Illustrator Pina Varnel will find some mysterious bruise or scratch on her leg or arm she has no recollection of getting. If you have ADHD, mystery bruises like Varnell's are not uncommon.
"Many adults with ADHD report frequent bruising or bumping into objects, and this is often related to differences in proprioception, which is the body's ability to sense where it is in space," said Cristina Louk, a mental health counselor who specializes in ADHD. Proprioception allows a person to move through the environment with precision, adjusting posture, distance, and force without consciously thinking about it. "When this system is less finely tuned, people may misjudge how close they are to objects, which can lead to accidental collisions," the counselor told HuffPost.
Louk often hears adults with ADHD talk about bumping into things, but they don't initially connect it to their diagnosis. "It is usually interpreted as, 'I'm just clumsy' rather than as a difference in how the brain is processing spatial and sensory information," she said. "For many, naming this as part of ADHD can be relieving: It reframes the experience from a personal flaw to a neurocognitive pattern."
From a neurobiological perspective, ADHD is associated with differences in brain networks involved in attention, motor planning, and sensory integration. "The cerebellum, which plays a key role in coordination, and the parietal lobes, which help map the body in space, do not always communicate as efficiently," she said. "In addition, dopamine regulation influences not only attention but also motor control."
Attention plays a role, too. Many people with ADHD are directing cognitive resources toward internal thoughts, which can reduce moment-to-moment awareness of their physical surroundings. "It's not simply clumsiness," she said. "What often gets labeled as "being accident-prone" is more accurately understood as a difference in how the brain integrates sensory input with movement."
Varnell noted that her ADHD affects her spatial awareness. "I'm not really paying attention to processing the room around me when I'm deep in thought, but also, when I'm too energetic, I'm accidentally breaking things."
Louk tells her bruise-prone ADHD clients that the goal is to support the brain in becoming more anchored in the body and environment. For instance, move your furniture around so it is less of a menace. "Keeping pathways clear can lower the demand on spatial processing in day-to-day life."
Practice mindfulness to increase your spatial awareness and bring your focus back to your body. Terri Bacow, a psychologist who specializes in treating ADHD, encourages her clients to practice mindfulness. "Mindfulness is a skill where you try to stay in the present moment and direct your attention to visual and sensory experiences," she said.
Try an exercise that refines your proprioception and body awareness. Louk notes that movement training significantly refines proprioception, but she still finds herself with unexplained bruises. "While movement practices can strengthen proprioceptive feedback, they do not fully override the underlying attentional and sensory integration patterns associated with ADHD."
Try to slow down. ADHD-ers move quickly, particularly when cognitively engaged. Building in small pauses allows the brain to "catch up" to your body's movement through space. "Ultimately, it is less about trying harder to be careful and more about creating conditions where the brain has the sensory and attentional support it needs to move through the environment with greater accuracy."