Goal

ADHD
What are normal levels of focus, and how all of us irrespective of whether we have ADHD, can improve our ability to focus, rule out distractions and remember information better
How we can relax while focusing, a critical component of learning new information and for coming up with new creative ideas
Drug-based tools, behavioural tools, diet, supplementation, new emerging brain-machine interface devices for rewiring your brain for making focusing more natural for you and how to increase depth of focus
Role of smartphone use in inducing ADHD

<aside> 💡 Disclaimer

While discussing any psychiatric disorder, we have the temptation to self-diagnose or diagnose others. It is very important to not do this. The real diagnosis should be carried out by a psychiatrist or a very well trained clinical psychologist.

But nowadays, we are carrying some symptoms that make us somewhat like someone with ADHD, and if you’re struggling with focus, either due to stress or smartphone use, pay attention to the symptoms, you may require help.

Also, some of the terms we cover like impulse control, concentration, attention are somewhat subjective and they can change over time. Sometimes we have a better level of attention than others, depending on how well we slept or other events going on in our life.

The important thing is that we can all improve our attentional capacity and rewire the circuits that make heightened levels of focus more accessible to us.

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ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Genetics

It used to be called Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Records about ADD date back to 1904. But it likely existed long before it. Because it has a strong genetic component.
If you have a close relative that has ADHD, there is a high likelihood that you’ll have ADHD. The probability goes up depending on how closely you’re related to that person (e.g. if you have an identical twin with ADHD, probability ~75%, if a fraternal twin has ADHD ~50-60%, parent with ADHD ~10-20%). But does not mean you’re fated to have ADHD.
The genetic component relates directly to specific neural circuits in the brain wire up, the chemicals they use and the way they use those chemicals.

Intelligence

Having ADHD has nothing to do with intelligence (measured by a standard IQ test [which is problematic by itself as there are lots of types of intelligence that a standard IQ test won’t pick up - emotional intelligence, musical intelligence, spatial intelligence, etc.]).
Being very high function doesn’t make you more likely to have ADHD.
Being ADHD doesn’t mean you’ll have a low IQ. There are ADHD people with IQ in the entire spectrum across different intelligences.