Marketing Scoops: Unlocking Workplace Productivity: Tackling The Hidden Challenges Behind ADHD And More

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In today’s demanding corporate landscape, productivity isn’t just a metric it’s a mandate. Yet despite the growing availability of performance enhancing tools, many teams still grapple with underperformance, disengagement and burnout. What’s often overlooked is that productivity issues aren’t always the result of poor work ethic; rather, they’re often symptoms of deeper cognitive and organizational challenges such as ADHD……..Continue reading….

By: Ofer Lidsky

Source: Forbes

Critics:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and developmentally inappropriate. ADHD symptoms arise from executive dysfunction.

Impairments resulting from deficits in self-regulation such as time management, inhibition, task initiation, and sustained attention can include poor professional performance, relationship difficulties, and numerous health risks, collectively predisposing to a diminished quality of life and a reduction in life expectancy. As a consequence, the disorder costs society hundreds of billions of US dollars each year, worldwide.

It is associated with other mental disorders as well as non-psychiatric disorders, which can cause additional impairment. While ADHD involves a lack of sustained attention to tasks, inhibitory deficits also can lead to difficulty interrupting an already ongoing response pattern, manifesting in the perseveration of actions despite a change in context whereby the individual intends the termination of those actions.

This symptom is known colloquially as hyperfocus and is related to risks such as addiction and types of offending behaviour. ADHD can be difficult to tell apart from other conditions. ADHD represents the extreme lower end of the continuous dimensional trait (bell curve) of executive functioning and self-regulation, which is supported by twin, brain imaging and molecular genetic studies. The precise causes of ADHD are unknown in most individual cases.

Meta-analyses have shown that the disorder is primarily genetic with a heritability rate of 70–80%, where risk factors are highly accumulative. The environmental risks are not related to social or familial factors; they exert their effects very early in life, in the prenatal or early postnatal period. However, in rare cases, ADHD can be caused by a single event including traumatic brain injury, exposure to biohazards during pregnancy, or a major genetic mutation.

As it is a neurodevelopmental disorder, there is no biologically distinct adult-onset ADHD except for when ADHD occurs after traumatic brain injury. ADHD is divided into three primary presentations:

predominantly inattentive (ADHD-PI or ADHD-I)
predominantly hyperactive-impulsive (ADHD-PH or ADHD-HI)
combined presentation (ADHD-C).

The table “Symptoms” lists the symptoms for ADHD-I and ADHD-HI from two major classification systems. Symptoms which can be better explained by another psychiatric or medical condition which an individual has are not considered to be a symptom of ADHD for that person. In DSM-5, subtypes were discarded and reclassified as presentations of the disorder that change over time.

An association between ADHD and hyperfocus, a state characterised by intense and narrow concentration on a specific stimulus, object or task for a prolonged period of time has been widely reported in the popular science press and media. The phenomenon generally occurs when an individual is engaged in activities they find highly interesting, or which provide instant gratification, such as video games or online chatting.

Hyperfocus is not a recognised symptom of ADHD in diagnostic manuals, but is frequently referred to as a symptom of ADHD in academic literature and commonly reported in patients with ADHD in clinical practice. There is a lack of research into hyperfocus in ADHD. Studies in 2016, 2019 and 2024 found that individuals with ADHD diagnoses or self-reported ADHD symptoms experience hyperfocus more often, or more acutely.

A 2020 study did not find a higher frequency of hyperfocus in adults with ADHD, although it reported a positive correlation with self-reported ADHD traits. The discrepancy with other studies may reflect varying definitions and conceptions of hyperfocus. A state of hyperfocus has been hypothesised as being beneficial, allowing individuals to focus on tasks for much longer than is typical. Conversely, it can be difficult to disengage from and shift attention to other stimuli or tasks, leading to excessively prolonged attention.

It is related to risks such as internet addiction (see § Problematic digital media use) and to some types of offending behaviour. Recent research has linked hyperfocus to the psychological concepts of flow, an enjoyable experience of deep engagement in an activity, and perseveration, difficulty disengaging or switching from an activity.

ADHD arises from brain maldevelopment especially in the prefrontal executive networks that can arise either from genetic factors (different gene variants and mutations for building and regulating such networks) or from acquired disruptions to the development of these networks and regions involved in executive functioning and self-regulation. Their reduced size, functional connectivity, and activation contribute to the pathophysiology of ADHD, as well as imbalances in the noradrenergic and dopaminergic systems that mediate these brain regions.

Genetic factors play an important role; ADHD has a heritability rate of 70–80%. The remaining 20–30% of variance is mediated by de-novo mutations and non-shared environmental factors that provide for or produce brain injuries; there is no significant contribution of the rearing family and social environment. Very rarely, ADHD can also be the result of abnormalities in the chromosomes. As with many other psychiatric disorders, a formal diagnosis should be made by a qualified professional based on a set number of criteria.

In the United States, these criteria are defined by the American Psychiatric Association in the DSM. Based on the DSM-5 criteria published in 2013 and the DSM-5-TR criteria published in 2022, there are three presentations of ADHD:

ADHD, predominantly inattentive presentation, presents with symptoms including being easily distracted, forgetful, daydreaming, disorganisation, poor sustained attention, and difficulty completing tasks.
ADHD, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive presentation, presents with excessive fidgeting and restlessness, hyperactivity, and difficulty waiting and remaining seated.
ADHD, combined presentation, is a combination of the first two presentations.

Atomoxetine, due to its lack of addiction liability, may be preferred in those who are at risk of recreational or compulsive stimulant use, although evidence is lacking to support its use over stimulants for this reason. Atomoxetine alleviates ADHD symptoms through norepinephrine reuptake and by indirectly increasing dopamine in the pre-frontal cortex, sharing 70–80% of the brain regions with stimulants in their produced effects.

Atomoxetine has been shown to significantly improve academic performance. Meta-analyses and systematic reviews have found that atomoxetine has comparable efficacy, equal tolerability and response rate (75%) to methylphenidate in children and adolescents. In adults, efficacy and discontinuation rates are equivalent.