ADHD… a deficit in Motivation?
Most of the focus in ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) diagnosis and treatment is on inattention and impulsivity, but the truth is we (the people with it) also suffer from an inability to activate motivation as well.
We get superbly excited about, or interested in, something we want to do and we can spend minutes, hours, months being focused on it, motivated to keep piling our energy into it… then we stop.
It drifts into the background and we may never pick up the motivation again, or perhaps we come back to it many months later.
Its not that we forget, in fact we probably notice the urge to get back into that task every day… we just find it hard to break back into the cycle of motivation, action, completion, dopamine, pleasure, repeat. Why is that?
It can be even more challenging if the motivation is external, like when my wife asks me “can you do the washing up?” … I think to myself “well if I had come up with the idea myself I might have done it, but now its external I feel overwhelmed with resistance to start!”
Some research hypothesized that there was a dysfunction in people with ADHD experiencing the reward and motivation feedback loop in 1987 [1] but it wasn’t added to the ADHD symptom checklist.
More was published on the topic on 2009 [2] and in 2010 a paper was published detailing research done with 45 people diagnosed with ADHD who had never taken medication. They found that there was a correlation between lower activity in dopamine receptors and transmitters with the people with ADHD than the control group. [3]
What is the role of dopamine? Dopamine is responsible for allowing you to feel pleasure, satisfaction and motivation. When you feel good that you have achieved something, it's because you have a surge of dopamine in the brain
OK, so my mind doesn’t like releasing dopamine, what can I do about that?…. As it turns out, heaps!
Firstly - being aware of the fact that it is happening in your mind can help you to to notice it, the feeling of not being able to break back into a cycle of motivation, action, satisfaction
Secondly - Acknowledge it, rather than hating on your mind, or getting frustrated, you can be like “well, I guess that is how it responds right now”
Thirdly - Now our head is in a good state of equanimity, we can act / intervene:
DIET - Dopamine is produced from Amino acids tyrosine & phenylalanine, both of which can be found in protein rich food like almonds, apples, avocados, bananas, beetroot, chocolate, green leafy veggies, green tea, butter beans, oats, oranges, peas, sesame & pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, turmeric & watermelon.
MUSIC - Beats, rhythm, whatever brings you joy.
⬇ STRESS - Stress is a natural and healthy response from the body and if you wish to, you can reduce the instances when your body experiences stress. Long exhalations = reduction in stress.
MOVE - Physical Activity can improve mood and may boost dopamine levels.
SUNSHINE & NATURE - Sunshine and interacting with natural surroundings can boost dopamine levels.
SLEEP - Lack of sleep can reduce dopamine sensitivity in the brain [4]
If you choose to make changes in your life, then take step changes that help you to observe the effects and make an informed choice about what is working and what isn’t.
Haenlein M, Caul WF. Attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity: a specific hypothesis of reward dysfunction. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1987;26:356–362. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Johansen EB, Killeen PR, Russell VA, Tripp G, Wickens JR, Tannock R, et al. Origins of altered reinforcement effects in ADHD. Behav Brain Funct. 2009;5:7. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Nora D. Volkow, et al. Motivation Deficit in ADHD is Associated with Dysfunction of the Dopamine Reward Pathway 2010;10. [NCBi]
Nora D. Volkow, et al. Evidence That Sleep Deprivation Downregulates Dopamine D2R in Ventral Striatum in the Human Brain. 2012, 32 (19) 6711-6717 [Journal of Neuroscience]
