Rambling Roads—the thought process of those with ADHD

Have you ever had a conversation with someone that didn’t end anywhere near the original destination? Or, maybe, you reached the original destination, just not directly.

Some people are natural ramblers. One thought leads to another, which spurs a memory, and connects to a related story … all possibly off topic from where the conversation was originally headed.

Then there’s thought distraction in which an outside comment, or something passing in the visual field, or even a sudden “pop up” of a “to do” can lead the conversation down an entirely different path.

You might also be, or know someone who is, a star at monopolization. One idea is so closely connected to the previous one, and they run together so swiftly that the other party can’t even begin to get a word in edgewise.

While rambling conversations do not require a participant to have ADHD, they are certainly more common in the ADHD world. We are especially good at blurting and interrupting – another aspect of rambling.

Perhaps something said by another triggers a thought for the person with ADHD, and the impulsivity common to those with ADHD means the thought that entered their head pops right on out of their mouth, with no filter mechanism.

These conversational journeys are not common to all who have attention deficit disorder, and do not happen in every conversation with those who do take them. Realize that anyone who has ADHD will never be neurotypical, which is defined as free from neurological atypical patterns of thought or behavior. Neurotypicals often assume that their experience of the world is the only one and the only correct one. They are wrong.