Dr Alex George : UK Ambassador for Mental Health. Host of @thestompcast podcast. Co-founder of mens mental fitness app @be_mettle_. Award winning author.
Dr Alex George said “Three things that shocked me since being diagnosed with ADHD. The second one, is one I think, will probably surprise you.
First of all. ADHD isn’t just about concentration. Everyone kind of has this perception, especially when you’re growing up, that it’s just about not being able to concentrate. ADHD affects every single part of your life. From your emotions, from your interests, from your sleep, from your relationships, how you interact with others, not only your concentration.
Secondly, caffeine can actually help with ADHD. You might think that’s really strange. ADHD, surely, that’s about being overstimulated and being really buzzy and running around. Actually, it really depends on the type of ADHD you have. But caffeine actually works by stimulating part of your brain that’s low on the dopamine and therefore helping you find peace and calm. So for me particularly, caffeine can really help with a bit of levelling. But that’s not everyone’s experience though. And some people with ADHD find it makes it worse.
Thirdly, ADHD burnout. I’ve often really struggled with periods of really high energy and then basically feeling I need to pass out. And I’ve always questioned and been really frustrated with myself as to why I’m like that. But now I really understand that a lot of that is the kind of ups and downs of the dopamine. So that intense hyperfocus and ability to really focus on things you’re interested in, putting a lot of energy into that, but then needing to rest and recover. I’m still really learning about ADHD and how it affects my life.So I’ll continue to share those things with you if that helps.”