'Like brain candy': How symphonies, soundwaves, and sitcoms help some adults with ADHD
While many therapists advise reducing sensory stimuli to help focus, some say that the opposite works
When Rosemary Thomson steps into the orchestra pit and raises her baton, her constant "spinning" thoughts melt away instantly.
Four years ago, Thomson — who conducts the Okanagan Symphony and Okanagan Youth orchestras, and directs Opera Kelowna — was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which has made focusing on boring, complicated or multiple tasks extremely difficult.
But not when the music starts — no matter how many instruments are playing, depending on her cues.
"When I'm conducting, I have the best seat in the house," she told CBC News from Kelowna, B.C. "You're really physically immersed in that sound.
"I can cue the cellos in, and have one ear and the stick on the rhythm, while I'm showing a shape to the horn."
Between performances, it's a different story. Thomson said she struggles to focus on the administrative and mundane tasks of running orchestras, like putting off grant applications until the last minute.
'It allows me to focus'
ADHD, now understood to be largely hereditary, affects people's ability to regulate their attention, emotions and impulses, known as executive functioning.
It is basically the "manager inside the brain," explained University of Calgary clinical psychologist Joanne Park.
"It's the part of our brain that is telling us, 'Here's what to focus on, here's what to do first when you're tackling a task, this is the priority,'" she said. "A lot of times when you have ADHD, you feel overwhelmed when faced with a big task."
And it is being diagnosed in more and more adults — between four and six per cent of adults, according to the Centre for ADHD Awareness Canada.
Symptoms include trouble focusing on difficult tasks, fidgeting or daydreaming, forgetfulness, as well as becoming easily overwhelmed emotionally.
While many ADHD therapists advise reducing distractions when faced with a difficult task, some people are finding the opposite helpful.
Thomson said she works best with a sitcom playing on a TV nearby; the low background noise and images are somehow soothing. She also asks colleagues to be present as she completes tougher tasks.
"My brain is always going — I spin a lot," she explained. "So it really is a great way to kind of stop me. It allows me to focus."
'Tremendous potential'
She's not alone in finding relief in the world of the senses. ADHD-focused social media accounts and forums are full of tips people say work for them. Some listen to low-frequency sound waves such as "brown noise," ideally with noise-cancelling headphones.
Others immerse themselves in video games, and scientists are paying attention.
"Virtual reality is this amazing tool that creates tremendous potential in treatment and therapy," said Kwantlen University psychologist Farhad Dastur, director of the Virtual Reality Lab. "It allows us to … teach people, for example, how to regulate their emotions."
With the help computer-generated visual and auditory environments, he said, psychologists can also help people with disorders like ADHD practice meditation and mindfulness.
In the U.S., authorities have approved a video game for children with ADHD; the programmers behind EndeavorRx have also developed a version for adults.
"It makes sense that would be helpful for people with ADHD because … it's not really difficulty paying attention, it's difficulty regulating attention," Park said.
'Like scratching an itch in my brain'
For Prince George, B.C., communications freelancer Audrey McKinnon, who was diagnosed with ADHD last year, sometimes more — not fewer — sensory stimuli are key.
As a child learning to play piano, she recalled, she found peace by opening up the piano's lid, and playing loudly with her head inside.
"I found it really regulating and comforting," she said. "I love loud input and I love vocalizing.
"The whole world of sensory inputs … It's like scratching an itch in my brain."
She needs background noise in her work environments, and frequently moves around and makes random noises with her mouth — to the chagrin of co-workers, she admitted.
McKinnon has also discovered she can calm her mind by playing with slime, a trick she learned from online videos of people handling various gooey substances to relieve their ADHD symptoms.
"It's like brain candy," she said.
Park said each patient is different and has unique sensitivities and needs.
"It's great to have these options," she said. "You can learn compensatory strategies for your ADHD symptoms.
"These are individual kind of preferences and things that you find that work for you."
For Thomson, she likens her attention to filling up a "bucket" that's normally overflowing with distracting and intrusive thoughts.
If she instead fills up her attention with other stimuli, even loud or brash sounds, she can truly focus on her priorities, she says.
So while it's her passion for music that keeps her mind from spinning with distracting thoughts, it's not only classical symphonies that help.
"I discovered a real passion for heavy metal in the pandemic," she said. "I love multiple rhythms, multiple textures.
"It grabs my full attention."
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