ADHD Paralysis
State of being frozen—mentally or physically—despite desperate desire to act. Subtypes: analysis, task, and mental paralysis.
ADHDExecutive Function
Layer 3: Recognised
Clinical Recognition
Not studied as 'ADHD paralysis.' Phenomenon covered under executive dysfunction, task initiation deficits, and decision-making impairment.
Community Validation
High recognition in ADHD communities. Describes visceral experience of 'I want to move but I can't' that clinical language misses.
Published
17 December 2025 by Team Heumans
ADHD Paralysis is the state of being completely stuck—mentally or physically—despite knowing what you need to do and desperately wanting to do it. Your brain and body refuse to cooperate. You're frozen, watching time pass, drowning in guilt and self-hatred, but you still can't move.
It's not procrastination (that implies choice). It's not laziness (that implies not caring). It's a neurological failure of the initiation system. The gap between "I should" and "I do" becomes an uncrossable canyon.