The first documented cases of ADHD were in 1904. Genetic components are among the top causes of ADD and ADHD. Therefore, if someone in your immediate family has ADD or ADHD there is a high probability that you will have symptoms as well. That genetic capability relates directly to how different neural circuits in the brain wire up, the chemicals they use and the way they use those chemicals. ADD and ADHD have nothing to do with someone’s intelligence. Being very high functioning does not mean that you would have ADHD. There are people with ADHD that have very high IQs and those with ADHD that have very low IQs.
There are people with ADHD that score high on emotional intelligence and those that score very low on emotional intelligence. The important thing to note here is that your ability to focus and or how hyper you are has nothing to do with your intelligence level. It’s been estimated recently that at least 10% of children have ADHD and some believe that number can be as high as 12%.
And about half of the children diagnosed with ADHD will be treated with symptoms being significantly reduced. However, about half will not have an effective treatment and it has been noted in the past decade of that ADHD numbers in adults has risen drastically. This might be because ADHD went undetected when they were children or ADHD might have been noticed creeping up in adulthood because of the way that we currently interact in the world. In particular, the use of smart phones, the combination of email taxed and real world interactions, multiple apps and media coming at us all at once; our brains are now dealing with a lot of information at a significantly higher rate of speed.
Therefore, we are mentally multitasking at extremely high levels throughout the day while we work but also in the evenings when we are supposed to be relaxing from work. Smart phones and laptops have been very useful over the past two decades however, if we are constantly on our devices, we are not allowing our brain the ability to mentally rest. Our brains are literally changing with the times and have adapted to being mentally overstimulated for much of the day and evening.
Therefore, our mental focus and attention is being pulled in different directions which is causing our focus to be split between different activities. We have literally trained our brains to deal with more and be overstimulated, therefore, causing us to be less able to concentrate and causing our memory to be clouded, because of all of the different directions we are forcing our focus to go. Some experts think that this behavior has literally caused ADHD in adults and possibly children.
People with ADHD have trouble holding their focus, attention, or concentration on something. Therefore, there could be a lot of different things going on around them and they are unable to focus on the one thing that they want to intentionally focus on. Someone without ADHD symptoms will be able to block out the background noise, as someone call it, the stuff that is going on around them, in order to focus on the task at hand. Having this focus and concentration takes work and practice throughout the day, every day.
Therefore, you might feel the wind blowing on your skin, the wind blowing your hair, hear someone talking in the distance, hear the radio on, or hear the dog barking, but a person without ADHD it will be able to direct their focus on what they want to focus on, rather than on all of the stimuli happening around them. Impulse control is a big part of ADHD treatment. Even those taking ADHD medications will need to practice impulse control and directing their focus on what they want to focus on throughout the day every day. If we are not in control of our minds and our thoughts, they will run wild and will be very distracting and could potentially negatively impact our productivity and our mood.
People with ADHD have poor impulse control and have poor attention; they are easily distractable. But the way that shows up is very surprising. You might think that someone with ADHD can’t focus on anything but that’s simply not the case. People with ADHD are distractible and easily annoyed by things happening around them, however, people with ADHD can have a hyper focus or an incredibly heightened ability to focus on what they really enjoy or are intrigued by. This tells us that people with ADHD have the capability of focusing on what they are not highly interested in, however, if they are not interested in it in the first place it will be harder for them to focus on this initially. Therefore, impulse control and intentionally redirecting thought and focus will be required more throughout the day.
There are some things that people with ADHD struggle with more so than the average person. The first one is that they have challenges with time perception. People with ADHD often run late and procrastinate, but what is interesting is that if they are given a deadline they can often focus pretty well if the consequences for not finishing a task or an activity are severe enough. Therefore, if they’re scared enough of the consequences of not completing the task, often times this is enough of a motivator to get the task done, however, they still might procrastinate and wait until the last minute, but they will likely complete the task.
If someone with ADHD is not worried about a consequence for not completing a task they might underestimate the time needed to finish the task, believing that the task will take much less time to complete or believing that they will be able to have enough time to complete the task when they started even if they do not allow themselves nearly enough time. There spacial organization skills are often subpar. Not always, but often you will find that somebody with ADHD uses what’s called the pile system in order to organize things.
