Hyperfocus

Hyperfocus is an intense form of mental concentration or visualization that focuses consciousness on a narrow subject, separate from objective reality and onto subjective mental planes, daydreams, concepts, fiction, the imagination, and other objects of the mind.^{[citation needed]} It may bear a relationship to the concept of flow.

Confusion with perseveration, as a clinical symptom

Hyperfocus may in some cases also be evidence, or symptomatic, of a psychiatric condition, where it is more commonly and accurately described as perseveration (or perseverance) - the inability to, or impairment in, switching tasks or activities ("set shifting"), or desisting from mental or physical response repetition (gestures, words, thoughts) despite absence or cessation of a stimulus, and which is not excessive in terms of quantity but are apparently both functionless and involve a narrow range of behaviours, and are not better described as stereotypy (a highly repetitive idiosyncratic behaviour).

Conditions associated with perseveration include

• Neurological conditions, in particular some kinds of autism and ADHD - the autism spectrum (especially Asperger syndrome), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)–in the latter it is informally but probably incorrectly called "hyperfocus" and may be a coping mechanism or symptom of self-regulation impairment–as well as people who are both intellectually gifted and suffer a learning disability who may have either or both of hyperfocus and perseverative behaviours. Other conditions involving dysfunction or disregulation within the frontal lobe could also theoretically have similar effects.
• Conditions unlikely to be confused with hyperfocus - clinical conditions involving clear repetition of words or behaviours, such as obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) or trauma; and cases of physical brain injury, trauma or damage, such as traumatic brain injury and frontal lobe lesions;

See also

• Hunter vs. farmer theory
• Flow (psychology)

Further reading

• Hartmann, T. (1998). Healing ADD: Simple Exercises That Will Change Your Daily Life (1st ed.). Underwood-Miller. ISBN 1-887424-37-7. 
• Hartmann, T. (1997). Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception (2nd ed.). Underwood. ISBN 978-1887424141. 
• Goldstein, S.; Barkley, R. A. (1998). "ADHD, hunting and evolution: "Just So" stories (commentary)". ADHD Report 6 (5): 1–4. 
• Jensen, P. S.; Mrazek, D.; Knapp, P. K.; Steinberg, L.; Pfeffer, C.; Schowalter, J.; Shapiro, T. (1997). "Evolution and Revolution in Child Psychiatry: ADHD as a Disorder of Adaptation" (pdf). Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 36 (12): 1672–1681. doi:10.1097/00004583-199712000-00015. PMID 9401328. 
• Shelley-Tremblay, J. F.; Rosén, L. A. (1996). "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An Evolutionary Perspective". The Journal of Genetic Psychology 157 (4): 443–453. doi:10.1080/00221325.1996.9914877. PMID 8955426. 
• Funk, J. B.; Chessare, J. B.; Weaver, M. T.; Exley, A. R. (1993). "Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, creativity, and the effects of methylphenidate". Pediatrics 91 (4): 816–819. PMID 8464673. 
• Flippin, R. (2008). "ADHD Symptom: Hyperfocus". ADDitude magazine.