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ADHD
Understanding Mental Fatigue in ADHD
By Rachael Green Published on December 16, 2022
woman lying on the couch with her fist on her forehead looking tired.
Maria Korneeva / Getty Images
The stereotypical image of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is someone brimming with energy. So much energy, in fact, that they can’t sit still or focus on one task for very long.
That stereotype is an oversimplification at best and entirely inaccurate for millions of people with ADHD at worst.
In fact, emerging research shows that one of the most prevalent symptoms of ADHD is not excess energy but the lack of it in the form of mental fatigue.
What Is Mental Fatigue?
Mental fatigue refers to a feeling of cognitive and emotional exhaustion that manifests as feeling too tired to think.
Any kind of cognitive effort from responding to a text message to deciding what TV show to watch becomes impossibly overwhelming.
Your motivation to complete tasks, even ones you’d normally be excited about or at least comfortable with, is all but nonexistent.
Temporary episodes of mental fatigue can happen to anyone after a period of intensive mental effort.
Just like physical exercise makes you physically tired, mental exercise makes you mentally tired.
While it can happen to anyone, people with ADHD are more likely to experience it and specifically, more likely to experience it on a frequent or chronic basis.
One study found that as much as 62% of people with ADHD meet the criteria for fatigue.
1 Similarly, another study found that people with chronic fatigue were more likely to also have an ADHD diagnosis.2
ADHD
Understanding Mental Fatigue in ADHD
By Rachael Green Published on December 16, 2022
woman lying on the couch with her fist on her forehead looking tired.
Maria Korneeva / Getty Images
The stereotypical image of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is someone brimming with energy. So much energy, in fact, that they can’t sit still or focus on one task for very long.
The Link Between ADHD and Mental Fatigue
Researchers suspect that the reason mental fatigue is so prevalent in ADHD may be related to how cognitively demanding coping with ADHD is. While a neurotypical brain is wired to intuitively tune out environmental distractors, control impulses, and sustain attention, many of the mechanisms required to do those things are dysregulated in ADHD, including weak alpha wave modulation3 and a dysregulated dopaminergic system.4
That stereotype is an oversimplification at best and entirely inaccurate for millions of people with ADHD at worst.
In fact, emerging research shows that one of the most prevalent symptoms of ADHD is not excess energy but the lack of it in the form of mental fatigue.