We know that ADD is a neurobiological condition, so isn't it important that you learn more about your brain? Not in what causes attention deficit, because nobody really knows for sure. Some scientists blame a shortage of certain brain chemicals. Others say it's because one of our lobes is smaller. But whatever the cause, that doesn't mean we have a deficiency in any way. I mean, we're really amazing. We are multi-taskers, think at the speed of sound, and we're more often than not, very smart. Plus, we can hyperfocus on topics and learn them very, very well, which can be positive.



This is how we work: We find something that totally fascinates us, and we suffer through things we normally wouldn't suffer through to learn more and more about whatever the subject is. Each time we learn something, we're really excited and happy! Think of an ADD kid who's into sports. Maybe he likes NASCAR. Where he couldn't remember dates of historical significance, he can probably repeat all the pertinent stats on his favorite driver.

ADD is a neurobiological condition, remember, and we should start recognizing our mental triggers. Perhaps understanding them can help us to use them to our benefit. For instance, what do you hyperfocus on? What's the current passion that you just can't get enough of? Whatever that subject is, you're going to want to understand it completely.

What happens in your brain is that a series of densely packed "mu-opioid receptors," which attract and bind opiates, light up like a pinball machine. We feel totally awesome! We get a charge out of learning, and this is true for all human beings.

But remember that ADD brings a tendency toward addiction, so can you see what happens? We become addicted to learning because we feel so good, so we learn more and feel better and learn more and so on. Is this why we have the ability to hyperfocus, to drive out the minutiae of day-to-day life and just put our mind on things we're interested in?

Maybe.

I'm not a medical doctor, but it's an interesting connection. It's just fascinating that ADD is a neurobiological condition and it gives us the ability or maybe the need to hyperfocus. When you're having a particularly bad day, go home and hyperfocus on something you really enjoy. Learn something new that you didn't know before and see if you don't feel better in a big hurry.