ADHD brains process and experience emotions in a very different and unique way from the neurotypical brain, therefore emotional sensitivity and reactivity are common traits in individuals with the condition. When we think of an individual with ADHD, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention come to mind but for many, the emotional dysregulation symptoms of ADHD can be far more profound and difficult to control.
Although not as commonly talked about, we thought we would investigate why ADHD brains struggle with emotions, if, in fact, they do feel more intensely than the neurotypical brain, and also how to cope with these intense feelings when they arise.
Why Do ADHD Brains Struggle with Intense Emotions?
Recent research has revealed that individuals with ADHD have significantly more difficulty in coping with intense emotions. Low frustration tolerance, impatience, hot temper, and excitability are all examples of emotions those with ADHD find hard to control. Executive functions in the ADHD brain are the main culprits of challenges with managing responses to situations and feelings. The executive functions help to keep things in perspective and allow us think flexibly and control our impulses. When these skills are impaired is when difficulty controlling actions and emotions arises.
Another executive function skill which effects emotions is working memory impairments. A momentary emotion can become too strong, flooding the brain with one intense emotion. On the other side of the coin, a person with ADHD can seem insensitive or unaware of the emotions of others, this is because connectivity networks in the ADHD brain related to emotion seem to be more limited than the neurotypical brain.
What is Emotional Flooding?
Emotional flooding is the sudden, intense, and overwhelming bursts of feeling which can lead to reactions that are contradictory to goals, intentions, and values. For many with ADHD who struggle with emotional flooding, it can feel as though this intense feeling that you canât tear yourself away from will always feel like that and it will never change.
Emotional flooding often activates the part of the brain whose job it is to keep us alive, so it is very common to experience fight, flight, freeze or fawn responses. Some symptoms of emotional flooding include:
Increased heart rate
Rapid breathing
Sweating and muscle tension
An urge to escape
Feeling frozen or paralysed and being unable to talk or think coherently
An intense need to hurt someone or something
An urge to lash out in rage
Once the physical effect of emotional flooding has subsided it may still be possible to ruminate and experience circling thoughts about what caused the feelings in the first place. This can last for hours or even days, which is why itâs highly advised that you learn some coping techniques.
An ADHD Brains Inability to Regulate or Filter.
An individual with ADHD will find it difficult to have awareness over one particular feeling or emotion, as information and stimulation are constantly bombarding the brain. Therefore, it takes a feeling or emotion that is pretty intense before the brain starts to take notice. Once the attention is switched on to the emotion, they will feel very loud and highly important, in some cases life or death and this is when the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response kicks in.
The ADHD brain is also filterless meaning it canât screen out extra details which leads to a barrage of information causing over stimulation and pile on. Pile on is when your brain starts to think over the previous times youâve felt the feeling before, which leads again to filterlessness, making it difficult for your brain to sort through relevant and irrelevant thoughts.Â
Examples of Emotions Those with ADHD can Struggle With.
Emotions are unique to everyone, that goes for individuals with ADHD also, however, some of the most common emotions those with ADHD struggle with include:
Extreme sensitivity to disapproval, such as hearing a slight uncertainty in someoneâs reaction to a suggestion youâve made could lead to you interpreting it as criticism and self-defence.
Having an intense fear of being seen by others, also known as social anxiety.
Emotional avoidance and denial such as an inability to tolerate an emotion enough to be able to deal with it, therefore, building up behaviour patterns which helps with avoidance.
Being unable to distinguish between dangerous threats and minor problems causing panic and also an inability to deal with situations that are actually stressful.
Dysthymia, a mild but long-term mood disorder or sadness brought on by the constant frustrations, failures, negative feedback, and stress of life from untreated or poorly treated ADHD.
How to Handle Intense Emotions with ADHD
Itâs essential to understand and practice the techniques that will help you when you feel out of control with an emotion. The ADHD brain will convince you that you are in danger no matter the situation.
Its firstly important to get some space or take a breather. Take yourself out of the situation so that your brain to begins to process the stemming of the emotion.
Next, itâs important to breathe. Long, slow, focused, deep breaths to help calm your nervous system and take your brain out of the fight, flight, freeze or fawn response.
Once you have started to calm down and are able to think a little clearer it can help by trying to name the feeling. Research has shown that by naming the feeling it can help to engage your brain, making calming down a lot easier.
At this point, simply letting the feeling pass through you, feeling it but not acting on and accepting it can be helpful for when this same feeling comes up again.
Once you have felt your feelings now is the time to reason through the problem and choose an action, which will more likely align with your intentions now that you are calm and centred.
 ADHD Assessments for Adults at a Private ADHD Clinic in Manchester.
If you or your child is struggling with handling intense emotions, practicing the above 5 steps can really help in the short term, in the middle of an emotional flood. For the long term, getting an ADHD assessment from a private ADHD clinic in Manchester like Beyond could be the answer you need to living a happier more fulfilled life.
We are an ADHD clinic offering ADHD assessments for adults and children, with a team of helpful and friendly professionals, all who walk the ADHD path.
Contact us today to see how we can help you live the life you deserve.
