Frames

As previously discussed in several posts, I’ve been trying to understand – and resolve – my constant struggle to get stuff done. I’m happy to report that I think I’ve figured out what’s going on.

Spring, 2021

After I adjusted the nutraceuticals I use to manage my depression without success (see Isms), I decided to try a more direct approach, and researched non-prescription options for “low motivation.” I didn’t find anything that sounded promising, but I couldn’t help noticing that many of the results that came up were in articles about managing ADHD.

Hmm.

Summer, 2021

I’ve thought I might have some degree of ADHD for many years, but never really followed up on that thought. It didn’t seem to be affecting me much. But I decided to read a book about it. Many quotes from adults with ADHD resonated unexpectedly.

Hmm.

Fall, 2021

I found some podcasts by people living with ADHD. Issues with energy and initiative cycles, motivation, and timeliness are everywhere. Methinks I have found the answer to the mystery of my procrastination – not a lingering depression symptom at all.

The discovery is liberally sprinkled with karma, as I’ve told more than one lover/colleague/friend with ADHD that it appeared to be affecting them a lot more than they believed (but nobody ever said the same to me, I swear).

This new insight hasn’t resulted in overnight solutions, but it explains a LOT, including why I keep overlooking things in plain sight. It’s shown me a community grappling with similar issues. And I’m reassessing my capacities, my expectations, and my notion of what is “normal for me.”

That’s Odd

The more I read/heard about ADHD, the more some very familiar terms cropped up. “Highly sensitive,” for example. Also “overwhelm.” This from people who never mentioned Sensory Processing Sensitivity, and as far as I could tell, had never even heard of it.

Hmm.

So I ran a search on on ADHD and Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS), and immediately discovered this study, completed only a year ago. Here’s the abstract.

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) and symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adults. The Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS) and the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) were administered to a non-clinical group of 274 participants recruited from a university volunteers list.

We found a highly significant positive correlation between number of self-reported ADHD traits and sensory sensitivity. Furthermore, ADHD traits and age were predictors of SPS and exploratory factor analysis revealed a factor that combined ADHD traits and items from the HSPS. The psychometric properties of the HSPS were also examined supporting the unidimensional nature of the concept.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify a positive relationship between HSPS and ADHD traits in the general population. Our results further support recent findings suggesting abnormal sensory processing in ADHD.

I guess I wasn’t the only one to notice certain similarities. It should be noted that the researchers (who have published previous research on differences between sensory processing in people with ADHD vs. the general population) intended the study to test whether sensory processing differences were a significant component of ADHD, NOT whether there was overlap between ADHD and SPS. But their data suggests there is indeed an overlap.

But wait, there’s more!

A few years ago, I attended an INFJ meetup. I don’t have a lot of faith in the Myers Briggs personality categorizing system, nor do I particularly identify with being an INFJ (sometimes I test as an INFP, which seriously rattles true believers). I just went to observe and connect with introverts who had done some thinking about personality. However, an hour and a half into the meeting, when I mentioned that I identified more strongly as an HSP than an INFJ, not expecting anyone else to have even heard of SPS, I was quite surprised that almost everyone in the group had not only heard of SPS, but also identified as an HSP! It turns out this is a known correlation, I just hadn’t stumbled across it before.

Hmm!

So what does this mean??

Are we HSPs, INFJs, or do we have ADHD? Overlap doesn’t necessarily mean 100% of people who identify with any one group necessarily belong to the others as well. Among other things, INFJs seem to be a lot rarer than people with ADHD, and people with ADHD seem to be rarer than HSPs. Still, the overlap is awfully suggestive, especially when you take it full circle and discover that, yes, there is also overlap between being an INFJ and having ADHD. Could these be different perspectives on the same underlying state/condition/personality?

What’s most intriguing about this is the way each identification centers on particular characteristics while de-emphasizing others, with the result that, superficially, the groups appear quite different. But when you start listening to firsthand descriptions of daily life, it becomes a lot harder to tell an HSP from a person with ADHD. Whether this is a failure of scientific objectivity, of being fully honest with ourselves, or just everyday garden variety human confusion, I don’t know.