One study published in 2010 found that children with ADHD do not have the same connections between the frontal cortex of the brain and the visual processing area. 6 This suggests that the ADHD brain processes information differently than a non-ADHD brain.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes differences in brain growth, development, and function. ADHD can also cause delayed maturation and activity differences in certain brain regions. The differences of the ADHD brain can affect thinking, behavior, and emotions.
Research has shown that in children with ADHD, the prefrontal cortex matures more slowly than typically developing kids. It is also slightly smaller in size. Similarly, the cerebellum, hippocampus, and amygdala are also thought to be smaller in volume in kids with ADHD.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition characterized by an inability to control one's attention span so as to effectively complete one activity or cognitive process before proceeding to another. This leads to impulsive decision-making and actions, and typically a hyperkinetic mode of life.
ADHDers—people with ADHD—can also experience intrusive thoughts that are repetitive, distressing, or just flat-out strange. It's not uncommon to have intrusive thoughts, but frequently experiencing them may be a symptom of your ADHD (if you have ADHD) or possibly something else.
It's when your thoughts get caught in a loop, and you go over and over the same thoughts without feeling better or finding a resolution. Your thinking might get stuck on day to day worries or on future events.
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.
Many ADHD symptoms and traits can affect a person's ability to resolve conflicts. For instance, being unable to manage their emotions well can get in the way of toning down a confrontation. Being easily distracted, talking too fast or interrupting a conversation, and forgetfulness can also cause conflicts.
These may include hyperfocus, resilience, creativity, conversational skills, spontaneity, and abundant energy. Many people view these benefits as “superpowers” because those with ADHD can hone them to their advantage. People with ADHD have a unique perspective that others may find interesting and valuable.
Executive functions have other roles which affect how someone thinks. In people with ADHD, these executive dysfunctions impact thinking in numerous ways. People with ADHD don't really think faster than people without it, but it can sometimes seem like they do.
People with ADHD will have at least two or three of the following challenges: difficulty staying on task, paying attention, daydreaming or tuning out, organizational issues, and hyper-focus, which causes us to lose track of time. ADHD-ers are often highly sensitive and empathic.
Untreated ADHD in adults can lead to mental health disorders like anxiety and depression. This is because ADHD symptoms can lead to focus, concentration, and impulsivity problems. When these problems are not managed effectively, they can lead to feelings of frustration, irritability, and low self-esteem.
Previous research has established that individuals with ADHD are exceptionally good at divergent thinking tasks, such as inventing creative new uses for everyday objects, and brainstorming new features for an innovative cell phone device.
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.
Research has found that people with ADHD have more creativity and idea generation than people without the disorder. 3 This can lead to outside-the-box thinking that is so important for innovation. Hyper-focus: Many people with ADHD become hyper-focused on things that interest them.
Lack of consistency. Toxic communication — such as contempt, criticism, and sarcasm. Controlling behavior and distrust. Abusive — this is also inclusive of emotionally abusive behaviors, such as gaslighting, love bombing, breadcrumbing etc.
ADHD makes us more sensitive to criticism. Often, our first instinct is to respond defensively or angrily to outside comments that feel like disapproval. But adults with attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) should know that doing so could sacrifice learning opportunities and the respect of others.
Kids with ADHD often have behavior problems. They get angry quickly, throw tantrums, and refuse to do things they don't want to do. These kids aren't trying to be bad. The problem is that ADHD can make it hard for them to do things they find difficult or boring.
Spontaneous daydreaming can be a subtle symptom of ADHD for some people, especially girls and women. Excessive or disruptive daydreaming may also be linked to other mental health conditions, like maladaptive daydreaming.
In general, ADHD doesn't get worse with age. Some adults may also outgrow their symptoms. But this is not the case for everyone.
Traumatic stress can worsen ADHD symptoms. Up to 17% of trauma-exposed children meet ADHD criteria, and the co-occurrence of each worsens the effects of the other. Trauma also impacts specific brain regions that may also increase: Inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
ADHD brains are no different - they're programmed to focus on past mistakes and future danger. But ADHD brain EXTRA prone to ruminating because they are constantly fighting a part of our brain that I like to call brain recess (or the Default Mode Network if you want to get technical).