Re: Dr. Mate's theory of ADHD being caused by early adversity

[Rick Green – Founder of TotallyADD]

From what I’ve read and heard about the high rates of ADHD people in the rescue/emergency fields, I think part of it is we flourish under adversity. From the simple stuff, like leaving things to the last minute so the adrenaline is rushing, to the taking part in risky sports, or having affairs, gambling, and so on.

We tend to be really good in emergencies. The theory is that our brains are kind of asleep. Our filters are not working well. So the 10,000 bits of information per second that your senses are sending to your brain aren’t being filtered out as well as they should be. But it seems when we’re under stress, all the chemicals fire off and we come to a level of calmness and clarity and focus that other people would consider normal. Meanwhile, under the same stress, the vast majority, the people with a normal level of dopamine, adrenaline etc.. now have too much and they can’t cope.

So maybe what Mate is pointing to is the fact that we actually feel better under stress or adversity. So rather than routine jobs that requires detail or long term planning, like say farming, we’re drawn to stuff that’s gonna give us the brain juice to wake us up.

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