🔼: [[Medical Conditions and Diagnoses]], [[Symptoms of Unresolved Trauma]] #### ADHD Essentially ADHD is a collection of parts keeping us distracted for various reasons.[^1] > [!NOTE] Markers of ADHD > - Poor [[💡 Executive Function]] > - [[💡 Anxiety|Anxiety]] > - [[💡 Depression|Depression]] > - [[💡 Emotional Dysregulation|Emotional Dysregulation]] > - [[Rejection Sensitivity]] > - [[🛡️ Procrastinating]] > - [[🛡️ Perfectionism|Perfectionism]] > - [[Hyper-Focus]] > - [[Hyperfixation]] > - [[💡 Insomnia|Insomnia]] > - Problems with [[💡 Romantic Relationships]] > - [[💡 Papañca]] Having ADHD-[[💡 Parts|Parts]] can feel like having a race car with bicycle brakes and it can make us feel both smart and stupid, productive and lazy. But they're also highly enthusiastic, resilient, funny, generous, creative, and forgiving. - Boredom is painful to someone with ADHD, and when we're bored we can't function as well and become more easily [[💡 Emotional Dysregulation|dysregulated]]. - When we try to focus on something that isn't interesting to us, the part of our brain responsible for [[💡 Focus & Concentration]] *shuts down even more*. The more effort we put into focusing, the more difficult focusing becomes. We become more irritable, more restless, more agitated, and less focused. We're compelled to seek stimulation to avoid being bored, sometimes to our own detriment. When we're stimulated, we feel more like ourselves. - Focusing on any one non-stimulating thing can feel impossible. A kind of itch arises and we get mentally and physically uncomfortable. [[🧘 Mindfulness Meditation]] can feel less like a practice and more like a punishment. So these parts chase thought-loops to relieve their boredom and we might start to feel [[💡 Overwhelm|overwhelmed]] or like our minds are going too fast with [[💡 Racing Thoughts|racing thoughts]]. ##### Causes of ADHD There's a lot of contention around ADHD, whether it's under or over-diagnosed, or whether it even exists Some in the medical field suggest both genetics and environmental factors can cause ADHD and that it was under-diagnosed for decades. Others think it's being over-diagnosed now. [[👤 Gabor Maté]] disagrees, calling it a trauma-related coping mechanism for a stressful environment. He posits that ADHD can't be genetic because the numbers have grown so much and genes do not change this much in 20-40 years — it must be environmental.[^2] My hunch is that’s it’s somewhere in between, that we’ve gotten better at detecting it, are maybe over-diagnosing it, that it can likely be genetic or acquired either through [[💡 Trauma|Trauma]] or conditioning through not-so-great [[⭐️ Life Curation]] with technology that monetizes and hijacks our attention and regulates our emotions for us. [[🔑 The mind loses what it doesn’t use]]. It may also be that having [[💡 ADHD|ADHD]] makes us more likely to experience [[💡 Trauma|trauma]] given the world we live in and that [[💡 Trauma|trauma]] and [[💡 Stress|stress]] make the symptoms worse because [[💡 Protector Parts|Protector Parts]] have to work harder. It’s not yet clear (to me) whether there are meaningful difference between inborn ADHD and acquired ADHD. ##### Getting Acquainted with ADHD - If our ADHD is a [[Protector Strategies 🛡️|Protector Strategy 🛡️]], we’re likely to notice a reduction if those [[💡 Parts|Parts]] accept our help. - The [[💡 Parts|Parts]] involved in ADHD will often not talk to us via [[💡 In-sight|Insight]], in which case a [[🦮 How to find an IFS therapist or practitioner|practitioner]] will need to use [[💡 Direct Access|Direct Access]].[^3] In the meantime, there are other, more parts-driven ways, to manage ADHD ###### Easy and Fast Reducing [[💡 Stress|stress]] and our [[💡 Cognitive Load|Cognitive Load]], giving ourselves a sense of safety and stability, can help those [[💡 Parts|Parts]] relax more. [[🕯️ Movement and Exercise 👟]] and [[🕯️ Meditation 🧘]], getting [[⭐️ Outdoors]], and having a creative outlet can be incredibly effective at helping these [[💡 Parts|Parts]] feel safe enough to soften and become less active so long as [[🔑 Our Parts set the pace|we don't bypass Protectors]]. ![[Nutrition for ADHD]] ###### More Difficult, Slower, More Effective ADHD is characterized not by an *inability to focus*, but by an inability to *control* that focus and our thoughts. By learning about all of these things, we can work with these [[💡 Parts|Parts]] rather than against them. - [[💡 Focus & Concentration]] - [[💡 Motivation]] - [[💡 Thoughts]] - [[⭐️ Life Curation]] ##### Related - [[🛡️ Distracting]] ##### Resources ###### Podcasts - [Distraction Podcast](https://www.distractionpodcast.com/category/episodes/) - [ADHD Rewired - Eric Tivers](https://www.adhdrewired.com/) ###### Services - [Nobel Coaching](https://nobelcoaching.com/) ###### Websites - ADDitudemag.com - www.embraceyouradhd.ca - Brett Thornhill - https://rena-fi.com/adhd/ (Finances) - https://www.adhdessentials.com/ - Brendan Mahan - https://add.org/ ADD Association - ADD @ add.About.com * - understood.org - AskJan.org - CHADD.org* - ADD.org - Willpower.net - ADHD Together (For parents of children with ADHD) - Kids in the House (Parenting) - Takethis.org (Depression) - Facebook Reddit, Twitter ADHD Support Groups ###### YouTube Channels - [How to ADHD](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nPM1_kSZf91ZGkcgy_95Q) [^1]: [[📖 ✅ IFS Online Circle]] Month 3: Working with Exiles & The Trauma Behind the Rage - Month 3 with Richard Schwartz [^2]: [[📖 ✅ Embracing All of You - Compassionate Inquiry Meets Internal Family Systems]] Session One: Introduction: Getting the Most Out of This Series [^3]: [[📖 ✅ IFS Online Circle]]: Month 6: The Body & the Automation Nervous System & Putting it All Together - Month 6 with Richard Schwartz Continued