They will take many belongings from somewhere like their office and they will start piling things up in a way that only makes sense to them. It doesn’t really have any logical framework. Many people use the pile system and just because they use the pile system doesn’t mean that you have ADHD however many people with ADHD use the pile system. People with ADHD use the pile system because they believe that this system feels right and will work the best for them. However, they pile things up in order to get tasks done but they tend to not be able to find things, thus making tasks take longer because of the disorganization.
The other thing that people with ADHD struggle with is called a working memory. People with ADHD tend to have really great memories for past events and can remember upcoming events quite well. However, one aspect of our memory that we called working memory is often disrupted. Working memory is the ability to keep specific information online to recycle it in your brain over and over again so you can use it in the immediate or a short term.
An example of this is if you were to meet someone and have a conversation with them and they give you their information, for example, their phone number or Instagram or Facebook information, and you have to go back to the table or your office to write down this information. People with ADHD find it very difficult to remember this short-term information which usually lasts from about 10 seconds to one minute. It is within this time. That things get forgotten or the information that they wanted to remember gets jumbled so they might write it down incorrectly.
Whereas the typical person would be able to recite that person’s information over and over again until they find their phone or a piece of paper to write it down. So for most people remembering a string of numbers for example, might be easier to remember than someone with ADHD because they have severe challenges even with small batches of numbers over smaller batches of time.
So why is it that people with ADHD have a unique ability to hyper focus on things that they are really interested in or passionate about? Enjoyment and curiosity are psychological terms, they’re a way that we describe a human experience of liking things, or wanting to know more about them. From a neurobiological perspective they have a very clear identity and signature. And that’s dopamine. Dopamine is released from neurons which is called a neural modulator and as a neural modulator it changes the activity of the circuits in the brain such that some circuits are more active than others and in particular dopamine creates a State of hyper focus. It tends to contract our visual world and it tends to make us pay attention to things that are outside of our physical being.
Dopamine also tends to put us in a state of motivation and wanting things outside the confines of our skin. So, whether or not we our trying to attain things outside of our physical bodies or focusing on things outside of our physical bodies, dopamine is the reason why we are able to focus on these things, because they caused us pleasure or are pleasurable to our mind and state of consciousness. However, dopamine as a neuromodulator changes the way that we see the world. So, for the typical person, there are many things around us that will attract our attention however we only give that attention to certain things.
Dopamine causes a person to narrow their vision from the many things going on around them to the things of pleasure, therefore narrowing our visual and auditory focus to what is most pleasurable to us. So, this creates a tunnel vision and what our brain really wants and wants more of, and this is because of the dopamine that is released because of that certain stimuli. Therefore, having dopamine release can allow the person to direct their attention to particularly things in their environment.
There are two types of neural circuits that dopamine tens to enhance. The first one is called the default mode network which is the net work of brain areas in your brain that is active when we are not doing anything, when we’re just sitting there idle at rest. It’s hard to sit there and not think about anything, however, when you’re not driving, you’re not playing a video game, you’re just sitting there letting your brain go wherever it wants to go, your default mode network under lies that state of mind.
The other set of circuits are the task networks. The networks of the brain that make you goal oriented or are at least trying to make a goal oriented. These are a completely different set of brain networks, and these task networks are communicating with one another and are doing so in very unique ways. Normally in a person without ADHD the default mode networks and the Task networks which go in a seesaw fashion and actually oppose one another. And a person with ADHD the task networks and the default mode networks are actually more in sync with one another and are more aligned.
So in most people this would be abnormal however in someone with ADHD this is normal however this can cause disruption in the brain, that’s causing someone with ADHD the inability to focus on one thing at a time if they are not passionate about it because they’re networks are almost competing for attention that’s causing their brain to be highly overstimulated. Based on brain imaging studies when someone gets better and are treated for ADHD or age out of ADHD, it has been shown that these two networks tend to become anti-correlated again which helps the brain to relax and not be overstimulated.
Dopamine helps these networks to run anti-correlated in the normal person, however, in someone with ADHD where dopamine release might be problematic it is not able to control the networks, that’s allowing them to start running in synchrony. So that raises a few questions. Could this be that dopamine is not that significant enough levels? Or could it be that dopamine is just doing things all wrong?
