Social Media and ADHD: Turning Distractions into Directions

By Grant Crowell, featuring an interview with Dr. Michelle Frank

Digital media is continuing to evolve at a rapid pace and is showing no sign of slowing down. This overabundance of digital stimuli, when not properly understood and managed, can seriously affect our productivity and our sense of well-being.

“The very nature of social media, with links to millions of videos, podcasts, images, songs, fascinating articles, and the ability to get information so quickly, is distracting to everyone,” says Dr. Michelle Frank, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist specializing in ADHD assessment and treatment of young adults. “Who wouldn’t rather watch a video posted by their favorite celebrity, read a new article from their favorite author/blogger, or watch a trailer for a great new movie, than do an expense report? It just makes sense. This challenge, however, is magnified for those with ADHD.”

SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL DEFICIENCIES

Since most communication is nonverbal, it is easy to miss important social cues online. “This is why emoticons and hashtags are now relied upon so much — to help fill in the blanks,” says Frank. “However, we may then jump to a poorly formed conclusion or assumption without knowing the whole picture, and may respond too quickly. This only compounds our communication problem.”

Also, we all tend to compare ourselves to others. “It is an adaptive trait, evolutionarily speaking, to reference our peers and contemporaries, those around us, for information related to the environment and our own well-being,” notes Dr. Frank, who also explains that social media plays into this nature tendency. “The problem is that we often feel the need to compare our life to someone else’s; and then hold ourselves to an unrealistic standard. Unhelpful. This is where sensitivity and emotional reactions lead us astray.”

Further, relying on technology as our primary interface for communication may lead to a false sense of security or anonymity. “We may be more likely to say how we feel for the entire world to hear on Facebook than to stand up and shout it across the conference table. It is easy to forget who is within earshot,” adds Frank. 

ADHD INDIVIDUALS ARE VULNERABLE TO SOCIAL MEDIA PROBLEMS

You can easily make the connection between ADHD and the obstacles that highly engaging and stimulating technologies may pose. Simply put, social media quickly and easily engages the brain.

“The ADHD brain is already one that struggles with motivation, activation, organizing behaviors, managing time, and maintaining focus,” shares Frank. “Technology, left un-managed, makes these struggles considerably more difficult. There are several genetic markers that have been discovered linking ADHD, dopamine activity, brain connectivity and heredity (most notably, DRD4). ADHD is a scientifically validated brain difference. The unique challenges that result are prime vulnerabilities to the common pitfalls of technology use.”

Frank explains that an individual with ADHD has structural, functional, and chemical differences compared to a neurotypical brain. These differences include:

• Less dopamine and norepinephrine, both key ingredients to activation, attention, reward and motivation,
• An aversion to boredom and low-stimulation,
• Trouble thinking ahead, inhibiting impulses, and prioritizing activities, and;
• Decreased ability to activate and regulate behavior, including emotion.

These differences also explain why ADHD individuals may be more prone to engage in risky or unhelpful behaviors online and struggle to control spontaneous impulses without thinking of future consequences. The ADHD brain is primed to seek out more stimulation that neurotypical brains, and technology is ripe source of engagement. For these reasons, there is an emerging body of research that suggests that internet addiction and unhealthy social media activity may be more prevalent in ADHD individuals.

THE TIME WARP OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Another compounding piece of the social media puzzle is related to time management. Individuals with ADHD have trouble with awareness of time, procrastination, avoidant behaviors, and staying on task. Dr. Frank explains that ADHD individuals often misperceive time and have trouble thinking into the future; NOW is the dominant time zone. Therefore, time management is a challenge. We already know how much of a time-sucker the Internet, video games, and other digital media can be. Add the social element, and you can completely lose track of your day, your week, even your life.

Further, Dr. Frank explains that completing a project in a sequenced order, from start to finish, is hard for someone with ADHD, whose brain bounces around more and can be less linear or organized. Pair this with the intensely rewarding experience of social media (social interaction and connection, intellectually or sensorily stimulating inputs, immediate responses/rewards, etc.) and a tendency towards being easily distracted, and you have a recipe for going into a total time warp. You can end up spending hours doing something other than you initially intended. This can turn into a cycle of feeling bad, and using more technology to cope. “Technology is a great immediate feel-good solution for someone looking for a way to avoid discomfort. Unfortunately, it can also prompt or exacerbate suffering,” says Dr. Frank.

DO YOU NEED TO RECONSIDER YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA OR INTERNET USE?

Here are some of the most common negative consequences of these “digital distractions.” How many can you relate to?

• Procrastination: Difficulty transitioning off of the technology to tackle a priority task and losing hours a day.
• Multi-tasking: Using technology to the point of not giving one task the single-minded focus it might require.
• Miscommunication: Frequently misreading context or intentions in others’ communication often based on a lack of self-awareness of our own emotional state or tendency to react prematurely. This often leads to relationship problems.
• Impulsivity and over-disclosing: Sharing overly personal, provocative or detrimental comments. Sending, posting, or texting pictures and videos without forethought or possible consequences and responses.
• Lacking social context: Difficulty understanding what is appropriate behavior for the situation.
• Isolation and withdrawal: Decreased in-person interactions and physical activities, even things you usually enjoy.
• Hostility: Behaving aggressively, sometimes to the point of being a troll or cyber-bully.
• Anxiety: Feeling as if you are losing control of your day and life, sometimes leading to despair, isolation, and negative effects on the relationships that matter in your life.
• Internet addiction: An inability to engage in daily activities and responsibilities, obsessive and compulsive thoughts or behaviors related to internet use, and continuing to over-use technology despite negative consequences. Pornography and gambling addictions may be present.

Dr. Frank notes that when considering whether a behavior is a problem, it may be helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

• Are these activities getting in the way of your daily functioning (work, school, self-care)?
• Are they getting in the way of your relationships?
• Do those close to you feel that you have a ‘problem’?
• Are you using these behaviors as escape and avoidance mechanisms?
• Are you using these behaviors at the expense of other healthy behaviors?
• Have there been consequences financially, vocationally, educationally, relationally, legally, or related to your health?
• Do you continue to engage in the behavior in spite of troubling consequences?

“Ultimately, intensity, frequency, and severity of consequences and distress are the most important indicators of a problem like this,” comments Dr. Frank. “The truth is, we don’t have clear-cut answers yet that are widely agreed upon about the effects of the evolution into a more integrated digital era. The advancement of technology brings us many benefits and will only to continue to evolve. How can we best harness these opportunities without losing track of ourselves, our relationships, and our wellbeing?”

Read more next month for tips on managing digital distractions!

Grant Crowell is a veteran social media professional and a YouTube Audience Development Manager for Fortune 500 sites. He is also the producer and host of the podcast show, “Super Socialize Me!” an interview series with social media masters who teach social skills for online engagement. Visit his bio page at about.me/grantcrowell.

Special thanks to Dr. Michelle Frank for lending her expertise to this article. Dr. Frank is a Clinical Psychologist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in college students, young adults, and women. She is located in Ann Arbor, MI at Sari Solden & Associates. www.sarisolden.com