Stimulant medication can reduce the tendency of an individual with ADHD to hyperfocus, but it won't eliminate the problem.
ADHD treatment such as medication or therapy could help improve hyperfocus along with other symptoms, but you can also take steps to redirect focus on your own.
Parents may also describe their child as “spacey” or “zombie-like” after starting ADHD treatment. This can be thought of as hyperfocus from a dose that is too high. In most instances, this is due to too high a dose and treatment should be reduced.
Ritalin may make it easier for you to concentrate, be less fidgety, and gain control of your actions. You may also find it easier to listen and focus at your job or in school. If you're already prone to anxiety or agitation, or have an existing psychotic disorder, Ritalin may worsen these symptoms.
One way to make hyperfocus work to your advantage is by organizing your to-do list strategically. Take care of any time-sensitive tasks (scheduling or confirming an appointment, picking up your child, etc.) before tackling a project that you know will command all of your attention.
Hyperfocus, broadly and anecdotally speaking, is a phenomenon that reflects one's complete absorption in a task, to a point where a person appears to completely ignore or 'tune out' everything else. It is generally reported to occur when a person is engaged in an activity that is particularly fun or interesting.
Taking Ritalin without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder also presents the risk of dependency and addiction. Although ADHD medications like Ritalin aren't as addictive as illegal stimulants like cocaine, both types of drugs influence dopamine levels in the brain and therefore have a similar mechanism of action.
Findings from a new study published by the Journal of Neural Transmission suggest that the use of Ritalin without a prescription can alter brain chemistry. These changes can affect risk-taking behavior, sleep disruption, and elicit other side effects.
Psychiatrically, it is considered to be a trait of ADHD together with inattention, and it has been proposed as a trait of other conditions, such as schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Hyperfocus may bear a relationship to the concept of flow.
As CNS stimulants, both Ritalin and Adderall produce similar therapeutic effects, such as alertness, wakefulness, and increased focus.
Hyperfocus is a controversial symptom because there is currently limited scientific evidence that it exists. It is also not experienced by everyone with ADHD.
Type 6: Ring of Fire ADD
Symptoms: primary ADD symptoms plus extreme moodiness, anger outbursts, oppositional, inflexibility, fast thoughts, excessive talking, and very sensitive to sounds and lights. I named it Ring of Fire after the intense ring of overactivity that I saw in the brains of affected people.
The Final Word on Ritalin and Anxiety
While it is easy to imagine that a drug that seems to "calm" overexcited children would be great for your anxiety, the truth is that this drug is designed to stimulate alertness and therefore runs the risk of worsening your anxiety rather than improving it.
How does it make you feel? As stimulant drugs, methylphenidate and the methylphenidate-based drugs can make you feel very 'up', awake, excited, alert and energised, but they can also make you feel agitated and aggressive. They may also stop you from feeling hungry.
Stimulants are believed to work by increasing dopamine levels in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with motivation, pleasure, attention, and movement. For many people with ADHD, stimulant medications boost concentration and focus while reducing hyperactive and impulsive behaviors.
You or your child should not use this medicine if you are using or have used a drug for depression, called an MAO inhibitor (MAOI), such as Eldepryl®, Marplan®, Nardil®, or Parnate®, within the past 14 days. Methylphenidate may cause dizziness, drowsiness, or changes in vision.
Ritalin in the brain
Ritalin works by increasing the amount of dopamine released in the striatum, a key region in the brain related to motivation, action and cognition.
As much as having ADHD can make it difficult to stay focused, with every possible trigger acting as a distraction, it can also allow us to hyperfocus. This is where we get so involved in a project that we are doing, that nothing can break our concentration.
Hyperfocus refers to an intense fixation on an interest or activity for an extended period of time. People who experience hyperfocus often become so engrossed they block out the world around them. Children and adults with ADHD often exhibit hyperfocus when working intently on things that interest them.
People with ADHD can slip into hyperfocus, their brain starts releasing dopamine and sending off signals of pleasure and reward that compensates for their deficient reward system. The more they are engrossed in such activities, the greater the dopamine boost — and the easier it becomes to stay on such tasks.
Hyperfocus is the unique and defining characteristic of autism that is responsible for 52 of its observed traits listed below. Hyperfocus is the perpetual and unrelenting state of intense single-minded concentration fixated on one thought pattern at a time, to the exclusion of everything else.