5 Surprising Signs of ADHD You Might Not Know About

Key points

• Outside of its major symptoms—impulsivity, distractibility, hyperactivity—ADHD comes with surprising traits.

• Rather than waking them up, people with ADHD may find that coffee makes them sleepy.

• People with ADHD often concentrate better when loud music is playing.

• Many people with ADHD find that they are calm in times of crisis.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is primarily known for its inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive symptoms. However, recent research and lived experience show that this is not the whole story.

There are many traits of ADHD that most people don’t know about yet that are also often part of life with this neurotype. If you relate to these, it might be worth looking into ADHD.

1. Coffee makes you sleepy.

In neurology, there is a concept called optimal arousal. It is the idea that there is a certain amount of stimulus that helps you move and do things. Not enough stimulation and you’re bored and sleepy; too much stimulation and you’re nervous and overwhelmed.

People with ADHD tend to have a higher threshold for optimal arousal because that system works on dopamine. Stimulants, well, stimulate the brain and central nervous system.

For some ADHD people at some doses, caffeine stimulates the brain enough that they can sit still, focus on boring tasks, or even fall asleep promptly instead of literally or figuratively pacing. Where most people drink coffee to wake up, because it brings their brains slightly above optimal arousal levels, people with ADHD may instead find that after drinking coffee, they are ready for a nap.

2. You need loud music to concentrate.

Something that also helps ADHD brains reach optimal arousal is music. Having loud music when doing homework or while working is a way for ADHD brains to self-regulate and keep the dopamine flowing.

One study even showed that adolescents with ADHD see their reading comprehension increase with music, while teens without ADHD struggle to keep up when there isn’t silence. This is also to show that different brains have different needs to keep working optimally.

3. You’re calm in times of crisis.

ADHD brains are usually understimulated, hence the hyperactivity and the nervous energy. When a crisis hits, the associated adrenaline may restore your brain to optimal arousal levels—so suddenly, while everyone else is freaking out, you feel calm and composed.

These periods of stress are often associated with a decrease in ADHD symptoms, but can be followed by a crash. After a sprint, you will need to rest.

So if you find yourself being the only calm person in times of crisis, remaining calm while everyone freaks out, it may mean that your brain is constantly understimulated—which may, in turn, indicate that it’s worth looking into ADHD.

4. You have a low tolerance for noisy spaces.

If you have ADHD, you may need loud music to concentrate, but noisy spaces make you nervous and angry. It may seem contradictory, but the key element that differentiates those situations is control. In moments where you use loud music to concentrate, you may not need to use your senses, and thus there’s no conflict between the task at hand and the stimulation received.

But loud spaces are a whole other story. People with ADHD often have sensory processing issues, which can make those spaces quickly overwhelming. If someone is talking to you, the conversation will be drowned out by the thousands of stimuli that your brain struggles to filter. This may help explain why many people with ADHD are also diagnosed with auditory processing disorder.

If you need people to repeat what they say all the time, and can’t manage to follow a conversation even when you give it your all, it may be a sign of ADHD!

5. You hyperfocus.

ADHD isn’t a lack of attention; it is a lack of regulation. The other side of ADHD is called hyperfocus: a state of such intense concentration that nothing else seems to matter for several hours. You may even forget to drink, eat, or go to the bathroom.

These intense focusing periods come when you’re interested in something. You may even spend days hyperfixating on a new hobby, on a new friend, or even on a new food. But when that thing starts feeling repetitive, boring, or like an obligation, you find yourself being unable to come back to it, and look for the next new thing.

Hyperfocus can be a powerful tool for people with ADHD; the catch is that you don’t always control when it hits. If you periodically lose yourself in a new hobby or interest, learning everything there is to learn—while the rest of the time, you’re unable to keep your attention on something for more than five minutes—it may be a sign that you have ADHD.

While this article is not a diagnostic tool, if you recognize yourself in some of these traits, it may be worth diving a bit deeper into what ADHD is—and if you’re already diagnosed, you may have learned something about yourself. Perhaps your next hyperfixation can be ADHD itself.

Note: This article originally appeared on Psychology Today.