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The ADHD Brain vs The Normal Brain

The ADHD Brain vs The Normal Brain is something that people constantly wonder about, especially if they have ADHD themselves or their child has ADHD. What is the actual difference? Is there a difference at all? Why do some people have ADHD and others don’t? I’m sure all of these questions have popped into people’s heads at some point. What’s interesting is a lot of times the ADHD brain and normal brain are pretty much the same. The brain is similar to a sponge in a sense.

We are constantly taking in information and the brain is filtering out what is needed and what isn’t needed. The filtering is the part that gets complicated, especially those with ADHD. If the way we filter information is a little messed up, then how we react to this information is going to be a little off as well. This is where the main difference between the ADHD brain and normal brain exists. The difference isn’t some sort of physical difference but rather a functioning difference.

ADHD Brain vs Normal Brain

It is almost as if the ADHD brain is working overtime compared to the normal brain. There is an imbalance of information getting to the brain. Think of a sponge that is already filled with water, can any more water be absorbed by that sponge? Well maybe a little bit but the majority of that water will be repelled by the sponge and drip off of it. This is similar to what’s going on in the ADHD brain!

As we mentioned the brain and nervous system is taking in a ton of information at every second. The brain’s job is to filter this information and figure out which information is important for us to be conscious of and what information we don’t need to be worrying about. If there is an issue with how the information is getting to the brain, or maybe the brain is already in overdrive, then it isn’t going to do its job as well as it potentially could. We may start to be conscious of too much information, or our sponge is overflowing with water/information. This will start to look like anxiety, ADHD, ADD, and other potential neurodevelopmental issues.

The cause of the brain being like this is usually due to it being in a chronic state of fight or flight. Almost as if the body is experiencing an adrenaline rush at all times. Anyone can relate to the feeling of an adrenaline rush and how the only thing that you’re concerned about is survival. In this situation it can be really difficult to make any sort of real rational decision. Which is why when the body is stuck in a chronic state of this we are going to be experiencing things like ADHD. So technically the ADHD brain is the same as a normal brain, it is often just stuck in working in overdrive.

Can This Be Fixed?

Many people think that once the brain is one way it is almost impossible to change it back to how it’s supposed to be. Luckily there is this thing called neuroplasticity! Neuroplasticity shows us that the brain and nervous system isn’t stuck the way it is but rather it can be changed or molded, depending on the things we do in our lives. This is very promising for people and children with ADHD, meaning that they don’t have to struggle with it forever, that a change can be made and they can get better.

The most important thing that we need to do with ADHD is change how the nervous system is regulated. The nervous system is usually in overdrive and isn’t able to filter correctly so we need to make changes to bring it back into a calming, resting, thriving state. When it is in this state the entire system, brain, and body can start to relax and operate how it’s designed to operate.

One of the best ways to achieve this is through specific upper cervical chiropractic care. This is a type of care that is different than most. Our sole goal for everyone that comes into The Specific Chiropractic Center is to regulate their nervous system and get it working optimally. We have a tool that allows us to test the nervous system at every single visit. This is vital as we are able to track our progress and continually notice the changes we are making throughout care.

The importance of being able to track these changes is it allows us to see if we are going in the right or wrong direction. This may seem obvious but a lot of times this nervous system issue has been going on for a longer period of time than the ADHD symptoms. Because of this it usually takes many visits to see a change in the ADHD although we are making positive changes within the body. I always like to tell people that feeling follows function, once we get the body working how it’s supposed to, then we start seeing people’s symptoms start to change. With that being said the changes that we see throughout care are baby steps, they start small but overtime we are compounding on them to make large changes overall.

Our goal and the goal with ADHD is to start changing long lasting patterns that have been created. It isn’t the easiest or fastest thing to do but at The Specific Chiropractic Center we have seen tremendous improvement in a lot of kids and adults who struggle with ADHD. We also see an improvement in other behaviors along with sleep as many times people who are dealing with ADHD also have other things going on. If you or your child struggles with ADHD, reach out to us and see if we can help. We provide complimentary consultations where we can go over your unique health history, do some simple tests, and give you an exact estimate of what we think it will take to get you or your child back to being the best version of themselves!