why do stimulants have a calming effect for people with ADHD?
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It doesn’t have a “calming” effect per se. It stimulates the brain making it easier for signals to go from one part of the brain to the next.
Your brain is suppose to judge a signal based on a number of things to determine how important it is for that signal to get across. That signal could be a thought, or impulse, to over simplify.
Depending on how important that thought is, the brain expends chemicals to help ot travel. The importance determines how much chemical is needed and given to help it out.
An ADHD brain has too high of a requirement for a signal to travel. It only likes the really exciting things, and says no to everything else and holds back those helpful chemicals. But once it sees an exciting thing, it opens up it’s supply of chemicals and says “you’re exciting, so you’re really important. Take ALL of these to help!”
Now the ADHD brain is very very active, but only for that one thought that was allowed to use all the chemicals that were being held back. This is also called hyper focusing.
And that’s pretty much a very over simplified illustration of this process. Thoughts that are boring do not get to use those helpful chemicals, so they’re unlikely to travel the brain and reach they places they need to. While the exciting thoughts are given more than what they need to guarantee follow through.
Stimulants even the playing field. Now the boring thoughts are being showered with substitute chemicals from the bloodstream. They don’t need the brain to allow access to chemicals because they already have all they need. So now, all thoughts, impulses, intents and what not can travel the brain without issue, allowing many to be converted to action which wasnt possible before.
The exciting things are still exciting, but not so much anymore when you compare their movement to the other thoughts and impulses. Previously, the exciting things were the only ones allowed to get what they needed to be turned into action. Now the exciting things are only a little more exciting instead of a lot more exciting. So it has the appearance of a calming effect when in reality, the stimulants stimulated everything and brought them a bit closer together in importance.
Again, this is an over simplification typed on a phone, so take it as such.
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