Overstimulation is a daily reality for many people with ADHD. We feel too much — physically and emotionally. We struggle with emotional regulation, impulsivity, and big feelings. Many of us also experience sensory sensitivities, reacting strongly to sights, tastes, smell, and more.
It happens when an ADHDer is hyper-sensitive to the sensory information their brain receives, causing them to experience certain sensations more intensely or longer than normal. This leads to overstimulation and a “fight or flight” response, which may affect how a person functions daily.
When people with ADHD become overstimulated, they may be unable to focus as environmental factors or sensations crowd their brains. Moreover, people with ADHD and sensory overload may be unable to quickly “switch gears” in terms of the activity in which they are taking part.
Research suggests that people with ADHD produce less dopamine from positive stimulation than neurotypicals1, which can lead to feeling understimulated in situations that others are typically comfortable in.
What does sensory overload feel like in ADHD? When a person with ADHD experiences sensory overload, they can become so fixated on a certain sensation, they're often unable to turn their attention away from the stimuli or focus on other tasks. This can make it difficult to meet expectations at school or work.
Often girls with ADHD have a physiological sensitivity that results in their not wanting to be touched or feeling really sensitive to physical affection, such as hugs.
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.
ADHD meltdowns are sudden outbursts of frustration and anger that seem to come out of nowhere. If your child is struggling to control their emotions, there are ways to help them. For children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), impulsivity can present in many ways.
ADHD boredom intolerance can cause you to seek stimulation when faced with boring activities. You may find yourself acting out, drifting off in your thoughts, or getting bored much more quickly than your peers. And when you get bored, you may have more trouble stimulating your brain and getting motivated again.
Key aspects of the reward system are underactive in ADHD brains, making it difficult to derive reward from ordinary activities. These dopamine-deficient brains experience a surge of motivation after a high-stimulation behavior triggers a release of dopamine.
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 tend to experience life more intensely than others. This means that even if you're hyper-focusing on a certain task or assignment in front of you, you can still have many other thoughts and ideas coursing through your brain. It can feel like there's always a lot going on, which may become overwhelming.
Stimming can take many different forms: visual: staring off into space, drawing, spinning things like pens or coins. verbal/auditory: repeating sounds, excessive giggling, constantly clearing throat. tactile: rubbing fingers, chewing/biting nails, chewing the inside of cheeks.
Some of the symptoms of ADHD—such as self-regulation and trouble paying attention to what's going on around you—may themselves induce sensory overload. When you're not tuned in, sensory information can sneak up on you.
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.
Emerging evidence suggests that vestibular brainstem reflexes are altered in a subset of children with ADHD and points to this as a cause of decreased postural control.
Because children and adults with ADHD struggle with focusing, organizing tasks, and feeling restless, they might experience sadness, guilt, irritability, low self-confidence and helplessness. In some cases, these symptoms can signal depression.
Bored or under-stimulated ADHD brains may become restless and demand an immediate reward and more stimulation. While you may think your child's fidgeting, noise, laughter, yelling, or conflict-making behaviors are inappropriate and unprovoked, their under-aroused brains, needing stimulation, are demanding it.
It is essential to realize that people with ADHD are generally emotionally sensitive and may have strong feelings of shame, preventing them from seeking the medical help they need. Aside from medications, allowing the person to process their emotions before a meltdown is a healthy way to help them cope with rejection.
ADHD burnout is often something a little deeper. It refers to the cycle of overcommitting and overextending that leads to fatigue in people with ADHD. It involves taking on too many tasks and commitments, and then the subsequent exhaustion that happens when we're unable to fulfill all of our obligations.
In ADHD children, overwhelm can lead to meltdowns or a fight, flight or freeze response. Similarly, in adults overwhelm may lead to a flood of strong emotions that are released in different ways, for example, anger or crying. ADHD overwhelm paralysis or 'shutdown' is also a common reaction.
When people with ADHD are activated, they are often plagued by self-sabotaging, negative internal talk that prevents them from believing they can do things. It can be conscious or unconscious and can keep folks from setting, working towards, and reaching goals. It holds them back from doing what they want to do.
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.