ADHD vs. ADD in Children: The Neurological Root Causes Behind the Raging Bull and Drunken Bull
Episode 97 — Experience Miracles Podcast | Host: Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP — Pediatric Chiropractor & Founder of PX Docs | Published: April 22, 2024 | Duration: ~20 min
Key Takeaways
- According to the CDC, 7 million children in the United States are diagnosed with ADHD, and nearly 4 million of them are currently taking ADHD medications — yet those medications do not address the root neurological cause and carry a list of serious side effects including tics, cardiovascular warnings, and zombie-like social withdrawal.
- Dr. Tony Ebel identifies two distinct nervous system patterns behind ADHD and ADD: the “Raging Bull” (hyperactive, impulsive, sympathetically dominant) and the “Drunken Bull” (inattentive, foggy, slow neurological processing) — both rooted in Subluxation and nervous system dysregulation.
- ADHD is not a chemical imbalance — it is a neurological imbalance first, which then disrupts neurotransmitter function. Treating neurotransmitters with medication addresses the middleman, not the root cause.
- The Perfect Storm — prenatal stress, birth interventions (forceps, vacuum, C-section), and early toxic exposures — is the root trigger sequence Dr. Ebel identifies as the origin point for both Raging Bull and Drunken Bull patterns.
- The two types are not fixed: a Raging Bull child can become a Drunken Bull over time as the nervous system exhausts itself, and vice versa — which is why understanding the neurological progression matters more than a static label.
What Is the Real Difference Between ADHD and ADD in Children?
ADHD and ADD are not two versions of the same condition — they are two distinct nervous system dysregulation patterns with different root causes, different presentations, and different needs. Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP describes these as the “Raging Bull” (the hyperactive, impulsive type traditionally labeled ADHD) and the “Drunken Bull” (the inattentive, foggy type historically called ADD). Both patterns originate from Subluxation in the spine disrupting neurological communication, but they express themselves differently depending on whether the nervous system responds with overactivation or underactivation.
The medical system’s framing of ADHD as a dopamine or chemical imbalance is, as Dr. Ebel puts it, “not inaccurate — it’s incomplete.” Neurotransmitters are messengers that do what the nervous system tells them to do. When the underlying nervous system is dysregulated and stuck in a chronic Sympathetic Dominance (fight-or-flight) state, neurotransmitter imbalance follows as a downstream effect. Medicating the neurotransmitters without addressing the neurological root is treating the middleman.
For parents, the practical implication is significant: knowing which type of bull is charging through a child’s nervous system determines which approach to care will actually work. Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care — guided by INSiGHT Scans that measure nervous system function beneath the surface — offers a path to address the root dysregulation directly, without the side effect profile that accompanies stimulant medications.
Why ADHD Medications Fall Short [00:00:00 – 00:06:00]
Dr. Tony Ebel: If your child has two speeds — wound up one minute and completely zoned out the next — this might be the most important thing you hear today. ADHD is not one size fits all. There are actually two very different types we see in practice all the time. The Raging Bull: constantly moving, emotional, impulsive. And the Drunken Bull: spaced out, disconnected, foggy, and exhausted.
Most ADHD meds only mask the symptoms. They definitely do not address the root cause, and they come with a whole host of nasty side effects — short and long term.
According to the CDC, an estimated 7 million children in the United States are being diagnosed with ADHD, and approximately half of those — almost 4 million in the US alone — are taking ADHD medications. The top 10 side effects of these medications are a whole host of chronic conditions in and of themselves:
Sleep problems — trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, which worsens behavior and focus the next day. Appetite suppression — significant decrease in hunger, weight loss, and nutritional deficiencies. Emotional dysregulation and irritability — that’s a literal side effect of these medications. A rebound effect where the medication can actually cause the conditions it’s meant to treat. Anxiety and nervousness — kids who never had anxiety issues can develop panic attacks from the medications. Tics and involuntary movements. Headaches and persistent neck and shoulder tension. Stomach pain and digestive discomfort. Increased blood pressure and heart rate — most of these medications carry a black box warning for cardiovascular issues.
And then the one that hits parents hardest: social withdrawal. Zombie-like behavior.
When I sit down knee to knee with parents and ask what they really don’t want, it’s unanimous: they do not want to lose their ADHD-ADD child’s creativity, expressiveness, empathy, and awesomeness. Medications, even when they suppress the symptoms we don’t want, so often take that child’s God-given personality away and turn them into a medicated, straight-jacketed, shutdown, zombie-like kid.
“What we label as ADHD or old school ADD is often just the tip of the iceberg. Underneath those labels are two very different nervous system patterns — and if you don’t understand which kind of bull is charging through your child’s brain and body, you’ll keep chasing the wrong solutions.”
