[1:04] Welcome back to the smart ADHD podcast. This is episode five. And in today's episode, we're focusing on the top ADHD traits. And this is actually going to be part one because it turns out there's actually quite a few traits out there, much more than I ever thought.
[1:23] I don't know whether you're like me and thinking that, or whether you thought this, that ADHD is just down to, not being able to keep still or being late for things, or naughty boy syndrome.
[1:37] But ADHD actually has a lot of other traits. And when I was wondering whether I had ADHD, I had lots of epiphany moments when I realized, oh, wow, that thing that I struggle with is to do with ADHD. Oh, and that one is too, that explains a lot. And it made me realize how much guilt I Had over all these things and the guilt was kind of taken away when I found out I had ADHD So there are a lot in this list and so we're gonna go through things fairly quickly But I'd love to know from you what you think about all of this
[2:16] So the first category I want to focus on is Is do you see what I did there focus on Attention related traits and the first one really is to do with difficulty focusing.
[2:30] Individuals with ADHD, we tend to struggle to maintain attention on certain tasks. it's not so much deficit, you see, attention deficit, I think, in the ADHD acronym isn't overly helpful because, you know, It's not so much attention deficit, it's attention dysregulation, I think, because certain projects I will hyper focus on, and we'll talk a little bit more about hyper focus later.
[2:58] Certain tasks that I'm not interested in, I'm going to struggle to maintain that attention. and that is, apparently, I'm not an expert in this. Remember, I am interviewing experts on this show, but I'm not an expert. That is, I believe, partly down to deficits in executive function, and that inability to regulate attention and concentration.
[3:22] And when we try and focus on a task that we find not interesting, it takes a lot of effort, a huge amount of effort.
[3:32] The next one, the next one is, Being easily distracted. And this is funny because I look back at my school reports and there were quite a few Ian is easily distracted. It kind of depends on the topic that I'm focusing on the task that I'm focused on.
[3:50] Again, if I'm in a hyper focus mode, if I'm doing something that absolutely grabs my attention, then. I'm not easily distracted at all. In fact, it's the opposite is true. But those of us with ADHD are more sensitive to external stimuli like noises or visual movements. And this is why I, I love noise cancelling headphones.
[4:14] and I play like brown noise or white noise, which we've talked about in previous episodes to help me just get rid of any Distractions the background, noises, because it's like there's all these things that are coming into our brains and Our brains find it very very difficult to filter out irrelevant information So it's like with neurotypical brains can filter out all the stuff that isn't important.
[4:41] But if you have ADHD, there might be people having a conversation. There might be some music in the background. I can't filter out all of that. So it's all this noise all at the same time. It's really, really hard. And so yeah, getting easily distracted. And I found that difficult when I was doing exams at school, if there was like noise outside in the playground.
[5:02] I couldn't filter that out and it made it very, very difficult to focus on those things. Next one, tendency to zone out in conversations. And I think I personally have got a little bit better, better at this, because I've worked hard at it, but this happens because individuals with ADHD have difficulty with working memory and active listening.
[5:28] Now this is interesting because I know that when somebody says something to me, I'm trying to keep hold of what they're saying, uh, because it's very difficult for me to kind of keep, keep remembering that one topic because I'm going to forget, or maybe they've reminded me about something and I need to remember Maybe I, for example, I've, I know that I've left my keys somewhere and I need to remember to do that.
[5:54] And so I've, I've zoned out of the conversation because I'm thinking about this other thing. it's this also the, the idea that our, our minds are drifting in, in different, different ways. And, we might be overwhelmed by this, the information that's going on in our heads.
[6:09] So yeah, that can be a problem. It's something that I think certain people can work out I've had to work at that but it is again. It's it's very very tiring.
[6:18] The next one is Brain fog, And this is an interesting one because I really had I still struggle a little bit with brain fog. And when I was in my early twenties, this was a big, big problem for me. And it's, it's down to an overload of thoughts, a poor working memory, or, and apparently, I mean, I looked this up. It's, uh, can be to do with fluctuations in the neurotransmitter levels.
[6:45] So there's a lot of stuff that's happening in our brains. If you want to have clear thoughts, then you don't want to have overwhelm. And so this was really interesting speaking with Tamara on the show that, you know, a hundred, 200 years ago, this wouldn't be so much of a problem because of the way the world was, but we live in such a packed world now of things.
[7:08] It's such a busy world that We're kind of like in this constant state of mental confusion because of the sheer amount of work that we're doing And in one sense that is great for ADHD because it's a lot of stimulation that we we thrive on But that can also lead to brain fog as well. And so I found that I need to take regular time off.
