Many people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) feel constantly bogged down by logistical tasks, whether it's managing a household, planning a vacation, or simply remembering to pay the bills. The constant stream of small decisions can be paralyzing, and it's easy to become overwhelmed and give up.
For many adults living with ADHD, overwhelm can shut them down and keep them from moving forward.
It is often characterized by feelings of overwhelming fatigue, reduced productivity, and a sense of hopelessness or despair. Those experiencing ADHD burnout may find it even more challenging than usual to initiate and complete tasks, maintain focus and attention, and regulate their emotions.
There are some women with ADD who have successfully compensated for their ADD, but the price they pay is to expend most of their waking energy combating their natural tendency to be disorganized. Many women with ADD feel a powerful sense of shame and inadequacy. They feel constantly behind, overwhelmed and frazzled.
People with ADHD often find it hard to regulate emotions, because their brain is different from other people's. New stressors trigger negative emotions associated with past events. A person with ADHD who has been laid low by the “typical” flu may mix those memories with the threat of COVID, increasing her worry.
Overwhelm is a feeling all too familiar to anyone with ADHD or neurodiversity. When you're constantly bombarded with stimuli and your to-do list seems impossible to manage, it's easy to feel like you're drowning. One of the best ways to combat overwhelm is to write things down.
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 ...
Most of the respondents in our ADHD interview often express their heightened emotions briefly after being diagnosed with ADHD. Some people have an outburst of tears or intense frustration after a mental health professional officially labels their experiences as ADHD.
ADHD burnout is often something a little deeper. It refers to the cycle of overcommitting and overextending that leads to fatigue in people with ADHD. It involves taking on too many tasks and commitments, and then the subsequent exhaustion that happens when we're unable to fulfill all of our obligations.
ADHD is mentally, emotionally, and physically draining. When you feel thoroughly worn out by tough symptoms, recharge with a massage, a medication change, or these other strategies.
Masking is when a person with ADHD acts in a “socially acceptable” way to fit in and form better connections with those around them. This usually involves camouflaging their symptoms by controlling their impulses, rehearsing responses, and copying the behaviors of those who don't have ADHD.
Overstimulation is not only a symptom of ADHD; it's often seen in autistic people as well. People with ADHD and autistic people may display similar signs of hyperactivity when overstimulated, such as being extra reactive to sensory input (i.e., becoming fascinated by a specific object or fixating on a sensation).
With ADHD, a child or teen may have rapid or impulsive speech, physical restlessness, trouble focusing, irritability, and, sometimes, defiant or oppositional behavior.
Common ADHD-Related Problems
Impulsive spending or overspending. Starting fights or arguing. Trouble maintaining friendships and romantic relationships. Speeding and dangerous driving.
Symptoms of predominately hyperactive-impulsive ADHD may include: fidgeting, squirming, or difficulty staying seated. extreme restlessness, or in children, excessive running and climbing. excessive talking and blurting out.
Interestingly, girls with untreated ADHD may be more likely to blame and judge themselves for these problems, leading to a higher risk for low self-esteem than boys who have ADHD. They may also be more likely to have problems with substance abuse, eating disorders, and anxiety.
A girl with ADHD may have impulsivity and be hyper-talkative. She may be verbally impulsive, interrupt others, talk excessively, or change topics repeatedly during conversations. She might even blurt out words without thinking about their impact on others. Girls with ADHD can also be overly sensitive.
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.
People with ADHD are exquisitely sensitive to rejection and criticism. They can experience hopelessness and demoralization because they try to succeed by imitating the paths to success of people without ADHD, and then fail over and over again because the same paths don't work for them.
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.
Hyperactivity (talks a lot, fidgets, always on the go, etc.) Impulsivity (blurts out, interrupts, lies, angry outbursts, difficulty waiting, etc.) Inattention (forgetful, loses things, disorganized, makes careless mistakes, etc.)
Studies suggest that ADHD-driven emotional sensitivity in people makes them struggle to cope with rejection. This rejection may be as simple as having a friend say no to you or as big as not being accepted for a job you applied for.