In the year 2015, in the publication biological psychology, it hypothesizes the idea that those with ADHD might have low dopamine. This led to a great deal of research to be conducted regarding people with ADHD and dopamine. It turns out that if dopamine levels are too low in certain circuits in the brain, it leads to unnecessary firing in neurons in the brain that are unrelated to the task that one is trying to do and that is unrelated to the information that one is trying to focus on.
When dopamine is low, certain neurons are firing when they shouldn’t be. When dopamine is too low, neurons fire more than they should in these networks that govern attention. This is the low dopamine hypothesis. This might be why those with ADHD turn to high quantities of caffeine or high quantities of cigarettes, vaping, or marijuana, because these all have the ability to increase dopamine in the brain, in particular in the regions of the brain that regulate attention and these tasks related and default mode networks.
We see the use of these chemicals more so in adults, however, children with ADHD tend to desire sugary foods in high quantities because this gives them the similar affects. And once they have access to sugar, coffee, and other stimulants depressants they might become addicted to them more so than the average person because of the effects of dopamine on their brain. For a long time, experts thought that people with ADHD were simply more susceptible to addictions from these chemicals, however, now it is thought that they might be seeking out the right amount of dopamine which can regulate the networks in the brain that helps their brain to calm down and focus on a few things rather than being overstimulated and unable to control their thoughts or actions.
Spinning off of this hypothesis, pharmaceutical companies have sought to increase levels of dopamine in patients that take medication‘s like Ridellan, Adderall, or modafinil. In particular, they seek to increase dopamine in task directed behavior and that coordinate the default mode network and these task related networks. While these drugs might be helpful because they are stimulants, they also have negative aspects to them on the mind and body. For example, Ridellan, is very similar to amphetamine which is typically called speed on the streets. Adderall Is a combination of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine.
These drugs like cocaine and methamphetamines are incredibly dangerous, addiction forming, and have a high potential for abuse. The pharmaceutical versions of these are what is used to treat ADHD. Though they are not exactly the same, they are structurally and chemically very similar and their net effect on the brain and body is essentially the same which is to increase dopamine in the brain and to increase levels epinephrine or norepinephrine, or noradrenaline or adrenaline and to increase levels of serotonin in the brain and blood, increasing serotonin is just a small effect of these drugs but is still present.
The main focus in these drugs is to increase dopamine within the brain and body, so that the persons motivation, drive, focus, and energy and to some extent increase serotonin levels a little bit so that the person feels calm and relaxed. You can probably imagine why this would be a good effect of this medication on someone with ADHD. So essentially the pharmaceutical medication for ADHD are stimulants which are structurally and chemically very similar to the street drugs that we have all heard for decades are so terrible for our minds and bodies.
There have been studies completed using the elimination diet. The idea behind this is that by eliminating foods that your body is sensitive to or allergic to, your immune system will work at peak performance that’s giving your brain the ability to release the appropriate amounts of a dopamine and serotonin. If your body takes in foods, drinks, lotions, make up, chemicals, preservatives, etc. that it doesn’t like, the reaction that occurs will cause inflammation throughout the body, thus lowering your immune system and the function of different organs like the adrenal glands, your thyroid, and the release of dopamine and serotonin in your brain.
Therefore, it has been found that by eliminating foods which your body is sensitive to or allergic to, there will be less inflammation in your body and your immune system will be at peace level. In several studies within the past few years, the elimination diet has been proven to drastically help enhanced ability to focus, less impulsivity, even less of an intense desire to move around when trying to sit still, so everything from mental focus to trying to control their body was improved within the studies when they eliminated certain issues that they were allergic to from their diets. The elimination diet in most studies include eliminating foods like gluten, dairy, sugar, carbs, chemicals, preservatives and food colorings.
Omega-3 fatty acids (EPAs) in dosages of 1000 mg and more, up to 2000 mg per day has been shown to have positive effects on the cardiovascular system and the immune system, which in turn positively affect one’s mood, brain function, attention and focus. And many people studied, pharmaceutical medication have been lessened or stopped completely after taking this dosage of omega-3 fatty acids daily. Sleep is also extremely important for brain function, your mood, attention and focus. Therefore, one’s diet and nutrition place a key role in your overall mood and mental health.
