In the previous article, we exemplified how a brain with ADHD works and how a person with this condition feels.
In this article, we’re going to try to understand ADHD from two radically opposed perspectives, but which have more similarities than people think: science and spirituality.
Understanding ADHD
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is not a sickness or a disability, it’s a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent difficulties in attention, impulse control, and hyperactivity.
On a biological perspective, ADHD impacts several brain regions, leading to differences in structure, function, and chemistry.
Let’s explore these areas:
- Frontal Cortex: Responsible for regulating behavior, emotions, and attention, it’s different in ADHD brains.
- Limbic Regions: The limbic system influences emotions and motivation. Changes in this region originate hyperactivity, inattention, and decision-making difficulties.
- Basal Ganglia: This region plays a role in motor learning, behavior regulation, and multitasking, all of which are affected by ADHD.
- Default Mode Network (DMN): In ADHD, the DMN activates more frequently, causing distractions and difficulty staying focused on the tasks at hand.
The fact that many people today use their own false concept of hyperactivity as an excuse for their own or their kids’ poor behavior and lack of education highly contributes to the general public’s disbelief towards ADHD.
You see, ADHD is not “all in our head”, it’s in our brain. The brain of an ADHDer is not wired in the same way.
Science has found differences in brain structure, function, and chemistry.
For example, experts have found this condition is related to neurotransmitters, which play a part in other disorders like Alzheimer’s and depression.
From another nonbiological and more spiritual approach, it is said that ADHDers are, in fact, Indigo children.
There is a well-known book on this subject, where researchers Tober and Carroll have linked the concept of Indigo children with the diagnosis of ADHD.
In theory, they are “old souls” that came to help save the world by making human beings evolve.
The non-spiritual version of indigo people (again, don’t forget children will turn into adults) is just that they are gifted souls, empaths, with a lot of creativity, intelligence, and a sense of purpose, and they are more connected to the world rather than self-centered.
The 13 points below are characteristics that most people with ADHD can relate to. What about you?
Do you see yourself in any of them?
- Hypersensitivity to some places and some people.
- Need for justice and coherence in life, at all levels.
- Independence: need to feel free, they accept guidance, but can’t stand to be micromanaged or controlled.
- Creative, gifted in music, writing or painting, because art allows others to see the world through their eyes.
- Often defend the weak and powerless passionately.
- Uncomfortable in hierarchical settings, they need a positive and respectful hierarchy.
- Headstrong, they know their self-worth and never back down if someone goes against their integrity or accuses them of something they didn’t do.
- Difficulty maintaining a stable social life: sometimes friendly and outgoing, suddenly a hermit for a period of time.
- Low resistance to frustration: coupled with their big-picture vision and restlessness, they are easily frustrated with other people. Patience is something they have to work on.
- They will dedicate 100% to a job that suits them. Unable to remain in a job they don’t love.
- With a strong sense of empathy, they read people easily.
- Interest in intuition and/or extrasensory abilities.
- Tendency to ask existential questions and/or seek spiritual solutions.
If the symptoms of ADHD are of neurochemical or spiritual origin is beside the point—whether we’re people of science or we’re into esotericism, what matters is that this is a real condition and by denying it you deny the very people who live with it.
We try very hard to fit in and adapt to a world that, for the most part, functions differently.
In the next article of this series, we’ll focus more on the strengths of having ADHD, how they can be leveraged in the workplace, and on practical strategies for living and working with impulsivity, poor short-term memory, attention deficit and the restlessness of having to keep themselves in constant activity in order to remain calm.
While you’re waiting for the final part of our article, where we’ll cover strategies to turn ADHD into a set of “super powers”, visit our website to get to know our professional translation & transcreation services, our professional proofreading services, and our professional copywriting services:
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