Hyperfocus
Hyperfocus is an intense form of mental concentration or visualization that focuses consciousness on a subject, topic, or task. In some individuals, some subjects or topics may also tend toward including daydreams, concepts, fiction, the imagination, and other objects of the mind. Hyperfocus on a certain subject can cause side-tracking away from assigned or important tasks.
Hyperfocus may bear a relationship to the concept of flow.[1] In some circumstances both flow and hyperfocus can be an aid to achievement, but in other circumstance or situations, the same focus and behavior could be a liability, distracting from the task at hand. However, unlike hyperfocus, "flow" is often described in more glowing terms, suggesting they are not two sides of the same condition under contrasting circumstance or intellect.
Confusion with perseveration, as a clinical symptom
Hyperfocus may in some cases also be evidence, or symptomatic, of a psychiatric condition, where it is more commonly and accurately[1] described as perseveration (or perseverance) - the inability to, or impairment in, switching tasks or activities ("set shifting"),[2] or desisting from mental or physical response repetition (gestures, words, thoughts) despite absence or cessation of a stimulus,[3][4][5][6] and which is not excessive in terms of quantity but are apparently both functionless and involve a narrow range of behaviours, and are not better described as stereotypy (a highly repetitive idiosyncratic behaviour).
Conditions associated with perseveration include neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular the autism spectrum (especially Asperger syndrome), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the latter it is informally but probably incorrectly called "hyperfocus"[1] and may be a coping mechanism or symptom of self-regulation impairment–as well as people who are both intellectually gifted and suffer a learning disability who may have either or both of hyperfocus and perseverative behaviours.[1] Other conditions involving dysfunction or disregulation within the frontal lobe could also theoretically have similar effects.
It is typical for ADHD patients to claim they 1), can not focus on boring things and 2), can only focus on stimulating things,[7] and that focus is often extreme. Thus it is both a concentration deficit, and over-concentration or generically: "hyperfocus." More concisely, some types of ADHD (particularly ADD) are a difficulty in directing one's attention, (an executive function of the frontal lobe), not a lack of attention.[8][9][10]
Conditions unlikely to be confused with hyperfocus - clinical conditions involving clear repetition of words or behaviours, such as obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) or trauma;[11] and cases of physical brain injury, trauma or damage, such as traumatic brain injury and frontal lobe lesions;[2]
See also
- Hunter vs. farmer theory
- Flow (psychology)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Misdiagnosis And Dual Diagnoses Of Gifted Children And Adults: Adhd, Bipolar... - Webb, p.50-51]: Notes prior research into "hyperfocus" in ADHD, identifies it with "flow" in gifted children, observes that what is called hyperfocus in such cases "seems to be a less medical-sounding description of perseveration. Thus the apparent ability to concentrate in certain limited situations does not exclude the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Priory psychiatric glossary
- ↑ Dictionary of Biological Psychology - p.595
- ↑ Helm-Estabrooks N. The problem of perseveration. Semin Speech Lang. 2004;25(4):289–90. doi:10.1055/s-2004-837241. PMID 15599818.
- ↑ Psych Central definition
- ↑ Dictionary.com definition
- ↑ parenting.com "Famous People with ADHD," David Neeleman, Founder of JetBlue Airways David Neeleman reported in an interview with ADDitude magazine his ADHD prevents him from being detail-oriented and completing doing day-to-day tasks, saying, "I have an easier time planning a 20-aircraft fleet than I do paying the light bill." -retrieved August 2013
- ↑ 2012 Burnett Lecture Video, Part 1 of 3, Keynote Speaker: Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D. by UNCCHLearningCenter, retrieved Aug 2013
- ↑ 2012 Burnett Lecture, Video, Part 2 of 3, ADHD, Self-Regulation and Executive Functioning Theory, by UNCCHLearningCenter
- ↑ 2012 Burnett Lecture Video, Part 3 of 3, Q & A Dr. Russell Barkley by UNCCHLearningCenter - Streamed live on Nov 1, 2012 Sponsored by the Academic Success Program for Students with LD and ADHD — a UNC-Chapel Hill Learning Center Program in the College of Arts and Sciences — and the UNC General Alumni
- ↑ Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Differential Diagnoses - 2012
Further reading
- Hartmann, T. (1998). Healing ADD: Simple Exercises That Will Change Your Daily Life (1st ed.). Underwood-Miller. ISBN 1-887424-37-7.
- Hartmann, T. (1997). Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception (2nd ed.). Underwood. ISBN 978-1887424141.
- Goldstein, S.; Barkley, R. A. (1998). "ADHD, hunting and evolution: "Just So" stories (commentary)". ADHD Report 6 (5): 1–4.
- Jensen, P. S.; Mrazek, D.; Knapp, P. K.; Steinberg, L.; Pfeffer, C.; Schowalter, J.; Shapiro, T. (1997). "Evolution and Revolution in Child Psychiatry: ADHD as a Disorder of Adaptation" (pdf). Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 36 (12): 1672–1681. doi:10.1097/00004583-199712000-00015. PMID 9401328.
- Shelley-Tremblay, J. F.; Rosén, L. A. (1996). "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An Evolutionary Perspective". The Journal of Genetic Psychology 157 (4): 443–453. doi:10.1080/00221325.1996.9914877. PMID 8955426.
- Funk, J. B.; Chessare, J. B.; Weaver, M. T.; Exley, A. R. (1993). "Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, creativity, and the effects of methylphenidate". Pediatrics 91 (4): 816–819. PMID 8464673.
- Flippin, R. (2008). "ADHD Symptom: Hyperfocus". ADDitude magazine.
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