an interest-based nervous system (motivated by what's compelling enough to get activated). He refers to the five motivating factors with the acronym INCUP: interest, novelty, challenge, urgency, and passion.
The ADHD brain has been described as an “interest-based nervous system”: It seeks high-stimulation situations, stronger incentives, and more immediate rewards, which trigger a quick and intense release of dopamine and with it a rush of motivation. Hyperfocus. Dopamine is the brain's most intense reward.
Anxiety is often used as a tool by people with ADHD to motivate them into action. It can seem to help with memory function and alertness. In order to remember to do something, you will focus on anxiety-inducing reasons to remember something, and that anxiety will help keep that thought at the front of your mind.
ADHD affects brain functioning in several ways. The condition has links to abnormal cognitive, behavioral, and motivational functioning. ADHD can affect the regulation of moods, emotions, and brain cell connections. It can also affect communication between different areas of the brain.
People have often developed many strategies to help them manage these difficulties like; keeping a diary, planning, setting reminders and writing lists. Finding out more strategies that help can help people manage day to day. Some people with ADHD may have problems with anxiety/ worry and feeling low at times.
High-stress situations get the dopamine pumping in the brain, which is why adults with ADHD tend to make great firefighters and ER doctors, as well as brilliant stock-traders and entrepreneurs. The world seems to slow down, as they get into laser-sharp focus, remaining cool, clear-headed, and effective.
People with ADHD may compulsively seek high-dopamine activities and stimulus to turn their brains on, which is why people with ADHD can be more likely to engage in impulsive and risky behaviors. Anything that triggers a strong burst of dopamine in the brain may be sought after by an individual.
The mind of a person with ADHD is full of the minutiae of life (“Where are my keys?” “Where did I park the car?”), so there is little room left for new thoughts and memories. Something has to be discarded or forgotten to make room for new information. Often the information individuals with ADHD need is in their memory…
But ADHD may also bring with it an advantage: the ability to think more creatively. Three aspects of creative cognition are divergent thinking, conceptual expansion and overcoming knowledge constraints.
There are plenty of things that can make some people with ADHD socially awkward. We can easily be discouraged, struggle to handle our emotions, or have low self-esteem. These traits might make us speak quickly to avoid confrontation as much as we can.
Indeed, ADHD brains struggle to sustain motivation when rewards are mild or are linked to long-term gratification. As a result, ADHD brains search for stimulation that can increase dopamine more quickly and intensely. Ultimately, the pursuit of pleasurable rewards may become a potent form of self-medication.
Procrastination is an avoidance behavior. Imbalances in motivation can occur in people with ADHD, as they tend to hyperfocus on tasks they deem interesting but procrastinate over tasks they deem tedious.
This may mean that you also struggle to stay on task and get things done, which can make it hard to stay motivated. Boredom: A lack of motivation might also mean that you feel stuck in a rut or are bored with a particular task, whether because you're not interested in it or find it tedious or repetitive.
Treatment. Standard treatments for ADHD in adults typically involve medication, education, skills training and psychological counseling. A combination of these is often the most effective treatment.
Differences in brain chemistry
A study using mice suggests certain neurotransmitters — notably dopamine — may play a role in motivation for people living with ADHD. Lower levels of this neurotransmitter can affect reward centers in the brain, causing a lack of enthusiasm for starting or completing tasks.
Some eye conditions are more common in people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These include refractive errors, such as astigmatism, and convergence insufficiency, which makes it difficult for the eyes to remain aligned when looking at nearby objects.
At the structural and neuroimaging level, studies have reported atypical right hemisphere structure (Valera et al., 2007; Frodl and Skokauskas, 2012); in particular, smaller size of right frontal and prefrontal cortex were found in subjects with ADHD (Hill et al., 2003; Almeida et al., 2010).
Creativity. Those with ADHD are often highly creative, especially when given a goal-oriented task. Living with ADHD also requires people to approach tasks differently, which means they can become great problem solvers. Those with ADHD often think of unusual solutions because of their different perspectives.
The ADHD brain operates differently, but in this case "different" doesn't mean better or worse. Do people with ADHD have fast brains? People with ADHD do not think more quickly or less quickly than people without ADHD.
INCUP is an acronym that stands for interest, novelty, challenge, urgency, and passion. The term was first proposed by psychologist William Dodson, who suggested that these five things are the top motivating factors for someone with ADHD.
ADHD brains have low levels of a neurotransmitter called norepinephrine. Norepinephrine is linked arm-in-arm with dopamine. Dopamine is the thing that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure center. The ADHD brain has impaired activity in four functional regions of the brain.
Research shows employees with ADHD can be more curious, creative, imaginative, innovative, and inventive. They tend to be out-of-the-box thinkers, with an approach that can be highly prized in the workplace. Your ADHD symptoms can work for you, when you learn more about them and have proper treatment.