Fidgeting serves as an involuntary mechanism for self-regulating attention and enhancing alertness, especially during tasks perceived as cognitively demanding (hard to do) or monotonous (i.e. boring and repetitive).
The act of fidgeting may help ADHDers concentrate better by providing a form of sensory input that keeps them alert, and this movement can enhance attention by preventing feelings of lethargy and helping to maintain engagement during less stimulating activities.1
The science of fidgeting
Participants exhibited more fidgeting during correct trials compared to incorrect trials, with fidgeting occurring more frequently, with less consistency, and more intensely during successful task performance, suggesting that for adults, fidgeting serves as an unconscious method to boost arousal and alertness to enable them to focus more on the task stimuli and keep pace with it, thus performing better when fidgeting.2
This means that what looks like a distraction from the outside is often the opposite: the brain’s way of staying engaged with a task that isn’t providing enough stimulation on its own.
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“Don’t people grow out of ADHD?”