Spontaneous spending — and financial headaches — are common among people with ADHD, who struggle with impulsive behaviors, poor planning skills, and other executive dysfunctions inherent to the condition. Impulse buying also produces that quick rush of dopamine, which ADHD brains constantly crave.
They are more than three times more likely to find it difficult to stick to a budget (50%) compared with the general population (15%). Those with ADHD are four times more likely to impulse-spend often (48%) than someone who doesn't have it (12%).
People with ADHD are less sensitive to dopamine, so some tend to do things that might be risky or excessive—say, buying a pricey item they can't stop thinking about—in order to boost its production.
Hence, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can urge us to fill our dopamine levels. This is possibly why many ADHD individuals love shopping around the mall and finding something they want or something that makes their eyes sparkle. When we buy things we want, we might experience a “dopamine surge.”
Spontaneity and courage
Research suggests that this spontaneity can often lead people with ADHD to seek out thrill and adventure, with the added courage they gain from that spontaneity.
The five gifts of ADHD include creativity, emotional sensitivity, exuberance, interpersonal empathy, and being nature-smart (The Gift of Adult ADD, 2008).
“Opposites Attract”: People with ADHD are attracted to “organized” and joyless workers bees who can keep the trains running for the both of them and who in turn are drawn to their free-spirited ADHD partner's spontaneity and sense of fun.
Some people are naturally neat. They keep their things fairly organized and try to avoid making a mess. But many kids and adults with ADHD are the opposite — they're messy most of the time. And it can cause problems at home, school, and work.
Research shows that young adults with ADHD often struggle to manage money. That's because ADHD can cause procrastination, disorganization, and impulsivity. These traits aren't harmful in themselves, but they can make it difficult to manage money.
“The hardest thing about ADHD is that it's 'invisible' to outsiders. It's not like other conditions that people can clearly see. People just assume that we are not being good parents and that our child is a brat, when they don't have an idea how exhausted we truly are.” —Sara C.
As you know, one trademark of ADHD is low levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine — a chemical released by nerve cells into the brain. Due to this lack of dopamine, people with ADHD are "chemically wired" to seek more, says John Ratey, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Adults with ADHD may find it difficult to focus and prioritize, leading to missed deadlines and forgotten meetings or social plans. The inability to control impulses can range from impatience waiting in line or driving in traffic to mood swings and outbursts of anger.
But also notice how generous they are to the ones they care about the most. This can also apply to adults with ADHD. Basically, individuals with ADHD care about other people. They want to make the people around them happy, whether it's by sharing a lunch box or providing a shoulder to cry on.
Take, for example, ADHD. While most people associate ADHD with hyperactivity and impulsivity, it can also manifest in more subtle ways, such as through intrusive thoughts and overthinking.
People with ADHD are at an increased risk for eating disorders, including bulimia, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating. However, research has been focused on binge eating specifically, due to the large number of people with both ADHD and a binge eating disorder.
Like those with disordered eating, people with ADHD often deal with boredom, stress and intense feelings by overeating in order to soothe themselves. Those with ADHD may be likely to forget to eat and to binge later.
Differences in emotions in people with ADHD can lead to 'shutdowns', where someone is so overwhelmed with emotions that they space out, may find it hard to speak or move and may struggle to articulate what they are feeling until they can process their emotions.
People with ADHD aren't smart
This is almost entirely false. Actually, lower IQ isn't specifically related to ADHD. People with ADHD are often perceived to have low intelligence because they work differently than the rest of the population.
Adults with ADHD often have problems dealing with day-to-day tasks. They tend to be forgetful, disorganized, and messy. This makes cleaning with ADHD nearly an insurmountable task, especially since cleaning seems like such a chore to neurotypicals themselves.
Can someone with ADHD fall in love? While all kinds of people can fall in love, the experience of people with ADHD falling in love can be more intense for them. This is because the person with ADHD can hyperfocus on the person they are in love with.
When you begin to date someone, you may be showered with gifts, compliments, and attention; you may feel pressured to commit too quickly. This behavior is called idealizing, or “love bombing.” Devaluing.
As we've discussed, unfortunately, many people with ADHD tend to have a lack of empathy. This can be addressed, though, through identifying and communicating about each other's feelings.