The biggest issue with medications is that they do not address the root cause: a stressed, dysregulated nervous system. They don’t address the root cause, which means they lead to a cycle of chasing symptoms — the digestive issues, the motor tics, the sleep and anxiety challenges. That’s the medication-medical hamster wheel that parents most of the time never even want to get on. And when they do get on it, they can’t wait to get off.
ADHD Is Not a Chemical Imbalance — It’s Neurological First [00:07:00 – 00:09:00]
There’s no blood test for ADHD. There’s no objective lab marker. The DSM — the diagnostic manual — is essentially: plug in your symptoms, get a condition, get a medication. That’s the business of medicine. It’s a spreadsheet.
Even when medicine goes one layer deeper and points to dopamine and neurotransmitters, it still isn’t reaching the deepest layer. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit messages for the nervous system. They’re just doing what the nervous system tells them to do.
“ADHD isn’t a chemical imbalance. It’s a neurological imbalance first that causes a chemical imbalance.”
So if the nervous system is imbalanced, dysregulated, and overstressed — it’s going to imbalance the neurotransmitters. Medicine is treating the middleman. The chemical imbalance theory isn’t inaccurate science. It’s incomplete science.
What we’re talking about here is getting to the actual root cause: a dysregulated nervous system, an overactive fight-or-flight system, and a suppressed Vagus Nerve. That’s the real starting point.
The Raging Bull vs. The Drunken Bull: Two Types, One Root Cause [00:09:00 – 00:14:00]
I myself have gone through life with what medicine would call ADHD. I am a Raging Bull. I thank God for it every single morning in my prayers. I couldn’t fall asleep. I couldn’t pay attention in school. I couldn’t wear certain clothes because the sensory issues that fuel ADHD were there. I struggled for 20 years.
But now, because I’ve got my Vagus Nerve and my nervous system balanced through Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care, my Raging Bull type is the biggest blessing and gift I have from God. I can go fast on the gas pedal — and because my nervous system is also regulated, I can handle corners and transitions. I can slow down and use my brakes when I need to. That’s where we’re going with this.
The Raging Bull kiddo loves recess, PE, video games, fast-paced movies, going out and talking to everybody and touching everything. There’s actually a lot of traits within that gas pedal expressiveness that can be served well in that child’s life. It’s just not served well sitting in a classroom where everything goes slow and at a certain pace.
The Drunken Bull is on the other side of the neurological spectrum. They don’t have an overactive sympathetic nervous system — not at that moment anyway. They actually have a slower neurological communication and signaling system. Information comes into the nervous system, but the processing speed is impaired.
The nervous system is supposed to travel faster than the speed of light. But when there’s Subluxation in the way, that nervous system tension can either trigger Sympathetic Dominance — the fight-or-flight response — which is the Raging Bull. Or it can cause miscommunication. Interference. It gets in the way of efficient signaling.
“Have you ever been on a Zoom call when somebody’s WiFi isn’t working? You can kind of pick up what they’re saying while they’re glitching. That’s the ADD brain — the Drunken Bull brain. The connection is disrupted via Subluxation.”
So that’s the real root cause: when Subluxation and nervous system dysregulation enter the system, they either trigger an overreactive sympathetic fight-or-flight stress response (Raging Bull) or create miscommunication, dysfunction, and inefficiency of neurological signaling (Drunken Bull). All of this ends up expressed in the brain — but it’s actually coming from Subluxation, often connected to Birth Trauma.
The Perfect Storm: How ADHD and ADD Begin [00:14:00 – 00:16:00]
Let me go in order with The Perfect Storm.
High-stress pregnancies are strongly correlated with sensory issues, ADHD, and even autism. High-stress fertility challenges often become high-risk pregnancies. And then the thing that is completely overlooked as a root trigger: birth interventions — forceps, vacuum, C-section, induction. These are strongly correlated with the child who is colicky, fussy, constipated, and gets chronic ear infections. That’s the final hammer of The Perfect Storm.
When the nervous system is dysregulated and stressed first, it disrupts the gut and the immune system. Now these kids get sick all the time. They get antibiotics, which further disrupt gut function — and the gut is where neurotransmitters need to be absorbed to keep the brain calm and regulated. Kids who get sick often also get inhalers, nebulizers, and corticosteroid medications — all of which trigger the sympathetic fight-or-flight nervous system.
So the chain looks like this: maternal stress → birth intervention → colicky infancy → chronic illness → antibiotics and medications → compounding nervous system dysregulation. Each layer reinforces the next.
“Your child isn’t broken. They don’t need more labels. They need answers, they need understanding, and they need a care plan that finally gets it right and addresses the real deepest layer of root cause.”
How One Type Becomes the Other Over Time [00:16:00 – 00:18:00]
One of the most important things parents need to understand: the Raging Bull and the Drunken Bull are not fixed states. Over time, one becomes the other.
The Raging Bull, hyperactive toddler, preschooler, kindergartner — always talking, always moving, always getting in trouble — you can only stay on the gas pedal for so long. The nervous system becomes not only out of balance and wound up, but worn out. And so over time, the Raging Bull becomes the Drunken Bull. Can’t focus. Can’t pay attention. Can’t do homework. Can’t take the test.
