Jan 17

What’s the Best Way to Treat Adult ADHD?

Some people think of ADHD as being only about attention or hyperactivity. I mean- it’s called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, after all. But the ADHD experience is about so much more than that. In fact, I often think of the experience or “symptoms” as falling into 3 categories: Regulatory, Practical, and Emotional.

Adult ADHD symptoms

(…or experiences)

The Regulatory Experience

The Regulatory experience of the ADHD brain is about its basic neurobiology. You see, ADHD brains tend to turn on or off, and they struggle to find a middle ground on any of their functions- like attention, activation, energy, and emotions. Instead, an ADHD brain goes all in or all out depending on the circumstances.

The Practical Experience

The practical part of the ADHD experience is the way that basic struggle with regulation shows up in everyday life. So, if the regulatory issues of the ADHD brain are the underside of an iceberg- the practical experience is the part floating above the surface. Now, the practical impact of ADHD differs for everyone but they include things like: procrastination, lateness, distractibility, and impulsivity.

The Emotional Experience

The emotional experience of ADHD has only recently started to be understood. But it’s likely rooted in 2 things. The history of struggle, criticism, and failed intentions that so often comes with a life with ADHD. As well as that base regulatory issue that causes the brain to be hypersensitive to negative feelings and struggle to feel anything “just a little”. The combination of these two factors leads to a brain that is hypersensitive to criticism, failure, and rejection and can tumble down a spiral of negative feelings in an instant.

How do ADHD symptoms in adults impact each other?

But these 3 ADHD experiences- they don’t exist in isolation. They all impact each other.

For example:

If your brain is feeling particularly unregulated it’s going to be much harder for you to get started on a task on time.
If you procrastinate and miss a deadline, you’re likely to start feeling bad about yourself and assume that others are thinking bad things about you too.
If you’re feeling really bad about yourself it might be harder for you to sleep that night which will make your brain more dysregulated the next day.

And you know what? It doesn’t just go one way. The cycle moves in the opposite direction too.

If you’ve filled your regulation cup as much as possible- it’s going to be easier for you to hold your temper in check when your partner does that thing that always annoys you.
And if you haven’t lost your temper and you’re feeling even-keeled it’s going to be easier for you to do the planning you need to do for your day.
And because you planned out your day it’s going to be easier for you to finish your work and get to the gym where you can fill your regulatory cup some more.

How to treat ADHD in adults

How do you help each corner of your ADHD brain?

Regulatory

Imagine your brain’s regulation abilities are an empty cup. You fill it up from a pitcher that is filled with:

sleep
exercise
good even nutrition
meditation
medication

Practical

Now on to that practical corner. Here, you get some help with:

Good, ADHD-friendly strategies
ADHD coaching
Planning
Skilled ADHD therapy

Emotional

And all those emotions? They get some love and support with:

ADHD therapy
journaling
meditation
ADHD-friendly emotional regulation skills training.

If you pay attention to each of your corners and give them each some love- you’ll be amazed at how much change you can create.

Ready to shift from
meltdown to mastery?

This online course has been designed specifically to help teach the strategies ADHD brains need to help them move from overwhelm and meltdowns to confident emotional mastery.

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