ADHD

ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity/hypoactivity disorder and initially refers to a medical diagnosis.

Statistically speaking, untreated ADHD is a life-shortening illness (minus 13 years on average, www.additudemag.com/adhd-life-expectancy-russell-barkley/), a cause of much suffering for those affected and their families alike.

However, a deficit in attention is misleading, because many of those affected actually experience a particularly high level of attention in some areas, the so-called hyperfocus: a topic or a person suddenly becomes incredibly interesting and you can't stop researching, practicing or thinking about it or them.

ADHD can be better described as another type of motivation:
With ADHD, the release of dopamine and norepinephrine, the neurotransmitters responsible for motivation and reward, is often lower than in people without ADHD. This can lead to a lack of drive and difficulty focusing on tasks that are not perceived as particularly interesting or stimulating.
ADHD can also be associated with increased impulsivity and difficulty inhibiting responses. This can make it nearly impossible to keep long-term goals in mind and practice the delay of gratification necessary to complete many tasks in our world today.
This other type of motivation is not inherently worse, just different. Knowing your own motivation is an important basis for change.

When you have ADHD, all of your feelings are much bigger and you feel them much more stronly. Regulating these big feelings appropriately is often very difficult. Emotional dysregulation is therefore also the symptom that causes the greatest suffering for many people and is an area to which I am particularly dedicated.

As a person with ADHD, you also have special strengths: creativity and unorthodox thinking, enthusiasm and passion, drive, flexibility, adaptability, a lot of empathy, problem-solving skills, humor and spontaneity, adventurousness and willingness to take risks. You are calm in crises and the perfect troubleshooter.