– ADHD brains are said to be constantly searching for dopamine – aren’t all brains craving dopamine? What’s the difference?
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It looks like the technical side of things is well covered in the answers. I will offer an perspective of the difference from an ADHD sufferer’s point of view.
When my brain (presumably) is swilling around in good dopamine and serotonin supplies when my meds kick in, I feel calm, lucid, focused, happy, and engrossed in whatever I am doing. I have an intellectual curiosity about whatever is at hand, and what may be behind it. Nothing is a problem. Nothing.
When my brain does not, I feel lethargic, mentally foggy, have massive task resistance, and feel incredibly dysphoric. Efficiency or effectiveness is a foreign concept.
When I am medicated and it is kicking in just right I feel like I have an extra 40 IQ points. No exaggeration.
Being unmedicated is like trying to listen to the radio and the signal keeps cutting out or being drowned out by static, as opposed to beaming in in full surround sound, Dolby, stereo, whatever you young kids listen to these days.
ADHD brains do not deliver nearly adequate amounts of dopamine or serotonin without pharmacological prodding. One can have no idea of the difference that makes to every moment of one’s life unless one has experienced both. I expect that non-ADHD people are far more likely to have experienced both than neurotypical people for obvious reasons.
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