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.
An ADHD brain can have executive function issues. This means that the ADHD brain might have a difficult time when it comes to planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks. Many people with ADHD find it hard to start a task because they can't figure out how to start or what needs to be done first.
Self-Care is care for you by you.
Adults with ADHD are often good at looking after other people but not so good at treating themselves with the same care and attention.
Some options offered by the NIMH include the following: Regular exercise, specifically when feeling hyperactive. Eating healthy, nutritious meals. Prioritizing enough quality sleep.
Building self-compassion
Resilient ADHD management requires being patient with missteps, gathering yourself, and starting forward again. Here's something to practice: Picture a difficult situation—or catch yourself when caught up in one. With each breath you take in, acknowledge whatever you are feeling.
ADHD can make it hard for us to remember - and want - to take care of basic needs because of our usual challenges with prioritization and distractibility. People with ADHD have reported forgetting to do things like eating, showering, and going to the bathroom.
Self-centered behavior is common with ADHD.
Another sign of self-centered behavior is not being able to wait for their turn. This can be particularly disruptive in the classroom.
And as children with ADHD are generally overly aware of skin sensations, they often relish the gentle stimulation of a shower or bath and take a long time in the bathroom in the morning if given the opportunity.
In adults, the main features of ADHD may include difficulty paying attention, impulsiveness and restlessness. Symptoms can range from mild to severe. Many adults with ADHD aren't aware they have it — they just know that everyday tasks can be a challenge.
Due to rejection sensitivity, adults with ADHD may feel bad about something that is not actually about them. Our brains are hard wired to focus on the negative (to protect us from danger), so we therefore tend to focus on the negative stories we tell ourselves.
Differences in emotions in people with ADHD can lead to 'shutdowns', where someone is so overwhelmed with emotions that they space out, may find it hard to speak or move and may struggle to articulate what they are feeling until they can process their emotions.
A recent review of findings on ADHD and FFM personality suggests that, in general, ADHD has associations with the FFM traits of Neuroticism (positive), Agreeableness (negative) and Conscientiousness (negative).
People with ADHD tend to have innate negative thinking patterns, which have been reinforced by years of shame. In fact, shame is often linked to ADHD. After years of internalized messages of “I'm lazy” or “I can't do this”, it becomes necessary to undo years of negative, fixed mindset thinking.
Many of us had hardships growing up. But if you had ADHD symptoms as a child, they increase the odds you experienced childhood traumas like accidental injuries, car crashes, and emotional or physical abuse. Those traumas may then set you up for having ADHD in your adulthood.
Common ADHD-Related Problems
Impulsive spending or overspending. Starting fights or arguing. Trouble maintaining friendships and romantic relationships. Speeding and dangerous driving.
When people with ADHD are activated, they are often plagued by self-sabotaging, negative internal talk that prevents them from believing they can do things. It can be conscious or unconscious and can keep folks from setting, working towards, and reaching goals. It holds them back from doing what they want to do.
Some people with ADHD, like Ursula, don't have a problem with emotional expression. They can't inhibit themselves, so their anger blasts out, or they are reduced to tears without regard for the situation. They can't manage their feelings in a way that doesn't create more problems than it solves.
As we've discussed, unfortunately, many people with ADHD tend to have a lack of empathy. This can be addressed, though, through identifying and communicating about each other's feelings. If you see a disconnect between ADHD and empathy in your child or in your spouse, don't give up hope.
Though not often listed as symptoms, other indications of ADHD in girls and women include co-occurring depression and anxiety, difficult romantic relationships that can lead to intimate partner violence, trouble maintaining friendships, and at least one space in her life in disarray (messy house, messy bedroom, or ...
This cleaning technique works the same way. When you clean by junebugging, you pick a spot you want to clean and keep bringing yourself back to that spot, no matter where you wander through the cleaning process. The key is allowing yourself to wander but always coming back to your main spot.