[7:35] I need going out to the countryside, going for walks, exercise. Those kinds of things is really, really helpful for brain fog.
[7:42] Okay. The next one is, time blindness. and this is really, really interesting. I had never thought about it this way, but people with ADHD tend to understand time in a very different way.
[7:55] And apparently this is linked to challenges in our internal clock and time management skills, which is linked again to executive functioning. And so. Those of us with ADHD, we often, and this is not always the case, remember this is spectrum and there was many different types of ADHD as there are people with ADHD, but many people with ADHD have difficulty perceiving and estimating time, which means that like sometimes getting to somewhere on time can be difficult.
[8:27] Or because you're finding it difficult to plan and to understand time, you overcompensate. And this is what I do. And I get there really early because I just don't want to be late. I get anxious about that. but also this problem that we don't know how long a task is going to take. So we, we either think it's going to take like two minutes when actually it's going to take two hours, or we say it's going to take two hours when actually it's, it's not that much.
[8:54] So that's difficult. And it, and it, it means that sometimes we can be late. We can be too early. We We can delay a task because it's actually taking us a lot longer. So yeah, time blindness. that's the whole section on attention related traits. Let's move on to the next one, which is all about emotions and psychology, psychological traits.
[9:21] I didn't realize this, that this is what Tamara has been saying, is that emotional dysregulation is one of the The biggest traits for, for those of us with ADHD. And I never thought about that. I've always known I'm a highly emotional person. I, I feel things very, very deeply. I'm quite an empathetic person.
[9:39] Where so if somebody is going through a difficult time, I feel that pain. often myself. but the emotional dysregulation thing is that we find it difficult to control our emotions and it could be just sheer joy and happiness one minute and then absolute despair the next. And think about like little kids who are having an emotional on the floor when they're shouting and screaming. And then the next minute, they're really, really happy. You know, it's a bit like that. So apparently, we have a diminished capacity for regulating emotions due to just the neurological differences in our brains.
[10:16] And this can really lead to intense emotional reactions to situations. which neurotypical people will just think, well, that's a bit disproportionate. What on earth are you worried about there? and I don't know about you for you, but this is pretty draining. there are some good things.
[10:34] I mean, I think empathy is a good trait. Being highly emotional is not all negative. Don't get me wrong, but this can cause issues. And so you just need to be aware of that. And coming up with strategies to be able to deal with situations that you know are going to be.
[10:51] Push you over the edge.
[10:52] This is an interesting one. The next one, and this is this feeling a sense of inadequacy or underachievement. And I've always felt this, that, if I'm being really honest with you, I think, well, I've had some successes in my life, but, you know, I, I feel that I could do so much more.
[11:09] I feel that everything that I do, I kind of do. Okay. But. Other people out there are doing so much better. And, and this is, this is down to repeated experiences of failure or criticism, but also this, we'll come on to this in a bit, this feeling of, uh, uh, sensitivity, often we're, we're seen as very sensitive people.
[11:34] And so, If we've had something when things haven't gone right, then that can be a problem. But also it's this constant inner dialogue, this negative dialogue. Like at the moment, as I record this podcast, there's a voice in my head that's saying, Ian, like, you're stumbling over your words.
[11:51] You're not doing a very good job here. You may as well give up. this is a safety mechanism because it's trying to protect me saying like Ian what you really need to do is go for a sit in a chair, watch TV, just just relax, you know, because this is this is you recording this podcast and streaming live to Instagram.
[12:10] you know, you could die. That's the kind of the feeling. but there's this negative feeling in our brains and it's not being up to the standard is one phrase that you could use or comparing yourselves with others. fostering those kind of feelings of inadequacy.
[12:25] So that can be a big problem.
[12:28] And then this tendency towards needless and endless worry, anxiety, you know, worrying about things. And this often stems from difficulties with executive function again, which makes it difficult to control and direct our thoughts away from negative patterns. You know, many, many of us, not all of us, but many of us have that in a dialogue.
[12:51] And it's not all positive. You know, I think a lot of us will struggle with those negative thoughts believing in yourself, but it's particularly exacerbated if you have ADHD because that voice has been amplified, really, and so we also have that, tendency to hyper focus on potential issues. And so for me, I think about what could go wrong with this podcast. Maybe the audio is not going to work or maybe my computer is going to blow up or something like that. I always think about the negatives as opposed to the positives. We exacerbate the negative side of things.
[13:28] And again, you know, everyone struggles with this to some degree, but particularly if you have ADHD. and this is kind of the same thing, the next one, but this sense of insecurity, low self esteem, repeated difficulties. In various aspects of life, particularly social interactions, because. We can be very intuitive people.
