the dopamine deficiency. We need dopamine to start any task; dopamine is essentially our internal motivator. But, when there isn’t anything to do, or worse: when you don’t have enough dopamine to want to do anything, you’re left with boredom. Boredom, in my opinion, is 10x worse! When we are bored, we do not have dopamine available to stimulate our brains and motivate us to get moving and do something. With ADHD, it is VERY easy to get bored quickly, as our dopamine simply wears off and makes a task no longer entertaining or motivating enough for us.

8. Sensory Issues

Last but not least, are sensory issues. As mentioned earlier, ADHDers may get overstimulated when there are too many stimuli in their environment, and not enough resources to categorize them. This also means that our categorization of sensory stimuli, even when not overstimulated, is faulty. Knowing this fact is what helped me make sense of why I eat bananas with a fork because I can’t stand the texture, or why I can’t eat my fruit if there is even a spot of “mush” on it. If you have ADHD, you’ll find sensory annoyances that are individual to you too!

In conclusion, ADHD is quite a complex disorder, with not as much research behind it as some other disorders. With us ADHDers naming our symptoms and bringing awareness to our shared experiences, we are able to aid in a better understanding of what ADHD really is.