Find a therapist to help with ADHD

Many people with ADHD find themselves most at peace in nature, even during high-risk mountain sports.

The outdoors provides a highly stimulating, novel environment where the ADHD brain can thrive.

There's no pressure to fit into the neurotypical world in the mountains—a welcome reprieve from daily life.

Vigorous physical exercise releases "feel good" neurotransmitters and burns off physical restlessness.

At its core, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder of attention dysregulation, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. People with ADHD tend to experience more pronounced symptoms in environments that are monotonous, predictable, or have low levels of stimulation—aka, the routines of everyday life.

For the ADHD brain, low-demand, low-intensity tasks such as shipping back a return or calling to make a doctor’s appointment can feel mentally harder than climbing a mountain.

And yet, many individuals with ADHD find themselves most at peace in the mountains, even in the midst of high-adrenaline, higher-risk activities such as long-distance trail running, mountaineering, rock climbing, mountain biking, or even BASE jumping.

While in nature, a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors engages the ADHD brain in unique ways that actually ease symptoms.

Forced Focus and Novelty

It’s human nature to be drawn to the outdoors. The mountains demand focus, plain and simple. Attention is inherently captured while in the natural world, whether that’s admiring the striking color of a robin’s egg, appreciating the massive width of an elk’s antlers, or watching an alpine sunset in awe. Nature provides endless opportunities for stimulation and novelty, which encourages the ADHD mind to pause, wonder, and notice.

There are also fewer distractions of the modern world while in the mountains, especially when out of cell service range. This means that the ADHD mind gets a break from dividing attention.

In the context of extreme mountain sports, focus is no longer optional. Not paying attention can literally kill you, whether that’s while prepping gear for an adventure or scaling a mountain cliff. In the face of high-consequence decisions, the ADHD brain regulates attention swiftly and naturally.

For many people with ADHD, this feels like a welcome break from the “noise” of everyday life, where basic tasks involve endless mental gymnastics. This creates space to enter a “flow state,” where one is wholly immersed in an activity with minimal effort. In other words, it can feel like a moving meditation. People with ADHD may have difficulty accessing this mental state in other parts of life.

No Pressure to Fit In

Many people with ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence experience constant pressure to fit into a world that is centered around those who are neurotypical. The mountains welcome you as you are: restless, wild, and wholly imperfect. In nature, individuals with ADHD experience a welcome reprieve from performing normality. There are no emails with which to keep up, no arbitrary deadlines, and nobody else around to judge or critique.

It's no wonder that being in the outdoors can feel mentally refreshing.

Exercise can have therapeutic effects on ADHD symptoms (Torres-Acosta et al., 2020). Engagement in vigorous exercise can release specific neurotransmitters in the brain associated with focus, mood, and motivation, such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin.

Find a therapist to help with ADHD

Mountain sports often involve an all-day, all-out physical effort, which can help reduce restlessness and ease symptoms of hyperactivity. Many people with ADHD experience a lingering sense of clarity and peace following high-effort days.

People with ADHD are drawn to the mountains for many of the same reasons that anyone is, yet there are also unique factors that attract people with ADHD to the outdoors. In environments that involve high amounts of novelty, stimulation, and a break from the overall pressures of daily life, the ADHD brain experiences a welcome reprieve. With these points in mind, it makes sense for the mountains to be especially captivating for people with ADHD.

Torres-Acosta N., O'Keefe J.H., O'Keefe C.L., & Lavie C.J. (2020). Cardiovascular Effects of ADHD Therapies: JACC Review Topic of the Week. Journal of the American College of Cardiology (76), 858-866.

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