During a conversation with a couple of other ADHD coaches, we realised that all three of us are really good in a crisis. When an emergency happens our minds clear, our focus becomes intense and we know exactly what to do. We can organise our actions and direct people around us to get the situation under control.
A few years ago I was driving with my son towards a zebra crossing and I was in the process of slowing down for a lady to cross. Coming towards the zebra crossing on the other side of the road was a blue hatchback. It was approaching too fast, but the lady started crossing the road expecting it to stop. It didn’t stop and she was hit by the car, going up on to the bonnet and then rolling under as the car braked.
All this happened in slow motion right in front of us like a movie. We were in a city with a lot of traffic on a busy road. I flung open my car door and ran over to the blue hatchback which the lady was under, telling my son to dial 999. The front wheels were actually on her, so I opened the car door and got the driver out. I leaned in and released the handbrake, pushing the car back and off the lady. I don’t know if anyone helped me push, but it rolled back easily.
The lady was still conscious and talking so I put the driver’s seat cushion under her head and asked the people who had gathered to stand around her so no traffic could get close. I had blocked the road with my car, so when everyone was safe I moved it to get the traffic moving again. In the meantime my son had called the ambulance and police and when they arrived I told them everything that had happened and they took control. After that I don’t remember anything.
I shared this story with my colleagues and they talked about similar experiences of intense focus and purpose in an emergency. Apparently we have two networks in our brain – the Default Mode Network (DMN) and the Task Positive Network (TPN). When NT people are doing a task or focusing on something the TPN is active and the DMN is not. And when they are resting their DMN is active and the TPN is not. But in ADHD brains the DMN remains active when the TPN is active. So we are distracted, day dreaming, unfocused and being drawn away because both networks are active at the same time.
Buddhists and others meditate in order to put thought and self to one side. When they do this their DMN activity slows down, so they have neither task or rest based neural activity and peace is achieved. When people with ADHD get into an emergency situation our DMN activity also slows down and our TPN can get on with the job. So in a crisis we become like monks.
