Is ADHD and dopamine related? Let’s find out the amazing insights from Candida Fink.
Why ADHD is not just “low dopamine” and what you can do can really help.
Highlights
- The social media trend that describes ADHD as “low dopamine” is not based on science.
- Finding dopamine is not an explanation for ADHD symptoms.
- “Dopamine detox” is not a real way to treat ADHD, and cutting out things that bring pleasure can be damaging.
If you have spent any time on the ADHD side of social media recently, you are likely to be deterred by posting about “low dopamine”, “dopamine detection” and “dopamine neutralization” in ADHD. While these seem ubiquitous and scientifically useful and useful, there is one big problem: they are simply unscientific and untrue.
What is ADHD?
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder / Hypertension) is a neurological developmental condition that affects how the brain develops and functions. Diagnosis is clinical – based on patterns of thinking and behavior, especially inattention, hyperactivity, and agitation that occur with frequency and severity sufficient to disrupt development and daily life.
ADHD affects 8 to 12 percent of children and continues to reach adulthood, at least 30 percent of them – more likely. The diagnosis of ADHD does not include anything about dopamine or other brain molecules or pathways. Science does not exist yet.
While research has found that disturbances in the dopamine pathway play a significant role in ADHD, the notion that ADHD is caused by “low dopamine” is simply incorrect. In fact, dopamine activity was found to be higher, not lower, in some areas of the brain.
The bottom line is that ADHD brain differences are related to dopamine function, not just quantitative or quantitative. “Low dopamine” is a short term for ADHD, misses the mark and can send people running after wild geese for ineffective treatment or unintentional adverse consequences.
Read more here: Dopamine port of the supermarket
ADHD is not just dopamine.
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that move between brain cells, part of a complex communication system that stimulates and regulates functions in the nervous system. Dopamine plays a key role in circuits related to movement and coordination, motivation and rewards, learning and memory, attention and concentration, along with mood and emotion. It also controls many other organs, including the cardiovascular system and the immune system. In the context of ADHD, the “low dopamine” myth focuses only on the reward system components of this multidimensional transmitter, creating a wide range of its roles in matter.
ADHD is also associated with disturbances in the pathways associated with the secondary neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which affect learning and memory, mood and mood, sleep and wakefulness, and are important chemical messengers in the “fight or flight” response. It also affects the cardiovascular system, intestines, muscles and other vital organs. Similar to dopamine, the relationship between ADHD and norepinephrine is related to function, not quantity, and it is deeply related to other systems in the body.
More recent research is expanding our understanding of neurological pathways related to ADHD. Serotonin, which is well known for its association with anxiety and depression, has been shown to contribute to ADHD, particularly symptoms of mood and behavioral control.
Additional pathogens that have been shown to be associated with ADHD include acetylcholine (motor control and attention), histamine (neuropathy), glucose, glutamate (reward process), and adenosine, which modifies dopamine signals. The cannabinoid system may also be associated with hyperactivity / agitation.
Where does the “low dopamine” story come from?
Search for “dopamine and ADHD detection” on social media and you get posts like: “ADHD, Low Dopamine, & Conflict Seeking Behavior” and “ADHD and dopamine addiction” and lots of posts about “real” versus “fake” dopamine.
To be clear, low dopamine is not a stimulant. ADHDYou can not be “addicted” to dopamine, and there is nothing like the real thing compared to fake dopamine in the brain. Exciting behaviors, innovations, inattention, and abnormal behaviors are not because someone is “chasing dopamine.” They are the result of abnormal pathways in the brain’s communication system.
Why are these posts so common?
The combination of dopamine and ADHD levels is partly related to simple research showing that screens activate the dopamine pathway and may be associated with ADHD symptoms in some people. However, things get more complicated.
For example, we also know that people with ADHD are vulnerable to the use of problematic screens – it is not a one-way street. There is also a tendency on social media to activate dopamine and internet addiction – but the activation of the pleasurable dopamine pathway is not the same thing as addiction (and whether forced internet use should be called “addiction” is still a matter of debate), so again, this is inaccurate and comprehensive.
The dopamine-related brain pathways not only affect the emotional and reward systems. They play an important role in movement, sleep, alertness and clarity of thought.
Parkinson’s disease, for example, is a movement disorder in which some brain cells die and stop producing dopamine. While it creates a “low dopamine” function, that is not a real problem – the problem is that the cells are dead and the circuits can no longer do their job. Behavioral and nutritional strategies and detoxification will not fix Parkinson’s beyond what they do with ADHD, because it is not about the “levels” of chemicals in the brain. It talks about paths and circuits.
Fake Solutions to Fake Problems
The myth of low dopamine discovery and dopamine discovery in relation to ADHD has led to the ever-growing industry of people interfering with various “dopamine detoxification” plans and solutions. But you can not “detoxify” dopamine – it is not a foreign substance and you can not be addicted to it.
Often the “detoxification” that is offered involves identifying activities that give you “quick dopamine popularity” but not “long-term value” and recommendations like “dopamine fasts” for 72 hours without social media or TV or movies, no sugar or junk food, and even some people recommend avoiding music with lyrics.
There is no evidence that these interventions will help your ADHD and that they can actually be dangerous. While science tells us that taking a break from our phones and reducing distractions from notifications is a useful strategy to redefine someone’s attention and focus, the idea of eliminating pleasant activities as a way to treat your ADHD is dangerous.
It is moral and judgmental, not scientific. It labels some activities and foods as “not good for you” and others as “good”. This quickly evolves into the idea that if you do not “control your dopamine system” by doing “good instead of bad”, you are hurting yourself.
“Dopamine Detoxes” is not the answer, so what can you do instead?
While dopamine depletion or resetting will not cure your ADHD and low dopamine is not the reason it starts with, there are many things you can do to support attention and strength management along with emotional and behavioral regulation.
Hygiene of sleep and eating and adequate hydration begins with meeting the body’s needs. Staying connected while setting boundaries – like turning off all important notifications and sometimes turning off the phone – can allow you to be more present. Finding something difficult and demanding while connecting with something that brings pleasure and satisfaction can feed the entire reward system.
Read more here: ADHD eating habits: 6 seemingly harmless behaviors that can try to tell you something
These strategies are not specific to dopamine or ADHD. “Clean life” versus “dirty life dopamine” is a framework designed to connect you and sell things you do not need, while potentially preventing you from accessing things that can help you.
To read more about Dr. Fink’s compassion and curiosity regarding mental health issues, check out her blog. “Change of heartAt PsychologyToday.com.
Written by Candida Fink, M.D.,
Originally Appeared on Psychology Today
