ADHD brains crave stimulation, and they just might chase relationship drama to get it. Next time you catch yourself (or your partner) falling into these common traps — outlined here by Dr. Daniel Amen — take a step back and re-evaluate.
Many people with ADHD are, if anything, argument-averse. And certainly, you needn't have ADHD to be an argumentative son of a gun. Yet, some individuals with ADHD do habitually bait others into heated disagreements. It's typically a subconscious behavior.
Many ADHD symptoms and traits can affect a person's ability to resolve conflicts. For instance, being unable to manage their emotions well can get in the way of toning down a confrontation. Being easily distracted, talking too fast or interrupting a conversation, and forgetfulness can also cause conflicts.
Impulsivity. If you have ADHD, you may blurt things out without thinking, which can cause hurt feelings. This impulsivity can also lead to irresponsible and even reckless behavior (for example, making a big purchase that isn't in the budget, leading to fights over finances). Emotional outbursts.
Since many people with ADHD tend to react to emotions rather than calmly reflect on them, this means you have to process emotions separately from talking through conflict. If you have conflict with someone else, your best course of action might be to take some time alone to process.
They can feel easily bored, interrupt conversations frequently, or struggle to listen in quiet settings. These impulses may make them feel angry or frustrated. Forgetfulness and inattention: Adults and children with ADHD may both struggle with missed deadlines, managing time, and keeping up with their responsibilities.
Increased anxiety: Yelling may trigger a “fight or flight” response, aggravating ADHD symptoms. Diminished self-esteem: Chronic exposure to harsh words could cause a decline in self-worth and self-confidence.
Sometimes it can feel like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) hijacks your conversations. Maybe you interrupt people without thinking about it. Or you don't pay close attention and miss important details, like where you're supposed to meet friends.
Common ADHD-Related Problems
Impulsive spending or overspending. Starting fights or arguing. Trouble maintaining friendships and romantic relationships. Speeding and dangerous driving.
It's not uncommon for kids and some adults with ADHD to be aggressive. But get help if physical aggression is out of control and directed at people or property. Call 911 if you think someone is in immediate danger.
We tend to react self-defensively, or worse, angrily. Rejection sensitivity is extremely common in people with ADHD. We get overly excited about things, including good things. Just as we often overreact to minor problems and annoyances, we can also go overboard in the other direction.
Problems with emotional dysregulation, in particular with anger reactivity, are very common in people with ADHD. You are not alone in struggling in this area. Anger may indicate an associated mood problem but often is just part of the ADHD.
Many people with ADHD have behaviors that get them in trouble. Some people might tell lies. Others may have angry outbursts. These actions or words can be hurtful to others.
Irritable: People with ADHD that fall into this category feel a high degree of anger. They feel it often and hard. They have a hard time getting over their anger, and they often perseverate on the things that made them angry.
It's all about the natural extremes of ADHD brains. They are both extra good at forgiving (or maybe it's actually forgetting) but can also have an exceptionally difficult time of it as well.
Research suggests that hypersensitivity is common in people living with ADHD, similar to those who live with autism spectrum disorder. If you have hypersensitivity, you may be reactive to: loud and sudden noises. bright lights.
Kids with ADHD often have behavior problems. They get angry quickly, throw tantrums, and refuse to do things they don't want to do. These kids aren't trying to be bad. The problem is that ADHD can make it hard for them to do things they find difficult or boring.
ADHD may result in some symptoms that can make a person “socially clumsy.” If you often find yourself saying and doing inappropriate things during conversations, you might be experiencing social awkwardness.
The problem: The social maturity of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) may be a few years behind that of their peers. In addition, they have difficulty reading verbal and physical social cues, misinterpreting remarks, or not getting jokes or games.
It is brought to their attention again, and the vicious cycle continues. The loudness happens more frequently when a person with ADHD is really excited about something.
Similarly, people with ADHD can also experience 'meltdowns' more commonly than others, which is where emotions build up so extremely that someone acts out, often crying, angering, laughing, yelling and moving all at once, driven by many different emotions at once – this essentially resembles a child tantrum and can ...
Sensory overload can trigger meltdowns easily, especially when we cannot do something about it. When we are faced with intense or too much external stimuli, breakdowns can be hard to avoid.
Let's recap. There's no evidence to suggest that people living with ADHD lie more often than those who don't have the condition. But there are many situations in which someone with ADHD might lie as a coping mechanism, to cover up an impulsive behavior that wasn't thought through, or without even realizing it.