Using a Dopamine Menu to Stimulate Your ADHD Brain

Your brain is a Rivian. When its battery becomes depleted, it needs to stop and recharge. You know the feeling when your power is draining down, but you don’t always know how to replenish it.

Many of us grab our phones for a ‘quick’ doom scroll or a game of Geometry Dash. Others eat a cookie. This behavior is understandable, but it’s not helpful.“Most of us don’t spend hours scrolling through social media because we think it’s a good use of our time; we do it because we are looking for the stimulation we need to function,” says Jessica McCabe, the creator and host of How to ADHD, a popular YouTube series, and author of the new book How to ADHD (#CommissionsEarned). “Unfortunately, the quick and easy sources of dopamine we tend to turn to often aren’t enough to satisfy that need.

Or we hit the pleasure button on the same activity so many times, it stops being as fun.”[Get This Free Dopamine Menu Template]ADHD brains have lower-than-average levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that regulates the body’s pleasure and reward systems.

As a result, dopamine-increasing behaviors are even more gratifying to ADHD brains.“Concerns about time or consequences are dwarfed by the pursuit of pleasurable reinforcement,” explains Ellen Littman, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist. “These dopamine-deficient brains experience a surge of motivation after a high-stimulation behavior triggers a release of dopamine, but in the aftermath of that surge and reward, they return to baseline levels with an immediate drop in motivation.”As this cycle continues, individuals with ADHD can spend hours doing an activity they don’t really enjoy.This is like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in it, says Eric Tivers, LCSW, ADHD coach, CEO, and founder of ADHD.