Evolution and ADHD
2.5 Million years ago…
There you are in your family cave. Everyone’s celebrating a successful hunt by etching into the wall their story of the hunt. You’re trying to pay attention to the drawings, but you can’t stop looking outside the cave, where you see the plants vibrating weirdly, not like usual with the wind blowing but strange… or off… You look again, and it’s a BEAR!!! You alert your cave clan to what you saw, and everyone flees for safety.
You’re the hero!
Flash forward to now. You’re in an art history class. The teacher is going over ancient cave art found in France. You look out the window because you see a familiar red truck. Is that what’s his name’s truck? You know that you should be looking at the front, but damn, that looks familiar-
“I’M SORRY, IS THIS BORING TO YOU?” the teacher asks, apparently for the second time. Everyone is staring at you and that same old embarrassing feeling comes over you, like it did all the other times the teachers called you out for not focusing. You hate this feeling and wonder what’s wrong with you, once again.
This distraction is part of the distractible side of ADHD. It’s also synonymous with an impulse issue. The impulse to look away from what you’re supposed to be paying attention to. It’s a different impulse than, say, eating an extra scoop of ice cream or clicking ‘buy’ on your shopping cart on Amazon. With ADHD, impulse control is a challenge. So, with ADHD, how do you control impulses?
Medication helps to quiet these impulsive desires. Every impulse, from going to a fun website when you’re supposed to be working on your computer to helping you stay focused on writing that paper, especially when the impulse says to do something more exciting.
Cognitive therapy also helps one recognize when they have an impulse, identify it as an impulse, and then mentally practice how to deal with the impulse. Therapy for ADHD works much better for adults experiencing impulse control as opposed to children with ADHD. Sadly, a lot of the children won’t be able to remember or process cognitive therapeutic instructions. But adults who want to better adapt their inner caveman self to a better student, have a fighting chance at it.