why do stimulants have a calming effect for people with ADHD?
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they don’t, at least not in the way this stereotype seems to imply. They have exactly the same effect on ADHD brains as they do on non-ADHD brains, stimulation of dopaminergic pathways. ADHD brains just need more stimulation in order to focus on stuff, that’s why we can hyperfocus on something interesting for 12 hours without moving but ask us to sit still and do something boring and our brains literally don’t know how to process it, and we might start fidgeting or seeking out other stimulating activities to compensate. It’s really useful if you live in a hunter gatherer society or have a high stakes job like a paramedic, but it’s less useful when you need to go grocery shopping or do your taxes. We might seem more calm on meds but it’s only because the meds are providing the stimulation we need so we don’t need to seek it externally.
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