Patients responded well in times of \u2018high environment demand\u2019 because sense of urgency led to hyperfocus<\/p>\n
A recent\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0has revealed that some people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) cope best during periods of high stress.<\/p>\n Maggie Sibley, a clinical psychologist and psychiatry professor at the University of Washington and the study\u2019s lead author, initially set out to learn whether it is possible for adults to recover from ADHD. In an earlier study,\u00a0published in 2022<\/a>, she investigated a National Institute of Mental Health data set that tracked 600 patients with ADHD over 16 years, starting from childhood.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we found was this pattern of fluctuating ADHD, and most of the people that were getting better, they would then get back to ADHD again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For the more recent study, published last week in the Journal of Clinical\u00a0Psychiatry<\/a>, she went back to that same data set to try and figure out what circumstances might lead to relief from ADHD symptoms.<\/p>\n Sibley thought that ADHD patients would experience the most relief during periods of low stress. What she found was more counterintuitive.<\/p>\n Her study identified three different groups of ADHD patients: those who experienced periods of apparent full recovery, those who experienced partial remission, and those whose ADHD symptoms remained steady over time.<\/p>\n People who experienced temporary full recovery were most likely to experience it during times of \u201chigh environmental demand\u201d, or, put more simply, stress. Those who had periods of partial recovery were also more likely to have comorbid anxiety.<\/p>\n Arij Alarachi, a psychology phD student at McMaster University who has researched ADHD and anxiety with St Joseph\u2019s hospital in Hamilton, Canada, says it makes sense that ADHD would respond differently to different circumstances.<\/p>\n ADHD brains might not change that much, said Alarachi, but people can adapt their circumstances to better cope with their ADHD. As Sibley\u2019s study shows, though, even among people with ADHD, those strategies might look different, since \u201cADHD comes in a lot of different shapes and sizes,\u201d Alarachi added.<\/p>\n \u201cADHD patients may do best when they have to rise to the occasion. And we see that on the micro level \u2026 deadlines [could feel] helpful, or when things are more urgent, you\u2019re able to be your most productive and hyperfocus,\u201d said Sibley.<\/p>\n Although it\u2019s impossible to completely untangle how much this is a result of ADHD patients choosing to take on more stress when their symptoms are in check.<\/p>\n Sara Vranes, who was diagnosed with ADHD at 36, relates to this idea. She said she sees her ability to hyperfocus under pressure as a \u201csuperpower\u201d. Vranes now works with homeless communities, but had 15 years of experience as a midwife and doula before that, and she says she was most calm in crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want anyone to be hurt, but I was able to handle it because my brain just can hyperfocus. I could see everything clearly and see a process in my mind, and act on it in real time.\u201d During downtime, however, she\u2019s often anxious and can\u2019t focus.<\/p>\n More than half of adults with ADHD\u00a0also experience anxiety.<\/a>\u00a0But, Sibley\u2019s study shows this might not always be a bad thing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe call it a protective factor in ADHD,\u201d she said, explaining that multiple studies have found that children\u00a0with ADHD and anxiety<\/a>\u00a0respond better to behavioral treatment, like cognitive behavioral therapy,\u00a0than children who just have ADHD<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alarachi said that in her research, too, she\u2019s come across people with ADHD who say anxiety helps them keep impulsivity in check. They will say: \u201cMy anxiety [has] kind of helped me stop myself from maybe acting on some of those impulses, or it\u2019s kind of made me think about some of the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThink about it like the gas and the brakes in a car, right? The ADHD might be the gas, and then the anxiety is putting the brakes on, like getting people to inhibit a little bit,\u201d said Sibley.<\/p>\n Anxiety and impulsivity might be more extreme in people with ADHD, \u201cbut somehow they\u2019re canceling each other out in a way that kind of makes neither of those processes as problematic as they might be on their own, which is kind of an interesting concept\u201d, Sibley added.<\/p>\n Alarachi and Sibley agree that people with ADHD should look within to figure out how best to relax and keep their anxiety to a reasonable level where it\u2019s useful. Vranes has a hard time just relaxing in front of the TV, but says playing phone games and watching TV at the same time can help stop her mind from wandering.<\/p>\n Sibley has encountered ADHD patients who are most relaxed while exercising and socializing.<\/p>\n \u201cI always tell people with ADHD, you have to learn to write your own owner\u2019s manual,\u201d Sibley said. \u201cSo you have to figure out, what is your brand of relaxation? What is your brand of decompressing?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Please visit STRESS.ORG for more information about stress.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n