Hyperfocus: An ADHD superpower that comes with a price

Do you remember being a child and completely immersed in a game, alone or with friends? Forgetting everything else? Like, the time you need to be back home, or eating and drinking? Flow is a very natural state for children. Most people lose the ability to get into flow easily when they grow up and search for a way to get back into the zone. ADHDers never lose that ability but it comes with drawbacks because we can’t really control it.

Why am I talking about flow when the headline says hyperfocus?

Flow and hyperfocus are seen as different with flow state being connoted as positve. My working theory: the states are equal, so these terms should be seen as merely two views of the same mental phenomenon. (Which also makes sense considering that ADHD is called a developmental disorder with parts of the brain being stuck in toddler mode.) Calling hyperfocus negative opposed to flow is ignorant of all facets of this phenomenon. Comparable to making a difference between scanner personalities and ADHDers. The first being an honoured societal ideal and the latter being considered poor, disordered sods.

Scanner is just a different label for ADHDers with one important difference: Scanners have the financial security and emotional support to pursue different venues of career. If the first doesn’t work out, they can try a different one. Because they lead their lives from a point of safety, they don’t experience as much pressure to seek out psychiatric help and therefore, usually don’t get diagnosed.

This is just one example of why stigmatisation towards ND people needs to stop. We are not poor, disordered sods, we are just people with a different brain configuration. We are not lazy, nor are we stupid or retarded; we just function in a way that sadly clashes with societal expectations. Sorry, I’m taking this article completely off its track but it felt necessary to address these labels.

More labels

Some people tend to use the words scanner, flow or HSP (hypersensitive person) as a trophy but they don’t admit to the shadow side of these: serious adaption issues in life. People love to point out that they’re wonderfully, uniquely hypersensitive and emphasise their superior abilities. But they don’t talk about the everyday stress and fatigue because their nervous system suffers from too much sensory input. Sometimes, these labels are used simply because people lack basic information. They’re not connecting the dots from scanner to neurodivergence because they’ve never heard of the connection. More reason to spread the information and make it available to everybody.

I don’t appreciate ADHD being called a sickness (because it isn’t one by definition), but I also don’t like glorifying and focusing only on its positive traits. I want it to be normalised and acknowledged with all its facets, positive and negative. It has assets but they come with a very high price (not to mention the ADHD tax). Back to hyperfocus.

Creativity overflow for the win!

Like indicated in my last article, hyerfocus was really useful to me in vocational school. I was able to dive into hyperfocus quite easily because almost everything was about my fields of interest. ADHDers can perfom excellent – if the task raises enough interest in us. Which is not often, so we tend to suck at performing anything not in our immediate interest. E.g. household chores *cough* sorting laundry, anybody *cough*?

During my time at vocational school it never occurred to me that what I was doing wasn’t exactly normal. Because most of my classmates did the same. My creative output was at it highest and I actually enjoyed working for hours on end. You can’t really describe how flow feels but sometimes it’s called the zone of highest efficiency. Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of flow/hyperfocus:

Pros:

• You get stuff done. Because what you’re doing right now this is the single most important thing you’ll ever do. The rest of the world has ceased to exist. At least, this is what your brain tells you.
• The task you’re performing feels very rewarding and you have confidence in your own skills.
• Though you do have a goal, it’s not relevant for your task. You simply enjoy the act of performing.
• The raw creativity that enters your mind is amazing. You begin to think in new directions and “outside the box”.
• Some biology: in flow states your brain generates more theta and alpha waves than usual. Both are associated with relaxation, with alpha waves also being correlated to decreased time and space awareness. Meditation is often induced by deliberate generation of alpha waves. (The ability to invoke alpha waves at will can be achieved by training.)
• In flow state, everything feels wonderfully connected and everything makes sense. Time stops and your ego takes a backseat. It can become a spiritual experience. You’re filled with a sense of purpose and belonging. It’s like Eckhard Tolle’s The Power of Now.

Cons:

• Hyperfocus can be unpredictable. It can happen when you’re supposed to do something else entirely. Completely absorbed in your current task, you forget that you should wash the dishes. Hours later when the spell is broken you realise that the dishes are still dirty even though you need them soon, like now.
• Unpredictable because it can also happen with activities not related to your interests. E.g. when you’re sorting your books. Your intention was to to just put them away so they don’t clutter your living room and suddenly, you get the irresistible urge to sort them all in a specific order. Which can take a lot of time during which you can’t do anything else because nothing in the world could be as important as sorting these books by size/colour/author/chronological order/random factor.
• I can’t stress this enough: You can do nothing else while you’re in hyperfocus. It’s like a deranged witch put a curse on you to clean your bathroom tiles with a toothbrush and you can’t stop until it’s done. Distractions like phone calls or doorbells during hyperfocus are really unpleasant and disorienting to the point of physical pain. After the disctraction it’s almost impossible to get back to your task.
• Hyperfocus gets really exhausting as you grow older. When I was in my teens and twens, I had no problem sitting for hours and paint happily in my own small world. Nowadays, when I snap out of an episode of hyperfocus, my muscles ache and my bladder is about to expolde. I also realise how grumpy I am because I forgot to eat and drink.

The ADHD paradox (one of many)

It’s one of the biggest misconceptions about ADHD. “How can you do this one thing for hours on end but are unable to sort your laundry which only takes ten minutes?” ADHD is full of paradoxes. The attribute attention deficiency is misleading: It’s not that we lack attentive energy. We’re just not able to direct it at will. It’s more like our mind is a pinball machine and our attention bounces wildly and erratically between bing-bing noises and sparkly lights.

It’s very hard for us to focus on something that doesn’t spark interest in us. What exactly sparks that interest is highly individual and situational. But when hyperfocus hits, magic happens. This is why so many of us pursue careers that rely on creativity. There are many examples of successful artists, authors, actors and musicians who are all diagnosed with ADHD. Whenever I feel down because I misplaced my car keys for the umpteenth time that day, I try to remember that like everything in life, ADHD has it ups and downs.

Thanks for reading and take care!

Nice to meet you, Myself!

The journey of a late diagnosed adult – all parts of the blog series:

1. Disclosure – You have what?! – Harmful prejudices in society
2. Childhood – Growing up being different – Factors that influence ADHD
3. Hyperfocus – An ADHD superpower that comes with a price

★ to be continued ★

additional articles related to neurodivergence,
basic everyday stuff and life hacks

My sources

When I’m writing about symptoms of neurodivergent disorders, the information comes from several sources: One of my main sources is ADXS.org, a site available in English and German. I also consult other sites, preferably with professional medical background. I usually don’t consult blogs of private persons where information can’t be verified. Some things are my own observation and have been compared with other sources. I strive for accuracy and verified information. It’s not easy as a lot is still unknown about neurodiversity and many clichés are still being published that have been proven wrong years ago. If you stumble about somethings that you know for a fact is wrong, please get in touch by using either the comment form or the contact form.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or qualified medical person. If you experience health issues, mental or physical, please get help from a professional. This website is not meant to give medical advice, just some basic information and examples about what it means to live with Autism or ADHD. Symptoms vary strongly between individuals.