“Children, as well as adolescents and adults, with ADHD experience deficits in social competencies that are partially linked to an impaired ability to determine emotional states in others through facial expressions,” says Orrie Dan, PhD, The Center for Psychobiological Research, Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Israel ...
These data suggest that ear length and nose wing width may be related to the neurodevelopmental disorder group. Similar to the literature, we found a strong relationship between the diagnosis of ADHD, a neurodevelopmental disorder, and nasal width and ear length.
School-age children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties in interpersonal relationships, in addition to impaired facial expression perception and recognition.
Emotions Rule
In fact, current diagnostic criteria for ADHD include no mention of “problems with emotions.” Yet recent research reveals that those with ADHD have significantly more difficulty with low frustration tolerance, impatience, hot temper, and excitability than a control group.
The Cyclical Nature of Social Challenges
They can become easily overwhelmed, impatient, or frustrated. In social interactions, when children with ADHD become distracted or dominate the conversation, their peers may view them as uninterested and unkind. These children will likely be avoided by peers.
Depression, a common comorbid condition of ADHD, can lead to poor diet, binge eating, restrictive eating and lack of exercise. Hyperfocus on some aspect of body image an individual may perceive as negative can bring instant stimulation – e.g. weight or appearance.
Emotional dysregulation and managing your emotions start in the brain itself. ADHD can often result in memory impairments that allow emotional reactions that are stronger than anticipated. As a result, your brain is flooded with one intense emotion like anger, sadness, or frustration.
Adults with ADHD are more likely to be anxious and sad. Untreated, these conditions may make your emotional control worse, so it is smart to address these professionally.
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 ...
People with ADHD can have great empathy for others. ADHD challenges can make it especially hard for them to apologize. Putting things in perspective can help people with ADHD let go of guilty feelings and move forward.
Be on the lookout for nonverbal clues.
These include body language, such as moving away from you, cutting conversations short, or crossing their arms or legs. Also note facial expressions, such as red faces, scowls, tight lips, or hurt or angry eyes.
In general, children with ADHD are right-brained learners. They prefer to learn visually — by watching or doing a task in an activity-based, hands-on format, not by listening to lectures, practicing drills, or memorizing.
For example, children with ADHD often fail to attend to others' eyes during emotion recognition [15] and are not using others' gaze direction to guide their attention [16].
Many people with ADHD experience a physical hypersensitivity to a variety of things, including touch. Being hypersensitive may mean that stimulation of their genitals might be uncomfortable or even painful in someone with ADHD. This sensitivity may also extend to other senses as well.
Intense emotions and hyperfocus
Kids with ADHD often feel emotions more deeply than other kids do, and love is no exception. When teens with ADHD fall in love, the good — and bad — feelings that come with it can be even more intense and more disruptive. New relationships or crushes are exciting and (mostly) enjoyable.
A: ADHD brains need more sleep, but find it doubly difficult to achieve restfulness. It is one of those ADHD double whammies: ADHD makes it harder to get enough sleep, and being sleep deprived makes it harder to manage your ADHD (or anything else).
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.
Mood swings are common in people with ADHD. People with this disorder can be hypersensitive, too. That means sensations, like touch, that may feel normal to another person can feel too intense for someone with ADHD.
ADHD disrupts one's ability to generate accurate awareness and regulate one's thinking and actions. ADHD and related executive function challenges actually inhibit our ability to build awareness and ultimately boost emotional intelligence.
ADHD paralysis is used to describe the overwhelm-shutdown process that can happen when you live with ADHD. When too many things are happening, or too many emotions are building, you may “freeze” as a way of responding to the stress.
Many adults with ADHD use coping strategies that help them hide their symptoms. This practice is known as ADHD masking and is especially common in women with ADHD. One type of ADHD masking — known as mirroring — involves intentionally or unintentionally mimicking the speech, movements, or behaviors of someone else.
When a person has ADHD, it is common for her to engage in negative “self-talk,” a constant stream of thinking that is self-critical. This can lead to or aggravate depression, anxiety, or feelings of hopelessness. Learning coping strategies like self-compassion can help to more effectively manage thoughts and emotions.
Many people with ADHD have trouble putting themselves first, thinking they need to take care of others in their lives before focusing on themselves. That may be caused by a feeling that you're not deserving of self-care, or that you think you don't have time.