Dark Side Of ADHD

This biro pen drawing is my visual interpretation of living with ADHD, both the hyperactive and inattentive sides colliding in one relentless, chaotic force. Rather than depicting it as something invisible, I chose to give it a body, a face, something that cannot be ignored. What emerged is this creature that is unhinged, overstimulated, grinning through the madness.

Its wide, frantic eyes reflect the constant noise, too many thoughts, too many impulses, all demanding attention at once. One hand clutches a phone, lit up with distractions, endless notifications pulling focus in every direction. The other grips tools of intention, a pen, a task, a goal, yet everything feels fragmented, interrupted, unfinished.

Around it, time melts and distorts. The clock drips, deadlines loom, and a simple “to do list” becomes overwhelming, even when the tasks themselves seem small. The number 5 hangs heavy, suggesting urgency, pressure, or time slipping away faster than it can be grasped. In the background, a television flickers, a controller lies abandoned, symbols of both escape and distraction, of hyperfocus and avoidance.

The creature itself is not just chaos, it is contradiction. There is energy here, intensity, creativity, but also exhaustion, frustration, and a sense of being pulled in every direction at once. It represents the duality of ADHD, the drive to do everything, and the struggle to complete anything. The noise of the mind made visible.

“The Dark Arts” is not about demonising ADHD, but about confronting its reality. It is the raw, unfiltered experience of living inside a brain that never switches off, where focus is both a gift and a battle and where even the simplest moments can feel overwhelming.

This piece is both a confession and a reclaiming, an acknowledgement of the chaos, but also of the strength it takes to navigate it every single day.