Women with ADHD feel emotions more intensely than do people without the condition and when something bad happens we go over the moon and end up feeling devastated. For a women with ADHD our feelings can be like a big scary monster who seems to come out of nowhere and tend to feel powerless in our ability to overcome them. Here are a few strategies on how you can learn how to manage your emotions as a women with ADHD
Identify your warning signs that you are losing control of your emotions- As a women with ADHD do you get easily irritated? Get impatient with other people? Do you go from calm too angry within a quick second? Learn to identify your ADHD moments that tell you anger is on its way. For instance, if you seem to argue with your husband or children avoid bring up certain topics when you are tired. It can be difficult to make smart choices when you are in the grip of negative feelings.
Create a plan on how you will respond to a situation that may evoke your emotions – Think about and write out a time that evoked some of your strong feelings. Then think about how you could respond differently as well as what you would like the outcome to be. Review that plan before you go into a same or similar situation, and keep in mind your plan and the outcome. You can do this for process for any emotional situation. After 30 days of trying it out go back and review how it went and modify it as you see necessary
Take a break – You have two choices when you feel a situation is going to escalate. You can either blow up or you can walk away, as a woman with ADHD who has been in situations that were going to escalate it is always better to walk away. Take as long as you need to calm down and gather yourself and if you have a close relationship with that person (husband, sister, brother etc.) let them know in advance that taken a break will help you collect your thoughts and lead to a better outcome for everyone.
Get Help From Family and Friends- If you know you will get emotional in certain situations like having a discussion about politics, or sales at a certain store- get the help from your family and friends to help you talk you down and make you look at the bigger picture or another person’s point of view so that you can catch yourself before the situation gets out of hand.