how does ADHD medication work?
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Your body has dopamine receptors which are basically is your bodies natural motivation drug.
If you have ADHD, then you’re deficient or have an insensitivity to dopamine.
So you can’t stay on task doing day to day activities because you’ll get bored; your motivation chemicals aren’t working. It makes you look for things that entertain you and makes you unable to organize.
ADHD medication is often a stimulant or speed. It provides synthetic dopamine to compensate for your deficiency.
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Imagine your brain is like a busy office. Sometimes, it can be hard to focus and pay attention to the tasks you need to do. This is what happens to people with ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). ADHD medication helps the brain work better and be more organized, just like a helpful assistant in the office.
ADHD medication usually contains certain chemicals called stimulants. These chemicals are different from the ones you might find in cleaning products or energy drinks. They work in a special way in the brain to help with ADHD symptoms.
In the brain, there are chemicals called neurotransmitters that help send messages between different parts of the brain. One of these neurotransmitters is called dopamine. Dopamine helps with focus, attention, and staying on task.
People with ADHD sometimes have lower levels of dopamine or problems with how it works in the brain. ADHD medication helps to increase the levels of dopamine, making it easier for the brain to focus and pay attention.
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First you need to imagine stimulation axis.
< -5 —— 0 —— 5 >
When normal person take stimulants, let’s pretend it ads 5 points of stimulation, his/her stimulation goes from 0 to +5 so it’s more stimulated than before.
But neutral value of person with ADHD is being understimulated so when taking drugs it goes from -5 to 0, therefore that person start to behave like normal person without any drugs.
This understimulation state makes a ADHD person constantly bored and trying to do multiple things at once but every one of it gets super boring just after a while. Sometimes minutes, sometimes days. That’s why ADHD person starts new hobby regularly and abandon it after 2 weeks.
This is common misconception because, H in ADHD stands for hyperactivity so most people assume those people are overstimulated but ADHD person is really understimulated.
Diagnosed ADHD sufferer here!
So, people with ADHD have brains that work a little differently than other people. Paying attention, sitting still, and controlling impulses may become more difficult. ADHD meds help with this.
The meds usually contain chemicals called stimulants. These stimulants do very interesting things in the brain. They make certain chemicals in the brain work better, such as dopamine and norepinephrine.
Imagine your brain is like a car, fuelled by dopamine and norepinephrine. People with ADHD may lack or under-fuel their brains because their brains work differently to someone who is ‘Neurotypical’ (AKA Someone who is your average Joe on the street with no mental health issues or learning difficulties). This drug gives the brain more energy and helps it work better.
When people with ADHD take medication, they tend to be more focused and alert more like someone who is Neurotypical. It can also help you control your impulses and keep your cool. It’s like filling your brain with the right fuel to keep its engine running smoothly.
However most of the time these drugs tend to ‘Normalise’ someone with ADHD. Basically bringing them to normal levels. In this case, there is no increased focus or energy, we just become someone who can perform more like a ‘normal’ person.
ADHD is a HUGELY underappreciated condition. It can have DIASTEROUS effects on someone’s life, e.g. Getting into debt because they either forgot about a bill, or they don’t want to think about it which ends up in people with ADHD panicking and then they end up getting sent to court. Or it can have an impact on relationships e.g. Starting fights over small things which cause you to ruin that relationship, or suffering with something called Rejection Sensitivity aka Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) (overwhelming feelings of sadness and emotional pain when someone ignores you/ghosts you online or shouts at you over something)
Another condition is Emotional dysregulation. When someone is experiencing emotional dysregulation, they may have sudden angry outbursts, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and other self-damaging behaviours. Over time, this condition may interfere with your quality of life, social interactions, and relationships at home, work, or school. Think like a pressure cooker, slowly building pressure before suddenly, BOOM! It explodes.
You also need to bear in mind that someone’s ADHD is unique. They usually won’t have the same symptoms as someone else EXACTLY and so medication strengths can vary from person to person. ADHD is made up of a few ‘classes’ but the most notable ones are:
* ADHD, combined type (mine). This is the most common form of ADHD is defined by impulsive and hyperactive behaviour, as well as inattention and distraction.
* ADHD, impulsive/hyperactive type. This rarest form of ADHD is characterized by impulsive and hyperactive behaviours without inattention or distraction.
* ADHD, inattentive and distractible type. This type of ADHD is primarily characterized by inattention and distractibility without hyperactivity.
So the next time someone says ‘I have ADHD’ just remember the pain that person is going through. It’s really tough for them. My medication affects me in a way that I’m more ‘normal’ with a better ability to focus but I’m still able to be distracted, but it also makes me more neutral in everything. I don’t get angry, I don’t get sad, I don’t feel a lot of happiness. I’m just neutral in everything. It keeps my outbursts under control and I can remember things easier.
I hope this helps! If you have any follow up questions, please feel free to ask!
it does not. at least with me.
except for the unwanted side effects… they do work with me.
I get through my day with micro-dosing medical cannabis.
The THC may tunnel my thoughts to a thing and lowers stress levels. but it’s not always appropriate depending on the task I try to do.
There are a lot of great answers to this question, and it is also important to remember that women and men can experience ADHD very differently. I’m not sure whether or not any research has been done on whether ADHD meds effect men and women differently, though.
If you’re talking about stimulants, we know how they work to stimulate, but we don’t know how they treat ADHD. You’ll see lots of people taking about low dopamine, which is a hypothesis that’s been around a long time and has not been demonstrated to be true.
Don’t believe me? Look at the Prescribing Information for any stimulant medication. I pulled this from the Vyvanse label: *”Amphetamines are non-catecholamine sympathomimetic amines with CNS stimulant activity. The exact mode of therapeutic action in ADHD and BED is not known.”*
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