Brain Chemistry and ADHD

One of the distinct downsides to living with ADHD is that I spend far too much time planning to do things as opposed to actually doing those things.

Part of this thing we call "executive dysfunction" — which is central to ADHD — revolves around the fact (at least for me) that I don't know how to start some big project until I'm perfectly organized. That means I often waste a lot of time on organization that I could be spending on actually starting on the project and getting a ways down the road.

Some psychologists would label that as "procrastination," but that actually shoots wide of the mark.

While I don't write a lot about it, ADHD is in the news a lot these days. That's not because it's a new condition or because it's part of a syndrome of the week situation, but because the criteria for assessing people has changed considerably in the last decade or so.

What a lot of people don't realize is that the original definition of ADHD was centered around what teachers could physically observe in young boys being disruptive in a classroom. But that completely overlooked the part of the condition that is with people who are not hyperactive and more importantly with women.

I was never hyperactive; in fact I was more likely to fall asleep than I was to be hyperactive!

To the degree that anybody recognized that something might be out of the ordinary with me, it was because I had a problem with drifting off into daydreams during class... when I should be focusing on the teacher and the lessons.

Other giveaways might have been that I was able to absorb far more information from what was going on in the classroom if I was allowed to doodle on a piece of paper while listening as opposed to trying to focus by looking at the blackboard and looking at the teacher directly.

But that's not exactly a point you can readily convey to a teaching staff that's only dedicated to teaching in the traditional way. Needless to say, I was often sent to the library to study, and to contemplate "the error of my ways" in silence, among the stacks of books.

I mostly self-regulate my condition through my own set of processes, both via habits, as well as by taking a moderate dose of natural saffron extract which has a similar effect as low doses of prescription drugs like Ritalin.

The good thing is that it doesn't take a lot to have a significant effect, and all I really need is just a little push, in terms of brain chemistry!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great rest of your week!

How about YOU? Have you ever had to deal with ADHD... in yourself, or someone close to you? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2026.09.10 00:10 PDT
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