There are two over the counter compounds that are in active used for ADHD, for use to improve focus. The first one is L-Tyrosine It’s an amino acid that acts as a precursor to the Neuromodulator dopamine. L tyrosine leads to an increase in case of dopamine. L tyrosine is fairly long lived and can improve one’s ability to focus, however, the dosage often needs to be recalibrated because at times it can make people feel jittery or euphoric where they are unable to focus well. The dosage frame is anywhere from 100 mg to 1200 mg, so this is something that can be modified by a naturopath or A doctor that practices natural medicine rather than pharmaceutical medication.
Due to the effectiveness and the wide range of potential intake, a person that wants to take L tyrosine should consult with a doctor to start. L tyrosine is so effective at the production of and release of dopamine that it is helpful in treating mood disorders as well. Again, this is some thing that should be discussed with a naturopath or a natural/holistic doctor. L tyrosine can be found in proteins powders and if you want to try to use it in this type of way first before taking a capsule or seeing a doctor, it might be useful to see if it has a positive affect through hey powdered shakes nutritional supplement.
There are usually a few amino acids in these types of protein powders or meal replacements as amino acids are good for your body and overall health. However, if you want to take in amino acid or other supplements in high dosages, it is best to consult with a natural path or holistic/natural doctor, again a doctor that does not prescribe pharmaceutical medications, but rather supplements. There are several studies that you can find online that will provide evidence of the benefits of L tyrosine for ADHD. PEA, also known as Phenylethylamine, which is a dopamine stimulating supplement as well.
This has also been researched in several studies that can be found online. When searching for a study like these, you have to type in what you’re looking for and then list research article or PDF in the Google search or DuckDuckGo search, whatever web browser you have chosen to use. PA is also a supplement that you are going to want to consult a naturopath or holistic health practitioner about, as the dosage has a very wide range.
There is a website, examine.com, that will give you a lot of great information on L tyrosine and PEA. Simply type in the supplement or amino acid that you are interested in learning more about and you will get some really useful information. You can also go to the section within that search and find out how that specific supplement or amino acid will help ADD or ADHD specifically. Throughout the past 12 years, I have had several patients that have either self-diagnosed with ADD or ADHD or have been clinically diagnosed from a psychiatrist as having ADD or ADHD.
I always suggest making dietary changes because it can positively impact not only ADD or ADHD symptoms, but it can positively impact your entire body, thus improving your overall mood, quality of sleep, clarity of thought and memory, just to name a few. It seems as though a few people are interested in making the dietary changes needed to help to lessen ADD or ADHD symptoms, and would rather take a pharmaceutical medication to fix this problem. However, there are adverse effects that have been described to me from patients who have taken various medication for ADD and ADHD.
Several of my patients have complained that the medication they were taking only lasted for a certain amount of hours and then when the medication was wearing off they had very negative effects, such as a headache or being irritable. They have commented to me that it feels like they’ve hit a wall and they can tell exactly when the medication is wearing off because of the Drastic change in brain function and mood.
I’ve seen some patients that have been greatly positively impacted by ADD and ADHD pharmaceutical medication’s, however, it’s important that you know the side effects of any medication that you are going to take because very few people have no side effects of the medication they are taking. And some people will suffer from the short term side effects of a medication, while others will suffer from long-term side effects of medications. Some of the negative effects of long term use of these medications include issues with one’s liver or kidneys.
I’ve also seen patients that have had far worse anxiety or depression after stopping the ADD or ADHD medication that they were taking. And this might be due to what I discussed before which is that many of the ADD and ADHD pharmaceutical medications are intended to increase dopamine, therefore when they stop taking the medication their mood can be greatly impacted. This has been a surprise to the majority of my patients taking these pharmaceutical medications, as many of them were not told this from their doctor before they stopped taking the medication.
Therefore, it is extremely important that you do your own research and I know the positive and negative side effects of any pharmaceutical medication that you are thinking of taking because I’ve heard of many doctors that simply rely on their pharmaceutical representative to tell them this information and some of the information doesn’t get relayed to their patients. You have to be your own advocate and do your own research so that you don’t blindly trust someone in the medical field.