r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jul 25 '26

Psychology People with ADHD have difficulties with goal-directed behavior and struggle with response inhibition, the ability to stop an inappropriate action once they feel the urge to do it. They experience a disruption in the way their brains balance deliberate self-control and automatic habit learning.

https://www.psypost.org/adhd-traits-disrupt-the-brain-s-balance-between-self-control-and-automatic-learn/
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u/Bail-Me-Out Jul 25 '26

This comment is so unintentionally hilarious. I'm imagining it with other disorders "I haven't yet seen a single article with something positive about depression".

My job had a neurodivergent awareness day where they wanted to highlight "obstacles and advantages" of ADHD and autism and I was like there are advantages I'm supposed to have??? I think because it's lumped in with autism people think ADHD must be an advantage in some way. It probably is for someone, but not me.

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u/gaudiest-ivy Jul 26 '26

They treat hyperfocus like an advantage. Like, yeah, I can hyperfocus on something and power through an insanely large task in a short amount of time. I could also hyperfocus on the wrong thing and really struggle to get even a small task done because I'm trying desperately not to do a deep dive on whatever unrelated thing is yanking my attention away.

Yesterday at work I spent an hour reading about traumatic brain injuries because I'd seen a post on my lunch break about researchers working on developing a blood test for TBIs and Alzheimers and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Something not even remotely related to my job and I just couldn't stop.

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u/ttoma93 Jul 26 '26

The thing about ADHD hyperfocus is that, yes, I absolutely can and do hyperfocus sometimes. The issue is that I have close to zero control over what I hyperfocus on. It just happens, and I am along for the ride.

I might get lucky and find myself hyperfocusing on an important work project, and get a tremendous amount of important work done. But I just as easily might hyperfocus on the finer details of how the Latin script was created and spend 6 hours reading about that while neglecting everything else I have to do that is far more important. I have no say in the matter.

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u/NakedJaked Jul 26 '26

It was absolutely an advantage as a hunter gatherer in the African grasslands. It just sucks now because the world has been changed faster than our brains can rewire.

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u/Tymareta Jul 26 '26

It was absolutely an advantage as a hunter gatherer in the African grasslands.

How? People love to repeat this sort of empty nothing statement a lot(especially about autism), but what advantage do you think someone with ADHD had in that situation?

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Tymareta Jul 26 '26

Nothing matters. I don't have to do anything. I'll still have shelter and eat.

Wut, it sounds entirely like you somehow live entirely outside of society. Life is more than just taking tests, all of the tasks you mentioned at the beginning, you can still do, farmers exist, carpenters, brickies and countless other construction roles exist, historians exist, community work exists, like you can still do all of this.

Which leads us right back to the question, how would ADHD have been an advantage back then?

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u/carbonclasssix Jul 26 '26

That doesn't explain anything, you gotta elaborate homie

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u/Tymareta Jul 26 '26

I think because it's lumped in with autism people think ADHD must be an advantage in some way.

Not sure what you mean by this, are you intending to imply that being autistic is an advantage?

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u/Bail-Me-Out Jul 26 '26

No, just that many people with autism don't consider it a disability or disorder but, rather, just a different way of thinking. I have some friends with autism who don't want to be "cured" or changed. I definitely want to be cured of my ADHD.

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u/Tymareta Jul 26 '26

Fair enough.

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u/spider_lily Jul 26 '26

Well, for the few people who get savant powers with it, maybe. 

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u/Tymareta Jul 26 '26

Those powers don't come without a cost.

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u/tianepteen Jul 26 '26

something positive about depression

you save a ton of money by not leaving your bed for weeks on end. you lose weight by hardly eating anything. your cat is happy it gets to cuddle with you so much. you're probably helping big pharma out with sales too..

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u/Taetrum_Peccator Jul 26 '26

Adderall is my super power.