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Cut your losses; explore, don\u2019t exploit; fail fast; move on. No, this isn\u2019t a self-help book \u2013 it\u2019s how ancient gatherers survived. And thinking in this way may have helped them thrive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research published earlier this year indicates that attributes associated with ADHD, such as difficulty concentrating, impulsivity and restlessness, may confer foraging advantages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With ADHD diagnosis rising in the UK<\/a> (last year, it was the second most viewed<\/a> health condition on the NHS website, with 4.3 million page views) and, at least anecdotally, astronomical rises in foraging searches as well<\/a>, what does this mean for neurodivergent foragers? <\/p>\n\n\n\n The study<\/a>, released in February, recruited 506 people to play an online foraging game for eight minutes. Players hovered their cursor over bushes to collect berries and were given free rein to move from bush to bush in search of their bounty \u2013 albeit switching meant they incurred a slight time penalty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those with ADHD symptoms (determined through a survey at the start of the study) typically flitted between bushes more frequently, resulting in them collecting more berries on average \u2013 602 berries compared with an average of 521 by those without symptoms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cForaging is this fundamental competence to search for resources in the environment,\u201d says David L. Barack<\/a>, visiting scholar at the department of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, those symptoms that are often deemed problematic in the modern world may have helped gatherers move from a depleted patch of resources to a more robust, replenished patch. Instead of dwelling on and fully exploiting one area \u2013 they explored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sam Webster is the founder of Foraging ForAges.<\/a> As a professional forager with ADHD, she agrees that the condition could be beneficial. The beauty of foraging with a brain hardwired to enjoy exploratory aspects, she says, is, \u201cthere\u2019s always something new to learn. It never gets boring. It pushes your boundaries but in a good way.\u201d Foraging also feeds into a primal urge and visceral need, she explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think it\u2019s something innate in us that needs the outdoors. We are wired to be the hunter gatherers. We are wired to notice. The crap of modern life, like screens and video games, [gives us] a fake kick, [but] when you\u2019re out there and you find a mushroom, for instance \u2013 that\u2019s the biggest dopamine hit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Neurodivergent foragers \u2013 or \u201cneurospicy\u201d, as Sam prefers to call them (the rest, she smiles, are muggles) \u2013 also notice important details while foraging. While others may see trees and grass meld into amorphous green, for Sam, the differences are impossible to ignore: \u201cWhen I look across a hedgerow, my brain is noticing all the different shades of green and the different shapes. The more I learn, the more layers of green blindness I lose.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seasonal novelty and the constantly evolving landscape also prevent her from getting bored. \u201cRight now, I\u2019m done with wild garlic. Been there. Done that,\u201d she laughs, \u201cIt\u2019s so characteristically ADHD. But come next spring, I\u2019ll be like, \u2018Yay! Garlic! I missed you!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n