[13:49] So sometimes we will get the idea that somebody has an issue with us or doesn't like us. And so that can amplify that in a negative voice again. and you can get into that negative feedback loop, which can cause more problems and make you more anxiety. And, and that's the other thing, you know, we're more susceptible to, um, Anxiety.
[14:13] Often it's not just ADHD, it's ADHD and something. And often that can be anxiety, it can be depression. By the way, this, this is all sounding very negative. There are some big advantages, uh, and, and some really positive things about ADHD. we will come on to those, but I want to be really open and honest.
[14:32] A lot of people talk about that ADHD is your superpower. In one sense, it is, But we don't want to sugarcoat the struggles. And that's what we're talking about here. And I hope that some of this makes sense. so anxiety and depression, this is, this has definitely been an issue for me. And often people can be misdiagnosed with having just anxiety or depression or both.
[14:54] Um, and actually the underlying issue is ADHD. Now, just to reiterate, I'm no expert. I'm not a doctor. If any of these things I'm highlighting are making you think, well, maybe I have ADHD or maybe you're struggling with something. I, please seek medical help.
[15:13] Seek a medical professional about this. Um, don't try and cope alone. I think people with ADHD, they are more vulnerable to anxiety and depression and there are neurological factors for that. are, imbalances in in the brain. that's, that's what the science says.
[15:32] And I do want to have some experts on the show talking about these things like such as anxiety.
[15:37] Emotional sensitivity, individuals with ADHD, often exhibit those heightened emotional responses. As I said, you know, we talked about the emotional dysregulation and people have said to me, and you're like, you're being too sensitive about it, you know, yeah, maybe, maybe, but there is a reason for that.
[15:55] and it's not always bad. I think sensitivity. can be a really good thing. Being sensitive to a situation, sensitive to people. I'm always very, very sensitive to people and how they are feeling because I kind of understand that. so it's not just limited to our internal feelings, but also reactions to external stuff.
[16:17] So like, I find it certain like movies or TV programs. I find I can't deal with, uh, for example, breaking bad. Uh, I did end up watching the whole thing, but the first kind of eight episodes I really struggled with, I probably should have stopped. Um, I'm kind of glad I did because I really enjoyed it as a whole, but that I found those initial episodes really hard personally.
[16:42] And, uh, I remember watching movies when I was younger and they're just, yeah, I struggled with that. The news, watching the news, I have to be really careful. I can't watch too much stuff. Uh, people who are talking about political things or maybe things that I'd maybe disagree with. I'm just really sensitive to, I want people to, get on with each other.
[17:03] so yeah, I, I want to do a little bit more research into the neurotransmitters that are involved with ADHD, such as dopamine and all that kind of stuff, because, you know, That is definitely part of this.
[17:16] Mood swings, so I've found that Like I can be happy really really happy one minute and the next minute I can be down And i've found for me I've had to be really careful with the food and the drink that I have so I've had to, for me, and this is, this is just for me, I've had to cut out added sugar for my diet and, uh, caffeine and coffee.
[17:40] It sounds a bit radical, but I found that when I got rid of those things from my diet, my mood was leveled a little bit more. Obviously, there's, there's things like medication that can help. But ADHD definitely can affect your mood and you have to think about that. You also have to think about calming your nervous system and, and, and being really kind to yourself as well, because we tend to focus on emotions and it could be the failures or the the real positives of certain things as well. Well, my goodness, I've got through Not as many as I thought we're probably going to have to break this into maybe three or four episodes. but, I hope you found that helpful. the next one's just to let you know, we're going to talk about behavioral traits such as memory, procrastination, getting started on things or getting, you know, actually stopping things, impulsivity and addictive behaviors, restlessness.
[18:37] so those are some things. And then we've got sensory and perception traits. So sensitivity to noise kind of talked about that already. difficulty hearing and loud environments. Again, we've kind of covered that, but I do want to talk about that again.
[18:50] So executive function challenges, task initiation, hyper focus, hyper fixation being intuitive, flexibility and resistance to routine changes. Disorganization or organization because you can be very organization organized. Sorry, and certain things and overwhelmed. So there's a lot of stuff that's going on there.
[19:12] But I will talk about that in another episode. We've got some, some stories as well. I'm recording some, some episodes with some successful smart ADHD is, and we're going to be showing their story. So do, let people know about this podcast and, uh, I'd love, to hear from you as well. So if you would like to get in touch with me, you can do so at ian at smart ADHD dot me.
[19:37] well, that's it for this week. I will see you next week, but I encourage you to be smart with your ADHD. See you soon. Bye.
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