Overcoming ADHD Paralysis: It’s Not Your Fault

Jul 21

By Mary Sanford, Ph.D.

ADHD paralysis is a feeling of being mentally immobilized or frozen, unable to initiate, start, and complete tasks. Much like bodily paralysis, where a person is unable to move, ADHD paralysis feels immobilizing and mentally stuck. The neurodiverse person knows they should be completing a task, but mentally, they cannot bring themselves to do it. This immobilizing experience results in a disconnect between the starting of a task and the actual doing of it.

Some people describe the paralysis as if they were physically glued to their chair. It feels as if they have been unknowingly hypnotized by someone or something, an invisible force, as if they are living in a suffocating mental fog which completely controls them.

For example, at work, you’ve been sitting for hours with a blank document open, staring blankly, with one possible title but no idea how to proceed. The deadline is looming, but you don’t budge. On the one hand, this work must be completed - your boss has already mentioned the possibility of putting you on a Personal Improvement Plan. Your work performance is suffering, and you know, cognitively, this task must be done. You certainly know how to do it, but you don’t.

Despite your best efforts at rising above this paralysis, you cannot get unstuck. This immobility leads to anxiety, self-loathing, shame, procrastination, fear, and continued inertia. For some people with ADHD, decision-making is impossible. It feels like there are too many choices, resulting in mental paralysis. The person can’t make a decision for fear of making the wrong decision, so rather than making a bad decision, they don’t make any at all, resulting in mental paralysis. When immobility happens, and it manifests in different ways, it’s like the car that’s perpetually stuck. All systems go, according to your trusty mechanic, but an unknown loose wire, a glitchy switch keeps it from moving.

Are you stubborn? No. Are you lazy or simply procrastinating? No. It’s involuntary. Is this the person’s fault? Absolutely not. Your brain has a job to do related to prioritizing, initiating, implementing, and monitoring/ modifying behaviors. But with this ADHD paralysis, it is dysregulated. It’s a neurological problem.

Brain Hack Strategies

The “One Thing” Rule: Do one small thing related to the task. For example, I will unload only the cups from the dishwasher. This is much more manageable than unloading the entire full dishwasher. The ADHD person struggles with being overwhelmed when they have to do the entire task, especially if they are struggling with decision fatigue, information overload, and/ or anxiety. By breaking down the task into small parts (first I will do the cups, then the forks, then the glasses, the big bowls, etc.), the inertia is broken, and the person completes the task.
Body Doubling: Have a trusted friend or family member work alongside you or virtually on their project while you work on yours. It doesn’t have to be the same task. They could be knitting while you work on spreadsheets, but by being there it offers you comfort and accountability, another way to fight immobility.
The 5 Minute Rule: With this strategy, you set a timer for 5 minutes and work on the task for 5 minutes. You trick your brain and shift your mental state. Only 5 minutes? Heck, I can do that you say. Your brain smiles, and voila! The task is completed. This is especially helpful when the task is boring, adding more mental paralysis to our stimulation-craving ADHD brains. For example, earlier today I knew I had to get a bedroom organized. Company was coming. I set a timer for 5 minutes and started with a small corner. The timer went off. I ignored it, now in the spirit of the task- look how nice this looks!- when someone stopped by 2 hours later.
Move: Get up and move around. Go chop celery, dance with your pet in the kitchen, take a walk around your office building, and then return to the task.
Rewards: If I start this one task, then I can (choose a reward When I taught at a community college, I would inevitably have the Sunday Blues, professor-speak for unfinished grading. Solution? I’d find a café and camp out grading or a few hours. In exchange for grading, my reward was a stimulating environment and a tasty dessert.

In summary, ADHD paralysis can feel overwhelming and immensely frustrating. But by employing one or more brain hack strategies, you’ll get results, you’ll feel far less stressed and, best of all, you’ll regard your brain as a reliable friend rather than an unpredictable adversary.

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