Is ADHD a real thing?

Growing up in an extremely religious household…
Mental disorder wasn’t a “thing.”

It was “a lack of discipline.”
Or “why can’t you just try harder?”
It was seen as an excuse. Or demons. (Not joking.)
So when teachers suggested Ritalin, my mom refused.

Meanwhile I’m over here…

• Daydreaming hard… I got a whole cinematic universe in my head. 

• Becoming the class clown because I crave dopamine like a crackhead. 

• Still in honors/AP classes (which made it even more confusing)

• Getting spankings + grounded constantly

• Pastors praying for me like I’m possessed by the Spirit of Distraction (lol)

Even back then I used to question myself.
Like… Why do I do what I do?
Why can’t I stop spacing out even when I’m trying so hard to listen?

So I start Googling.
Yahoo Answers.
Ask Jeeves. (throwback lol)
Trying to diagnose my own operating system at age 12 like a tiny, stressed out IT guy.

I get diagnosed last year… Funny enough… 
It wasn’t therapy that finally explained ADHD to me.
It was ADHD memes.
Comment threads.
And people describing my entire life like they lived in my skull rent free.

Then I went deeper.
Not psychologically.
Neurologically.

Not “what do I think?”
But “Why does it think like that. “WTF is my BRAIN doing?”

And that’s when I realized:
This rabbit hole goes DEEP, babyyyy!

If you have ADHD…
Your brain is not only wired differently but structured differently.

The brain regions like pre-frontal cortex, striatum, basal ganglia, and cerebellum tend to be smaller… Other parts delay in maturing like the Prefrontal Cortex also delay.

The ADHD brain lacks electronic impulses in the frontal lobe.
This is a problem because the frontal lobe is our main controller.
It operates our executive functioning.

What are our Executive Functions?

These executive functions exposes why people with ADHD have trouble in relationships, work and school.

But the CRUCIAL part…
This is the area that organizes and plans for the future!
Get it?
This is why!
We want to wake up early but go to sleep late.
Want to go to the gym but are stuffing our mouth with a burger.
Our ADHD brain is LITERALLY designed to get instant gratification.

So HERE’S the Hack…

Basal Ganglia

Is in charge of… 
Motor Activity.
STARTING TASKS. 
Reward Processing.
Attention Switching.

This area of the brain “Short circuits”
So staying motivated and initiating tasks.
This region, disrupts the "reward pathway" and affects motivation.
So HERE’S the Hack…

Limbic System

Stress,
Emotion,
Irritability
Hyperactive
Hunger / thirst
Sexual arousal
And reward regulation.

The Limbic System had reduced grey matter volume…
 In the amygdala, hippocampus, and cingulate gyrus, along with increased amygdala activity.

Which links with chronic low depression.
Contributing to intense emotions, mood swings, and rejection-sensitive dysphoria.

Hippocampus is responsible for your ability to learning…
Form short and long-term new memories.
Help regulate various bodily functions, including the “fight-or-flight” response.

CRUCIAL! 
Dysfunction contributes to difficulties with task initiation and follow-through.

So HERE’S the Hack…

“Sleep = The “Bootloader”

If sleep is unstable, everything else gets harder:
impulse control, emotional regulation, working memory, appetite, cravings.

So HERE’S the Hack…

The goal is:
Build external systems that do what your internal systems struggle to do consistently.

Evidence based care often combines medication + therapy/skills training + lifestyle supports.

So now we know we can’t do the classic self-help thing:

We set goals.
We make plans.
We buy notebooks.
We watch motivational content.

And then…

We don’t do the thing. WHY?
Because standard productivity advice fails. 
Out brain doesn’t responds to:
“Just do it.” (Nike Shiii)

Our brain responds to:
“Is it interesting?”
“Is it urgent?”
“Is it new?”
“Is it rewarding?”
“Is someone watching?” (lol)

We struggle to do boring, unclear, or delayed-reward things.
So let’s build around that.

Hacking ADHD
It’s not a skill issue. It’s a hardware issue. 
But we don’t want issues. We want solutions. 

Tomorrow we talk about
Brain chemical’s and how to hack it!

Old me thought:
“I just need to be tougher.”
“I just need more discipline.”
“I just need to stop being dramatic.” (lol)

New me?
We learning: We need better systems.

So I’m rebuilding in public.
Loser to legend. One patch at a time.

Loser logging off.
Legend loading…

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