Reading and ADHD in 2026 can feel like two things that don’t really go together, but that isn’t true.
In fact, as of now I have read six books so far this year, so it’s not impossible. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be trickier. People with ADHD have an imbalance of dopamine, and therefore they crave and work towards it, and well… reading doesn’t offer too much of it at times. But that isn’t to say that reading is not valuable. In fact, since having ADHD already makes you more compassionate for others, reading a book can often be very intimate.
You don’t just enjoy the character you read, but it feels like you can become them. For me, growing up and understanding people used to be quite a struggle, but being placed in the headspace of many different characters and seeing how they interact with the world helped me understand.
I know it can be a daunting thing to start, trust me. I remember the very first book I decided to read was A Game of Thrones, and wow, that might be one of the worst books to start as your first. Just now I said that I have read six books so far this year. Well, it took me a whole year to read the first A Song of Ice and Fire books, and then maybe half a year to read the second, but the third… which was over a thousand pages long, only took me little over a month, and that is what I’m trying to get at. Reading might be daunting and hard to get into when you have ADHD, but once you float, well you can then go onto swim.
Reading is one of the most educational thing to do, and we have an unlimited supply of books. Why not take advantage of it?
