Maybe I’m misunderstanding and I bet ADHD people agree with his assessment, but don’t we all have multiple thoughts at the same time. The list he had for the ADHD brain is some kind of list I can imagine having in my brain at one time. I think the difference between the two brains is the ability to prioritise. The thoughts all nag, but you have to choose one to deal with first. If you can’t prioritise e.g when stressed or perhaps if you have ADHD overwhelm going on you procrastinate and then the task list sits unchanged and Gemma more and more daunting as time goes on and it becomes a loop.
So I’m short I think the difference is the threshold for procrastination because we all really fall into procrastination, but I’m neurotypical (AFAIK) so I can only speak to my own experience of how my brain works and contrast with this analogy.
Ultimately kind of yes kind of no. Individual experiences are obviously unique and different but generally it is as you say, thoughts do not occur concurrently and the breakdown is actually in the executive functioning systems that surround management of these thoughts.
Like his example - the neurotypical person isn’t magical. They don’t think a task, address it, then move on to the next thing. At least, not in the sense that is implied in the video. They have all those thoughts jumbling around their head too - I need to clean, return items, drink, etc. but they can address them more quickly and thoroughly with solid executive functioning system. This includes planning and prioritization as you’ve said (“I need to address drinking water now bc that will take a moment and is the most important”) but also things like working memory (“I can’t address returning the item right now but I am confident that even though I can’t address it in this moment the task won’t disappear from my brain for 6 months if I put it off”), organization, etc.
The question is always how much of ADHD is behavioral, how much is genetic, how much is cultural, neurobiological, etc. there are clear differences that indicate an adhd brain that are congenital, sure, but how it’s expressed is less clear and may be deeply influenced by environment and behavior.
The issue with this overly simplified pop psychology bullshit is that it inherently becomes a crutch for many. I see it often in professional practice. People who are unwilling to work on developing executive functioning skills because they see this kind of media (especially when presented in short form content that just says “here’s the problem with… and nothing at all about treatment options??) and then assume that this means they are literally unable to change, that it is a characteristic of ADHD, or autism, bipolar, or whatever
If he extended the analogy just a little I think it might make more sense to you?
The “freeze up” is when all those thoughts are competing for attention and you can’t focus on just one, so you either choose your favorite color (your current hyperfixation for example), or literally just sit there, not doing anything of value. The dysfunction literally is the inability to choose one of those thoughts and run with it, at least not without expending significant amounts of energy to do so (meaning we get tired out while doing less) or coming up with some system to trick our brain into choosing and focusing on something.
Neurotypical brains have many of the same traits that ADHD and autistic people have… just not as many, and they’re not as crippling. It’s like pain in that regard - everyone experiences pain, but someone with chronic pain may have difficulty doing normal tasks, or if the pain is bad enough, unable to do those tasks at all.
In the case of ADHD I can take some medication and sometimes my brain acts like a normal person. Without trying, I realize a couple hours later that I accomplished a bunch of stuff without doing or thinking any differently. I just… suddenly can do stuff. First time I tried medication it really was magical; I didn’t feel or think any differently, I just… did stuff. It was weird.
For SOME reason this reminds me of this short:
How to understand ADHD overwhelm
Maybe I’m misunderstanding and I bet ADHD people agree with his assessment, but don’t we all have multiple thoughts at the same time. The list he had for the ADHD brain is some kind of list I can imagine having in my brain at one time. I think the difference between the two brains is the ability to prioritise. The thoughts all nag, but you have to choose one to deal with first. If you can’t prioritise e.g when stressed or perhaps if you have ADHD overwhelm going on you procrastinate and then the task list sits unchanged and Gemma more and more daunting as time goes on and it becomes a loop. So I’m short I think the difference is the threshold for procrastination because we all really fall into procrastination, but I’m neurotypical (AFAIK) so I can only speak to my own experience of how my brain works and contrast with this analogy.
Ultimately kind of yes kind of no. Individual experiences are obviously unique and different but generally it is as you say, thoughts do not occur concurrently and the breakdown is actually in the executive functioning systems that surround management of these thoughts.
Like his example - the neurotypical person isn’t magical. They don’t think a task, address it, then move on to the next thing. At least, not in the sense that is implied in the video. They have all those thoughts jumbling around their head too - I need to clean, return items, drink, etc. but they can address them more quickly and thoroughly with solid executive functioning system. This includes planning and prioritization as you’ve said (“I need to address drinking water now bc that will take a moment and is the most important”) but also things like working memory (“I can’t address returning the item right now but I am confident that even though I can’t address it in this moment the task won’t disappear from my brain for 6 months if I put it off”), organization, etc.
The question is always how much of ADHD is behavioral, how much is genetic, how much is cultural, neurobiological, etc. there are clear differences that indicate an adhd brain that are congenital, sure, but how it’s expressed is less clear and may be deeply influenced by environment and behavior.
The issue with this overly simplified pop psychology bullshit is that it inherently becomes a crutch for many. I see it often in professional practice. People who are unwilling to work on developing executive functioning skills because they see this kind of media (especially when presented in short form content that just says “here’s the problem with… and nothing at all about treatment options??) and then assume that this means they are literally unable to change, that it is a characteristic of ADHD, or autism, bipolar, or whatever
I had the same reaction. Either I have undiagnosed ADHD and just… somehow don’t freeze up, or the analogy isn’t great.
If he extended the analogy just a little I think it might make more sense to you?
The “freeze up” is when all those thoughts are competing for attention and you can’t focus on just one, so you either choose your favorite color (your current hyperfixation for example), or literally just sit there, not doing anything of value. The dysfunction literally is the inability to choose one of those thoughts and run with it, at least not without expending significant amounts of energy to do so (meaning we get tired out while doing less) or coming up with some system to trick our brain into choosing and focusing on something.
Neurotypical brains have many of the same traits that ADHD and autistic people have… just not as many, and they’re not as crippling. It’s like pain in that regard - everyone experiences pain, but someone with chronic pain may have difficulty doing normal tasks, or if the pain is bad enough, unable to do those tasks at all.
In the case of ADHD I can take some medication and sometimes my brain acts like a normal person. Without trying, I realize a couple hours later that I accomplished a bunch of stuff without doing or thinking any differently. I just… suddenly can do stuff. First time I tried medication it really was magical; I didn’t feel or think any differently, I just… did stuff. It was weird.
Fantastic analogy
non-sharts link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu_dj8ai0k0