Living with ADHD is about monitoring your symptoms and actively working toward finding what works best for you. With the right support and treatment, you can create a life that allows you to reach your greatest potential.
People with attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) have trouble controlling emotions and moods. If we don't understand how our emotions affect our lives, and we don't have ways to rein them in, our days can turn into a roller-coaster ride.
Spontaneity and courage
Research suggests that this spontaneity can often lead people with ADHD to seek out thrill and adventure, with the added courage they gain from that spontaneity.
Kids with ADHD often feel emotions more deeply than other kids do. When teens with ADHD fall in love, the feelings of joy and excitement can be even more intense for them. Teens might feel a deep sense of intimacy and acceptance, perhaps for the first time.
The five gifts of ADHD include creativity, emotional sensitivity, exuberance, interpersonal empathy, and being nature-smart (The Gift of Adult ADD, 2008).
Because children and adults with ADHD struggle with focusing, organizing tasks, and feeling restless, they might experience sadness, guilt, irritability, low self-confidence and helplessness. In some cases, these symptoms can signal depression.
Indeed, ADHD brains struggle to sustain motivation when rewards are mild or are linked to long-term gratification. As a result, ADHD brains search for stimulation that can increase dopamine more quickly and intensely. Ultimately, the pursuit of pleasurable rewards may become a potent form of self-medication.
Though all workplaces are different, most expect you to be organized, on time, attentive, focused, and do the work you're asked to do. ADHD can make all of these harder. As a result, you may not be able to live up to your employer's expectations. So it may be a struggle to keep a job.
At what age are symptoms of ADHD the worst? The symptoms of hyperactivity are typically most severe at age 7 to 8, gradually declining thereafter. Peak severity of impulsive behaviour is usually at age 7 or 8. There is no specific age of peak severity for inattentive behaviour.
The ADHD nervous system is overwhelmed by life experiences because its intensity is so high. The ADHD nervous system is rarely at rest. It wants to be engaged in something interesting and challenging. Attention is never “deficit.” It is always excessive, constantly occupied with internal reveries and engagements.
If you struggle with ADHD, you may find that certain tasks are more difficult for you. However, through proper treatment and positive life changes, you can live a very happy life with this disorder.
Adults with ADHD
let off steam by exercising regularly. find ways to help you relax, such as listening to music or learning breathing exercises for stress. if you have a job, speak to your employer about your condition, and discuss anything they can do to help you work better.
“The hardest thing about ADHD is that it's 'invisible' to outsiders. It's not like other conditions that people can clearly see. People just assume that we are not being good parents and that our child is a brat, when they don't have an idea how exhausted we truly are.” —Sara C.
Due to differences in the ADHD brain, you can shift focus even more quickly, causing you to seem to lose interest in your partner or your relationship suddenly.
Infusing energy and playfulness into your routine is a wonderful way to get your ADHD brain moving and motivated. Just remember that trying to organize everything all at once can leave you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. Try specific daily intentions instead.
Most people with ADHD have a very low frustration tolerance. They can be overly emotional about the stressors they experience. They don't have a barrier that allows them to set aside uncomfortable emotions, and they often become completely flooded by a feeling, making it unbearable.
“These cognitive symptoms seem to arise partly because people with ADHD have a more general deficit in being able to regulate their own brains. What the high rate of emotional dysregulation among [people with ADHD] suggests is that this inability to self-regulate carries over into self-regulating emotions as well.”
Symptoms of Mood Swings in ADHD
Switching from excited one moment to sad, angry, or anxious the next. Fluctuating between having trouble paying attention and hyperfocusing on an activity. Having bursts of energy and fatigue through the day. Feeling emotions intensely and having difficulty regulating them.
What is the Rarest Type of ADHD? The rarest type of ADHD diagnosed is the hyperactive-impulsive type with no indication of inattentive or distracted behavior, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Indeed more often you need to break tasks down and take frequent breaks.… Stop using the executive function system for a few minutes and give it a chance to refuel its fuel tank. This is why we talk about the 10 and 3 rule with ADHD children. 10 minutes of work, 3 minutes of break – 10 and 3 – 10 and 3.