Hey, a few days ago I read an article suggesting that some genes associated with ADHD are though to have been selected for at some point in certain nomadic hunter-gatherer populations of our ancestors. In other words, certain ADHD behaviours or characteristics may have offered some evolutionary benefit for those populations.

They concluded, (my emphasis)

Individuals with ADHD have been described as paying attention to what is interesting rather than what is “important.” But what is “important” is often a reflection of particular social values. In some fields, like the arts or sciences, what is interesting is what is important. If individuals with ADHD can sustain their attention by paying attention to what is interesting, their often tremendous energy can lead to productive careers in these creative fields.

I only skimmed through it, and didn't think too much of it other than that it was an interesting possibility.

Today I found myself pondering, unrelated, how I am really good at things I can focus on and get lost in. But I am terrible at managing lots of little things that require brief or ‘unrewarding’ attention, or attention in small daily increments over long periods of time. Basic daily things like preparing meals, eating, tidying up. They leave me restless and frustrated, and feel like annoying distractions from what I really want to be doing.

When I get lost in something, I cannot break away – my other needs are ignored, but not forgotten. I can go many hours without getting up, going to the bathroom, getting food or water. It feels like an almost physical force is tying me to the activity I am engaged in, even though I am very much aware of my growing hunger or other needs.

When I feel restless, it’s usually because I can’t find, or allow myself, that thing to lose myself in. I’m searching desperately for something to hold my interest, but everything I can think of seems trivial and irrelevant. Like it won’t be enough. Or little things like needing food get in the way before I can really get lost in the thing I want to.

I wonder whether that drive to be consumed by one thing, and one thing only, to the temporary exclusion of most of my other needs, has any evolutionary context?

I definitely don’t want to romanticise the disorder or pretend that it’s actually a good thing to have adhd, I just wonder whether some characteristics associated with the disorder have some evolutionary role to play, some benefit that our modern societies tend to devalue.

I know that I’m happiest when I don’t try to follow a routine, or take on too many things that I expect a normal person to be able to do. And I am most stressed and frustrated and depressed when I try to imitate and emulate the structure of other people’s lives. I feel ashamed when I get lost in something and forget all else, all the things I ‘should’ be doing. The things I am expected to be able to do.

Perhaps the restlessness I often feel is because I am not allowing myself to give in to my instinct to be consumed by something, and instead am trying to fit myself into a generalist routine that society expects of me?

Routine – sleep, food, daily small tasks… doing the same things over and over, fulfilling one role for long periods of time. These are not what drives me. Following that structure leaves me restless.

And I wonder if that’s because I’m trying to be something I am not. I need to be able to let my mind go where it wants, pursue things until it is satisfied, and then switch to something new. Maybe I’ll return to the previous passion, if it still holds relevance to me. If not, I can just move on.

Maybe starting things and making decisions is difficult for me because once I do find something I intend to stick with it for a long time, for that decision to resonate for me into the future. So things that require trivial decisions are not easy for me, because I instinctively attribute huge importance to each one, as if the outcome was something that was going to occupy me for a long time. Even when I know it’s not.

Like I said, just some idle thought (that, yes, subsequently consumed me). Curious as to what your impressions and experiences are.

tl;dr:

• Is wonder whether there is something that makes some humans more suited to sustained, interest-driven focus, and others more comfortable with routine and generalist, multi-tasking roles?

• Might some ADHD characteristics or traits be a reflection of this divergence?

• Might the frequent co-morbid mental health issues and general struggles of many people with ADHD be at least in part a reflection of trying to fit themselves into a society that highly values routine, efficiency, multi-tasking and long-term specialisation?