Pictured: "Busy Bee Napping" acrylic painting
Order prints of Busy Bee Napping from Geo Galleries here
ADHD Awareness Month occurs every October, with an orange colored ribbon.
The rose is orange to include the awareness ribbon color. There’s a bee in the center, because people with ADHD are often busy bees! We flit around, with our own purpose and intentions that may seem chaotic and random to an outsider. We provide many important contributions to those around us. We are often on the go, and crash for a good nap, just like this sweet bee sleeping inside the rose.
People with ADHD are known for being especially creative, have a strong sense of justice, and are willing to take risks. Many high stress jobs such as first responders and entrepreneurs have high numbers of employees with ADHD. I actually received my ADHD diagnosis as an adult while working in an emergency room. Just as our world needs bees, the world needs people with ADHD and their unique brains.
"Neurotypical" brains have a nervous system that is priority based, while ADHD is interest based. We all have our own interests of course, but there are structural differences that make someone with ADHD more interest driven than priority driven.
To explain the differences in how ADHD brains function differently than neurotypical minds, consider neurotransmitters. To put it simply, neurotransmitters send messages to different parts of the brain. ADHD brains do not use dopamine as effectively as someone without ADHD. If different parts of the brain cannot talk to each other effectively, its no wonder that some of us can be chronically forgetful or always late, just to name a few symptoms.
Some of dopamine's role in our brains:
task initiation aka motivation (we’re not lazy!)
feelings of reward, or satisfaction (that also encourages future task completion)
regulations of emotions- like driving a car and gradually applying gas or brakes
Executive functioning, which helps organize our thoughts, is also impacted by ADHD. Executive functioning helps us plan and switch tasks. The parts of executive functioning are:
self awareness
inhibition
non- verbal working memory
working memory
self motivation
planning and problem solving
When you have ADHD you have to have stimulation in your life! Our brains need it more. Healthy coping behaviors include exercise, exploring outdoors, and listening to music.
Resources to learn more about ADHD:
CHADD- Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Additude Magazine
Pictured: "Jean" acrylic painting
Order prints of Jean from Geo Galleries here
Pictured: "John" acrylic painting
Order prints of John from Geo Galleries here
Artist blog content and images are not authorized for reproduction. Produced for information and encouragement only; consult your doctor for health advice.