Why leaders and entrepreneurs are more likely to have Anxiety or ADHD
from a Holistic Psychology and Social Work Perspective.
In this article, we are going to look at the symptoms that are in common between having ADHD and anxiety, which both share what we call a “hyperaroused” state. This is a brain and body survival state where our body is in fight or flight most of the time, and today we will look at why this state and these traits can be so common among leaders and entrepreneurs.
A little known fact that many people do not realise is that there is a high comorbidity between anxiety and ADHD. Research has shown that around 50% of those with ADHD also have an anxiety disorder. That being said, we need to also remember that there has also been studies showing that the DSM, the manual we as health professionals use to diagnose disorders has been shown to be “scientifically meaningless”. This harsh review of the DSM is because the results are often difficult to replicate, as I’ve often said, if you get 10 different mental health clinicians you’ll get 10 different explanations for your symptoms.
People with anxiety and ADHD are often hypervigilant to the environment
What is hypervigilence? It is when a person is extremely aware of everything going on in their environment, particularly around people. This often looks like being more aware than others about facial expressions physical mannerisms, voice changes, face changes, patterns of behaviour, noises, sights, and sounds in the environment and is often happening as an automatic response and isn’t done intentionally. Hypervigilance often comes from trauma and attachment issues from childhood, it might have been useful to be aware of the slightest changes in the home environment to avoid conflict, anger, and abuse or to ensure emotional or physical needs were met. This hypervigilance is often a driver for social anxiety and can contribute to rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD) that is found in ADHD.
Now you may be thinking that people who have RSD or social anxiety may be a wallflower in social settings, perhaps an introvert? Actually, the opposite is more often true, people with RSD or social anxiety can be very charismatic and charming in social settings and often are very good at conversation because they are constantly (without awareness) scanning others, and very good at reading a room. As you can imagine this is a trait that often is associated with great leaders and entrepreneurs.
People with these traits often can hyperfocus
Hyperfocus, or the ability to focus on on a topic or project for an extended amount of time is common with leaders and entrepreneurs with ADHD and anxiety. As you can imagine, when chaneled in a positive way this is a trait that can be highly advantageous in getting projects done and deadlines met. The driver for hyperfocus in ADHD is different from the focus, sense of urgency and perfectionism that can occur in anxiety however they both again come from a state of hyperarousal.
Hyperarousal is the adrenaline and cortisol fueled fight or flight response and one side of the window of tolerance (the other side being more of the depressive, submissive and dissociative symptoms, the fawn and freeze response). The window of tolerance is highly accepted model in the psychology world for understanding symptoms (without reducing these symptoms into labels that likely overlap) and came from the amazing work of Dr. Daniel Siegal Psychiatrist and author of the Whole Brain Child and Interpersonal Neurobiology.
A simple way of understanding this model is that we all have a “window of tolerance” that is a window of our good zone, when we can handle stress as it comes, or conflict as it comes and not be completely overwhelmed by it. In our good zone we also feel like connecting with others and can think clearly. When we step outside of our window there are two sides we can go to, Hyperarousal (overstimulated) or Hypoarousal (understimulated). Anxiety and ADHD symptoms all fall into the Hyperaroused survival state where agitation, rigidity, obsession, addiction, and hyperfocus can all occur. Hyperarousal in the long term can lead to a range of issues including issues with organs such as eczema, IBS, liver, kidney, uterus etc. but as you can imagine. If you are a leader or entrepreneur it is likely that you have been rewarded or praised for the things you have achieved in a hyperaroused and hyperfocused state.
They can navigate people because they have had to
As we mentioned above, people with ADHD and RSD, or anxiety and social anxiety are often great at reading a room and interacting with others because they’ve had to learn how to scan people because of their upbringing. They might also have an anxious attachment style, an attachment style is the way you often relate with others and is created in the earlier years of life with primary care givers. People with anxious attachment style might of had care givers who were inconsistent with their mood or interactions, which meant the child had to be hyper aware and scanning for cues to know how to interact with the parent to feel loved or liked. Because of this, sometimes when anxious attachment isn’t resolved through healthy relationships or therapy, it can manifest as always thinking that people dislike them which can often lead to traits that are rewarded as leaders and entrepreneurs such as perfectionism. This perfectionism can be in a multitude of ways, it can be things like being the best at their type of work, trying to look the best and have the best body, trying to have the most perfectly cleaned and styled house, always doing things thinking about how they are being perceived by others because of a fear that they won’t be liked or loved as much if these things aren’t perfect.
Because of all the traits that we’ve mentioned above, even though they come from a place of possible trauma, attachment and living in fight or flight , unfortunately this is often rewarded in our fast paced, capitalist and consumerist society. This is why many people with ADHD and anxiety often make great leaders and entrepreneurs. It’s important to note that they will still make great leaders and entrepreneurs even if they decide to try and heal their attachment style or symptoms and try to be more calm, clear, connected and regulated. They definitely can create businesses and leadership styles that reward the other parts of leadership as as well, and it’s always the person not the symptoms that count.
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