Part of ADHD?

[purpleme12]

There are many other reasons why my child may have ADHD at this point.
But the second we sit down or are not actively doing something she says she's bored.
And sometimes I think she can't cope with being bored.
Could this be part of ADHD?

I'll just carry on

I mean thank you for the advice and links everyone it has helped

No worries op - definitely keep posting if helpful. There are various adhd threads running. I have one in sn children about the meds

I have ADHD and for me boredom can feel worse than physical pain, it can be really awful if I get 'stuck' and can't find something which will give me the dopamine reward I need to motivate me to do something. My son is the same, he has the same deficit as me with task initiation. It looks like procrastination, but it isn't, it's that you cannot get started or find something to do, but once engaged this can switch into hyper focus where you are totally immersed, to the point that you even forget to eat, drink or go to the toilet. My son is incredibly busy, creative and self motivated once he gets going, but trying to find an initial task that seems appealing and then help him bridge that gap to actually getting started, can be difficult. And I'm the same still now. Medication can help that bridge, and works well for many people to help them with these kinds of issues. It may be ADHD and it may not be, but just because some people with ADHD are really good at keeping themselves entertained doesn't mean that all will be. Certainly for me, and for my son, task initiation is one of the most difficult things for us to manage alone, and actually sometimes impossible. This can change almost instantly once an external motivator is added. This could be me actually sitting him down with some crayons and paper and instructing him to just draw a circle or a triangle or something, and a few seconds of crayon on paper and suddenly he is busy in art mode creating a surreal multimedia creation. For me, if you give me a deadline in 6 months for some simple paperwork I need to get done (that will take a few minutes) I will not be able to do it until the day before, probably the night before. However, knowing this means I have set up coping strategies. If I am given a form to fill out for me kids school, for example, I know if I take it home I will not be able to task initiate until the deadline pressure creates an external motivator, and by this time I might have lost the form due to my other executive function issues. So instead I do not leave the school site until I've done the form. Task initiation absolutely is an executive function so can be part of ADHD, and also other conditions that affect executive functioning including autism, dyspraxia, etc. On its own it's not diagnostic of anything for a kid to be bored and need a lot of input in finding activity to do, however I would look at executive functions and find out if there are more areas your child struggles with, at adhd and more broadly. There are many fantastic screening tools online which can give you a good idea if it worth pursuing a diagnosis. Good luck! 🍀

Also, people with ADHD can struggle with waiting and time blindness. If they are feeling bored that feeling is all there is. They might be going to Thorpe park in 2 hours, but that may as well be in another lifetime. If right now all they have is something which is not providing a high dopamine reward, then they are still the most bored that a person can be. It can be really frustrating, because they can need constant prompting to find constructive Healthy dopamine reward activities, or they will find their own ways of finding this, often by doing dangerous unhealthy or destructive behaviours. ADHD can make waiting unbearable as well, so it is common for ADHD kids to behave worse and worse leading up to an exciting event or activity. Your trying to leave for Thorpe park, but they have thrown their shoes on the roof, taken all their clothes off and are doing a headstand on the kitchen table. This is why it's best to not give ADHD kids much notice. The best way to get that ADHD kid to Thorpe park in one piece is to tell them your going to the supermarket or somewhere not all that interesting to them.

Autistic children, on the other hand, can display really similar behaviours but their meltdowns and triggers will be around not having enough fore warning, not being part of the planning and preparation. They are not seeking dopamine in the same way, but may still have the same issues with task initiation. So they can look very similar, and it can be hard to know which is which. Keeping a record of your child's more extreme behaviours and possible triggers can help you see more clearly what may be underlying their behaviour. ADHD, for me, means living absolutely in the moment. I still struggle with cause and effect and can't wait to save my life, whereas my autistic child prefers the planning to the event and so long as they are part of the process and have enough pre warning we can avoid meltdowns. Also me and my ADHD child are sensory seeking, and my autistic child is sensory avoidant. We all struggle with sensory overload, but me and my son will shout louder, turn the music up, and my autistic daughter will get her ear defenders out!

I don't know whether it's theory or proven but dopamine is thought to be an issue in ADHD with people needing regular dopamine hits to keep motivated and happy. So being bored is probably in need of a hit of dopamine.

Also ADHD can be hyperactive, inattentive or mixed type so there's a difference in presentations.

I have an autism diagnosis and get very anxious unless I know what I'm doing for the next time period. Getting in and not knowing what I'm doing now is not relaxing for me. It's unsettling unless I know, ah ok, I'm going to watch TV or do x task or scroll on my phone for a bit and that's ok. I suspect I might also have ADHD.

Mine can get like this, he’s not got a formal diagnosis yet though. For him having sensory input can help so a fidget toy, textured blanket or similar works for hi. Seems to calm his brain while he decides what to do next.

She kicked off today because she couldn't find something.
Because it wasn't in its place (she didn't put it back in its place)

That is interesting @purpleme12. So that could be an autistic meltdown if you think she shows any traits and people with AHDH can also be explosive and struggle with emotional regulation.

My dc is dual dx with both ASD and ADHD and in our area that’s becoming quite usual where the profiles match.

I don't believe it's 'naughtiness' really.
She doesn't like getting angry and she can't stop it. She needs me to physically calm her down. She literally shouts help.
I don't believe it's boundaries etc that are the problem because the problem is her getting like this in the first place. When I calm her down it works. But I need her to be able to calm herself down

@Crochetandcoke what you say about external motivation and starting tasks is really interesting. Since ds (nearly 16) was diagnosed I’ve recognised similar traits in myself too. Ds could never motivate himself to do any revision until the very last minute and so his mocks were very pactchy. I introduced an hourly financial reward for revision in Feb and that successfully kickstarted him. Once he got going I actually think he would have carried on without the money because he had a system - work through each subject on Seneca - that had its own intrinsic rewards (passing each stage, getting through the syllabus). He did over 100 hours of revision in the end! If he’d left it to the last minute I reckon he’d have done about 20 - an hour before each exam!

He’s also prone to boredom and thrill seeking when he hasn’t got a hyper-focus activity on the go. Last night, after telling me he was staying over at a friend’s, I later discovered they decided to stay up all night in a 24 hour gym in the city centre - for fun?! 😬 He was explaining this as if he’d just got so bored and desperate but he’s just had three weeks away - 2 action packed camps and a holiday! I thought he’d be happy to catch up on some sleep!

@Crochetandcoke I just read your wonderful descriptions out loud to my 11 year old with ADHD - we were laughing, it's like a window into our lives 😁

I'm really happy to hear that @BabycakesMatlala

@Crochetandcoke the pain of waiting to attend a party in the afternoon is a standard joke here!