Lots of creative people have ADHD. ADHD challenges, like impulsivity and risk-taking, could lead to creative thinking. If people with ADHD follow through on ideas, their creativity can flourish.
They are recognised for their 'Out of the Box' thinking, their creativity and, at times, their eccentricity. Divergent thinking and ADHD tend to go hand in hand. Creativity tends to be part of the essence of ADHD and should be encouraged and nurtured.
It's often cited as a valuable (but tough to harness) benefit of having ADHD. As it turns out, creativity is more than a perk; it is a requirement. To be healthy and productive, you must carve out time to pursue your creative passions.
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.
Thinking outside the box is a common thread among people with ADHD. They are nonconformists and they can generate powerfully imaginative ideas because they do think outside the boundaries that impede others. While this can be a problem in school, it can become a true asset in many different fields of work.
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 do think differently though, in a sense.
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.
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.
The Gift of ADHD: They say that adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have almost a sixth sense about people. My sharp sense of intuition is the one personal attribute that I've always been proud of. Since I was little I've been able to smell a two-faced person from a mile away.
ADHD can make completing tasks such as school work, homework, or work projects much more difficult. However, there is no clear link between ADHD and IQ. A person may have a high, average, or low IQ score and also have ADHD. ADHD may cause a person to interrupt in class or perform poorly on tests.
A recent review of findings on ADHD and FFM personality suggests that, in general, ADHD has associations with the FFM traits of Neuroticism (positive), Agreeableness (negative) and Conscientiousness (negative).
According to research, Leonardo da Vinci was reported to have had many symptoms of ADHD. He worked on multiple projects at once and had trouble completing them and had extremely chaotic organizational skills and was constantly on the move.
High IQ may “mask” the diagnosis of ADHD by compensating for deficits in executive functions in treatment-naïve adults with ADHD.
In fact, about 50% of gifted children also have ADHD which adds complexity and additional challenges. When both are present in a child, they are considered to be 'twice-exceptional. ' Self-esteem and self-efficacy are other areas of functioning that are impacted in individuals with ADHD.
Hyper-focus, quality, and timeliness.
When focused on work that aligns with their interests and strengths, individuals with ADHD frequently draw upon their strength of hyper-focus and deliver results that easily offset any (often minimal) costs associated with accommodations.
People with ADHD may have a hard time developing healthy social skills from childhood through adulthood, especially if their condition goes untreated. That said, it's possible to improve your social skills at any point in life.
Research shows that in people with ADHD, some brain regions become “hyperactive,” whereas other brain regions are “hypoactive.” This suggests that there may be a problem with the brain's computing capacity to appropriately meet the cognitive demand of the task.
Falling in love can be an emotional roller coaster for most teens. But for teenagers with ADHD, symptoms like impulsivity or trouble managing emotions can make falling in love or starting a relationship an even bumpier ride. That said, not all kids with ADHD struggle in the same way, or to the same degree.
Brain MRI is a new and experimental tool in the world of ADHD research. Though brain scans cannot yet reliably diagnose ADHD, some scientists are using them to identify environmental and prenatal factors that affect symptoms, and to better understand how stimulant medications trigger symptom control vs. side effects.
In Australia, ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, affecting 6-7% of the population4. Even into adulthood, around 65% of those diagnosed continue to experience symptoms, with 15% still meeting the criteria for a diagnosis of ADHD5.
All types of ADHD may include weaknesses in executive functioning. Thus, children with ADHD are more likely to have problems getting started on things, and have difficulty with planning, problem-solving, and time management.
People in the ADHD world experience life more intensely, more passionately than neurotypicals. They have a low threshold for outside sensory experience because the day-to-day experience of their five senses and their thoughts is always on high volume.
The iconic inventor Nikola Tesla was an innovator and thinker whose creative genius led to many of the advancements in technology that we still enjoy today. He also had ADHD which gave him the incredible ability to hyperfocus and pour his energy into incredible inventions and ideas.
For instance, among the 18 studies under scrutiny that did not explicitly state an IQ cut-off point the mean range of IQ among individuals with ADHD reported in the studies is from 102 to 110. Given that lower IQ is associated with ADHD this suggests that individuals with ADHD may be inaccurately represented.