EDHD: Energy Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
A new theory for ADHD
Howdy, Fellow Fireworks Brainers!
This week I was planning to write about depression, but I instead became obsessed with intrigued by hyperfocus fatigue and stumbled upon a VERY interesting, very new hypothesis about ADHD. Nerd boner: activated!
The central idea is “What if energy deficit is involved in ADHD?”. As you know by now, I usually research the fucknuggets out of things, which is what I did here. But, the paper is incredibly dense (I-made-multiple-jokes-on-notes-about-it-dense) and so it took me days to read and, more importantly, understand it. I may have also gone on side quests, because who wouldn’t want to know what “oscillatory coordination” means? I mean, hello?
All of that to say that I “translated” it the best way I could, but I could have made mistakes. I am but a humble ADHD health coach after all.
Let’s get into it.
EDHD: the energy theory
There are a few theories floating around about ADHD, and some important ones talk about dopamine (we’ve all heard about this one), or defective network switching (default mode network/task positive network).
But the problem with those theories is that they don’t properly explain why ADHD looks so different in every person, or why our performance depends so much on how tired we are, what life stage we’re in, and our context - like the task itself and the environment.
Enter: Energy Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or EDHD for lazy efficient people like me.
This theory explains that it’s not fixed deficits or traits that cause problems with executive function, which results in us struggling to plan, manage time or filter out distractions. Instead, it suggests that our executive function is limited by two things: the amount of energy it costs to use the executive function areas inside our brain, and how well we recover after a long stretch of using them.
Unfortunately these areas (a.k.a. the prefrontal and frontoparietal systems) are greedy motherfuckers when it comes to energy, in that they use a lot of glucose. So to carry out executive function, they are very much dependent on how much brain food fuel is produced from that glucose, how healthy the brain’s cellular “power plants” are, how well it is managing cellular wear-and-tear, and how stable its dopamine and norepinephrine levels are. ADHDers likely have a higher risk of experiencing problems with all of these, which would obviously impact our energy supply.
Also, if these systems have been used continuously over a longer time, the brain needs time, sleep and a fuel reset to restore their capacity. If they have not been able to fully recover, we lose focus and get stressed more easily, and we aren’t able to work as long. Sounds familiar?
TL;DR: what determines if our executive function fluctuates, stays stable, or collapses completely = the amount of energy it costs to use the executive function areas + how well we recover from it afterwards. And seeing as ADHDers are more likely to experience issues with both, this could explain why we generally are able to do a task for a little while (when there’s a low energy cost), but lose focus or go into full-on ADHD Meltdown Mode™ when our brain has to use energy over a longer period of time without a chance to recover.
Now of course there is one important question. If our Energy Everything is a mess…
How in the holy fuckballs can we focus long term?
This is where it gets even more interesting. According to this theory, things like fidgeting and moving around (hyperactivity), looking anywhere but at your task (environmental scanning), and finding something else to do (task switching) are NOT symptoms or dysfunctions.
Instead, they are things we do to compensate for the (in)strain in the membrane. By moving around, task switching etc. we generate a state of “arousal” (not like that) and boost dopamine and norepinephrine levels inside the brain. Dopamine and norepinephrine are our “focus neurotransmitters”, and they also get released when a task is novel or stimulating (still not like that).
When low on energy, normally your executive function areas would just scream “Fuck you and your task!” and bow out. But these neurotransmitters work like a toxic manager: they force your executive systems to focus on the task, tired or not.
So in short: by fidgeting etc. your body is actually trying to help you to focus on the task. Here’s why that can be shitty though: while it does help to stay engaged, it also speeds up fatigue and emotional dysregulation because now even more energy is being spent.
Well, fuck me us sideways. It does explain why we feel so tired and grumpy all the time, doesn’t it? 😉
Now what?
Well first of all, this hypothesis hasn’t been proven yet. Though it does make a lot of sense to me, and explains why some days I can knock tasks out of the park and most other days it feels like pulling teeth.
So say that our executive functioning depends on recovery, and that without these regeneration phases, even simple tasks become overwhelming. If that’s the case, sleep, strategic breaks, a healthy diet and keeping your metabolism in good shape become even more important than what I’ve been going on (and on… and on) about. I was extra right, baby!
Now if you’ll excuse me, my executive function systems need rest.
Oh by the way, this theory also partly explains depression and anxiety. Let me know in the comments if you’re interested, and I can do another post on that!
🎥 My latest YouTube video: A new ADHD theory explains why boring tasks are so draining
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One thought stayed with me while reading this: sometimes a new way of looking at something doesn’t immediately change the facts, but it changes the questions we ask.
I appreciated your balanced approach, presenting this as a developing hypothesis while inviting curiosity rather than certainty. That openness makes the discussion especially engaging.
Thank you for such a clear and thought-provoking read.
You had me at the "(in)strain in the membrane" line.