Artist Turns ADHD Medication Into Dreamlike Photography

What does ADHD feel like from the inside? One artist found a brilliant way to show the world.

Daniel Regan received his ADHD diagnosis at 39, just before his 40th birthday. The visual artist started taking lisdexamfetamine, a medication that completely transformed how he experienced daily life.

"I tend to describe ADHD like you're watching five projected films in your mind, all over the top of each other, and they all have their own soundtrack, and they all have their own subtitles," Regan explains. The medication helped turn down the volume, allowing him to focus on just one or two films at a time.

To process this profound shift, Regan grabbed his Polaroid camera and headed into the Australian bush. He photographed himself and the natural world around him during his hikes.

Then he did something unexpected. He submerged each Polaroid in varying mixtures of his medication and water for up to three months.

The results are breathtaking. One self-portrait shows his body wrapped in what looks like a delicate silk shroud. Another transforms Australian greenery into bubble-like structures that capture the chaos of untreated ADHD symptoms.

A vivid blue image, originally a self-portrait, took on what Regan calls a "biological, cellular and molecular effect." It's a fitting visual metaphor for a chemical changing neurotransmitters in his brain.

Regan titled the collection "C15H25N3O," the molecular formula for his medication. The images will be displayed at London's Bethlem Gallery as part of his exhibition "(be)longing" from April to July 2026.

Why This Inspires

Regan's creative approach does more than create beautiful art. It builds a bridge of understanding for the millions of people navigating ADHD and those who love them.

"It's kind of hard sometimes to describe or find the right analogies for people to get what an internal experience is like," Regan says. His images make the invisible visible, turning internal chaos into something others can finally see and understand.

His work arrives as ADHD awareness continues to grow worldwide. The condition affects people differently, but commonly involves symptoms like forgetfulness, difficulty managing time, and impulsiveness that begin in childhood.

One image, filled with luminous yellows and greens surrounding silhouettes of leaves and trees, holds special meaning for Regan. It reminds him of his late mother and makes him wonder what she would have thought about his diagnosis.

Art has always helped us understand the human experience, and Regan's chemical-soaked Polaroids offer hope that invisible struggles can find visible, beautiful expression.