It goes the other way too. The Drunken Bull who struggles with inattentiveness, trouble focusing, trouble processing — they often have a lot of motor coordination challenges as well. They don’t tend to do well in sports. They lack hand-eye coordination and gross motor coordination. Now they’re struggling in school and struggling in sports. Their social-emotional communication processing is slower and more disjointed. It’s harder to make friends.
As everyday challenges pile up and become frustrating and angering, the neurological progression of Subluxation causes the Drunken Bull to become wound up, irritated, angry — a Raging Bull, often with anxiety layered on top.
So in simple terms: there are Raging Bulls, there are Drunken Bulls, and the most common type is the third type — the combined type. What it looks like depends on the stage, the age, and the progression of the neurological dysfunction.
INSiGHT Scans and the PX Docs Adjusting Approach [00:18:00 – 00:19:00]
The real answer is getting those neurological INSiGHT Scans. What PX Docs’ scanning technology does is measure beneath the surface for nervous system dysfunction and dysregulation. Not only can the scans identify whether Subluxation, dysregulation, and Vagus Nerve dysfunction are present — they can measure the pattern and the type.
The Raging Bull has wound-up, overstress scan results. They’re actually highly organized and can do a lot in a small amount of time. That’s the brilliance of that nervous system — it just needs regulation.
The Drunken Bull doesn’t have too much energy. They have too little, and they show what we call poor pattern and symmetry scores. Their nervous system is disconnected in the way we’ve been describing.
Step one for parents: get the understanding of the neuroscience, which is what we’ve been doing here.
Step two: get the INSiGHT Scans.
Step three: all PX Docs-trained practitioners are trained to adjust accordingly. The Raging Bull has a specific adjusting plan and clinical protocol designed to calm and activate the Vagus Nerve and get them out of sympathetic storm. The Drunken Bull gets adjustments that improve efficiency, coordination, and communication within the brain and nervous system.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between ADHD and ADD?
Dr. Tony Ebel describes ADHD and ADD as two distinct nervous system patterns: the “Raging Bull” (hyperactive, impulsive, stuck in sympathetic fight-or-flight) and the “Drunken Bull” (inattentive, foggy, with slow neurological signaling). Both stem from Subluxation disrupting nervous system function, but they express differently — one through overactivation, one through under-communication.
Is ADHD a chemical imbalance?
According to Dr. Tony Ebel, ADHD is not a chemical imbalance — it is a neurological imbalance first, which then disrupts neurotransmitter function. The chemical imbalance theory isn’t wrong, but it’s incomplete: it treats the downstream effect, not the root cause. The actual root is nervous system dysregulation driven by Subluxation and an overactive fight-or-flight system.
Can birth trauma cause ADHD or ADD?
Yes. Dr. Tony Ebel identifies birth interventions — forceps, vacuum extraction, C-section, induction — as strongly correlated root triggers for both Raging Bull ADHD and Drunken Bull ADD patterns. These interventions can cause Birth Trauma that disrupts the upper cervical spine and brainstem, setting off a cascade of nervous system dysregulation that compounds over time.
Can an ADHD child change from hyperactive to inattentive over time?
Yes. A Raging Bull child can become a Drunken Bull as their nervous system exhausts itself from staying in chronic fight-or-flight. Conversely, a Drunken Bull child — frustrated by daily struggles in school, sports, and social settings — can develop into a wound-up, anxious Raging Bull pattern. The label matters less than understanding which phase of neurological progression the child is in.
What does a PX Docs chiropractor do for ADHD or ADD?
PX Docs practitioners use INSiGHT Scans to measure nervous system dysfunction beneath the surface, identifying whether the child has an overstress (Raging Bull) or under-communication (Drunken Bull) pattern. They then apply specific Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care protocols: for Raging Bull kids, adjustments target calming and activating the Vagus Nerve and reducing Sympathetic Dominance; for Drunken Bull kids, adjustments improve neurological signaling efficiency and coordination.
Where can I find a chiropractor trained in this approach?
You can find a PX Docs-trained practitioner in your area through the PX Docs Directory. Every provider in the directory has been trained in neurologically-focused care for children and has access to INSiGHT scanning technology.
Resources & Related Content
- ADHD in Children — PX Docs condition overview for ADHD and ADD
- The Perfect Storm — Dr. Ebel’s root cause framework for childhood neurological challenges
- Birth Trauma — How birth interventions affect the developing nervous system
- Vagus Nerve Dysfunction — The vagus nerve’s role in regulating the nervous system
- Anxiety in Children — Related condition page for anxiety patterns that often overlap with ADHD
- Find a PX Docs Office Near You — PX Docs Practitioner Directory
- Next Episode: Q&A: We Just Found This… Is It Too Late for Our Teen?