why do stimulants have a calming effect for people with ADHD?
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This is how my psychiatrist described it to me:
Your nervous system requires a certain amount of stimulation to function properly. Normal people are capable of generating this stimulation internally – their bodies generate the chemicals, hormones, whatever that properly regulate stimulating the nervous system.
In AD/HD people, their bodies *cannot* self-stimulate properly, so they seek that stimulation externally. This is why they seem hyper and their attention seems short: **they are bored.** They likely aren’t *consciously* bored, and the person may be actually interested in the person or conversation, but their *nervous system* is not stimulated, and their body is telling them “seek stimulation.”
“Why do AD/HD kids seem to focus so well on video games, then?” it’s because video games are *hella stimulating.* It can hold their attention because it can keep providing the stimulation their nervous system demands.
Drugs like Adderall bring their nervous system up to baseline, so they no longer need to find stimulation externally. In that sense, it is like “they can finally relax” because their nervous system has what it needs, and isn’t constantly telling their body “this isn’t stimulating, go do something else.”
As one who finally got diagnosed, I (36M) can tell you that this is an extremely accurate depiction of my life! I wasn’t *consciously* bored, but my nervous system wanted stimulation, so I would lose focus. I’m *significantly* better at my job (and life) now that I’m on drugs. Literally a life-changer.
TL;DR drugs bring AD/HD people’s nervous system “up to baseline” so they no longer need to find external stimulation. This gives the appearance of relaxation because they are no longer driven to be stimulated constantly.
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