It’s Borture! What ADHD Boredom Really Feels Like

A brain itch you can’t scratch. Achiness. Complete shutdown. The sense of being swallowed up by nothingness. This is how boredom is experienced by many individuals with ADHD, who describe an intensely aversive, almost dysphoric, experience. It’s definitely not the mild, generally innocuous state of being that jumps to mind when most people say, “I’m bored.”

In the ADDitude webinar, “ADHD is Awesome: The Holderness Family Guide to Thriving with ADHD,” Penn Holderness shared that boredom causes him physical pain and he’ll do almost anything to avoid or cease boredom: “If I’m going down a road and there's a red light, I wonder, ‘Is there a way that I can take a right on red, work my way around, and get to the other side of this, instead of having to sit at this light?’ That's the way that my brain responds.”

“Boredom is torture,” Holderness explained. “It’s borture.”

In an attempt to shed light on a complex and often dismissed part of the ADHD experience, we asked ADDitude readers to tell us: What does boredom feel like to you? Here’s what they said.

“Boredom is almost painful, like wearing an itchy coat but you can't scratch.” — Julia

“I experience boredom as a profound inner restlessness. It isn't just like I want to do something else; it's like I must do something else. It's like the restlessness is crawling under my skin.” — Jenn, Missouri

“My experience of boredom is: it feels like there is this engine running inside of me telling me to push on the gas pedal but the brakes are on, so there is smoke coming from my car.” — Marta, United Kingdom

“My kid used to bite and headbutt as a toddler when having to wait somewhere or do nothing and it is only now that she is older and I understand her situation that I now recognize the dread she feels when not engaged in something. I compare the anxiety and emotion of overwhelm to feeling the same with ‘underwhelm.’ Where the lack of something to engage in presents itself as physical anxiety.” — Jessica, Texas

[Read: Beat Boredom and Get More Stuff Done Today]

“ADHD boredom is excruciating. It feels like so much pressure is building inside you it almost hurts physically.” — Robin, Colorado

“I get so restless and agitated when I feel bored, then I get depressed and tired.” — Lindsey, Rhode Island

“Boredom either makes me really tired and disengaged, or exploding with so much pent-up extra energy I want to jump out of my skin.” — Diana, Arizona

“At its worst, it is definitely painful; I describe it as ‘my brain is screaming at me.’” —An ADDitude Reader

“Boredom puts my daughter into a panic. Even the thought that she might suffer boredom will induce anxiety and even fear, and will stop her from experiencing new things or people.”  — Kate, Oregon

“Boredom makes me want to sleep or jump out of my skin, depending on the situation. If I'm tired and bored, I turn to eating sugary or carb-laden foods and/or I nap for long periods. If I'm bored at work or with people, I'm restless and very fidgety. I will either leave the situation the minute it's socially appropriate or I will wander through my environment, looking for outside stimuli.” — Jennifer, Texas

“My son has said that boredom and silence make him feel ‘like the walls are closing in.’ I experience boredom as more of an unbearable brain itch. It's kind of like I want to scream and crawl out of my own skin.” — Rebecca, England

“Itching inside my brain. Un-screamed screams.” — Jane, Australia

“Boredom feels dangerous to me. I also suffer from depression, and boredom can allow ruminations to take root.” —Miriam, Norway

“Boredom feels like a physical pain that sits like a sore lump in the middle of my body and radiates out. It makes me restless, anxious, agitated, irritable. I think people need to understand that boredom is like a shutdown. When I am bored, I literally can’t think past the physical sensation and end up napping, binge eating, or drinking alcohol.” — An ADDitude Reader

“Boredom hurts, literally. I feel achy and restless when I feel bored, and sometimes like I’m vibrating with energy that needs to be released.” — Rachel, Virginia

“What is most misunderstood about ADHD boredom is that it looks like depression (and for those of us who suffer from both only we know the difference). When I'm bored, I don't want to do anything. When I'm depressed, I can't do anything.” — Lisa, Wisconsin

[Read: Workplace Hacks to Stave Off Boredom] 

“Boredom is a half-step from depression. When I cannot find something to hold my attention, I feel useless, struggle to do anything at all and have made bad decisions.” —Matthew, Tennessee

“Boredom feels like torture. It feels like there's something that you need a lot, but you don't know what you need — just that you need it. It almost physically hurts.” — Chel, North Carolina

“It feels like a deep sense of pointlessness. As a child I remember I used to cry when I was bored because it was unbearable and I didn't know what to do with myself.” — April, Connecticut

“I feel like a caged animal. My brain is always racing and I take in everything at once, unable to filter anything out.” — Lisa, Ohio

“Boredom is like being trapped and cornered. I escape it by leaving where I am physically or mentally.” — Jessica, Massachusetts

“Boredom translates to agitation, physical discomfort in my own skin, anxiety, and feeling lost, panicked, trapped-in-a-horror-movie-and-can't-find-the-exit lost. People think it's just a mild annoyance, or that people with ADHD are immature and simply not willing to not be entertained all the time, like a child. Meanwhile they have no idea how much we desperately want to be able to do the things that they can do.” — Natalie, Pennsylvania

“Boredom is an almost painful feeling: you feel kind of physically oppressed, tied by an invisible net, leaving you completely stuck.” —Poppi, Italy

“Borture is a brilliant term to describe the torturous boredom of feeling like you’re on a hamster wheel, with no opportunity for spontaneity or inventiveness. Exchanging school for work, perpetuating this incessant feeling of living life to the click of a stopwatch, is debilitating.” —Jennifer, South Africa

“For me, boredom is emptiness; I have to find something to do. I used to get drunk or high when I was a kid, then moved on to projects of all sorts when I was married and had children.” — Paul, Ohio

“I cannot stand absolute silence when alone. It feels like time doesn't move, and I'm stuck with a terrible clawing sensation in my chest. As someone who is prone to getting lost in their mind, it feels so isolating.” — Sarah, New York

“The dysphoria of boredom feels disorienting, like I'm being slowly swallowed up into a big dumb hole of nothingness. It's a domino effect of low energy, low interest, low motivation and low joy for anything. All of that can, in turn, trigger anxiety and depression and can stir up painful memories and rumination.” — Jen, Utah

“My boredom state is often perceived as lack of ambition, laziness, inattention, stupidity, angst, depression, etc. I don’t want to do anything or think of anything. I want a new experience to crash into me and snap me out of my stubborn persistence of emptiness.” — Daniel, Michigan

“What's most misunderstood about ADHD boredom is that it's painful in a way I can only compare to hunger or exhaustion or maybe even suffocation. I need stimulation like I need food, sleep, and air.” — Laura, Louisiana

“ADHD boredom is agonizing. There's so much I need and want to do, but my brain refuses to get moving to do it.” — Colton, Idaho

“I create problems when I’m bored because I need the dopamine rush.” — Vanessa, Australia

“Boredom caused me to start binge-eating as a teenager.” —Shelley, United Kingdom

“Without stimulation we feel kind of lost, we crave distraction, or stimulation and with enough time being bored, we tend to overthink, sparking some of the worst feelings to experience.”  — Josh, Washington

“What's most misunderstood about ADHD boredom is the idea that increasing the number of possible activities decreases the potential for boredom; this is simply untrue. Boredom is our brains telling us that it's missing something; sometimes, that something isn't feasible in the moment or we don't even know what our brain is missing.” — Zach, Colorado