Brain battles: understanding ADHD and anxiety can help you fight the symptoms.
I believe my nephew has ADHD when he was growing up. He was constantly on the move and very hyper.
He just graduated from college and is an airplane mechanic for a major airlines. I believe he did it all without meds.
Sometimes meds isn’t always the best answer. For the most part, they can make you feel worse than you already are because of the side effects.
But Big Pharma isn’t going to tell you that because their making too much money off of you. They don’t care how you feel.
ADHD and Anxiety Symptoms
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety are separate mental health conditions with different symptoms, but they can share some similarities:
ADHD
Symptoms include inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and difficulty focusing and organizing.
In addition, people with ADHD may have trouble concentrating most or all of the time, and may space out or daydream.
They may also have trouble with schoolwork, feel uncomfortable in social situations, and have a hard time sleeping.
Anxiety
Symptoms include excessive worry, fear, restlessness, muscle tension, and irritability.
Nonetheless, people with anxiety may have difficulty concentrating in certain situations that make them feel anxious, and may also experience panic attacks and feelings of dread.
They may also have physical symptoms like digestive dysfunction, sweating, nausea, diarrhea, frequent urination, teeth grinding, headaches, cold or sweaty hands, palpitations, and trembling.
ADHD Depression Anxiety
Brain battles: understanding ADHD and anxiety will help you fight depression and/or anxiety.
More often than not, when a person over the age of 10 is diagnosed with ADHD, they complains of feeling anxious, depressed, or sad.
Sometimes the complaint indicates a co-existing anxiety disorder or depression, but often, symptoms of anxiety and unhappiness arise because of untreated ADD.
Meanwhile, if symptoms of ADHD are more impairing, treatment guidelines recommend that medication for this disorder be prescribed first.
If symptoms of depression are of greater concern, these may need to be addressed as well.
In some cases, antidepressants may be prescribed in addition to the medication used to treat ADHD.
9 Symptoms of ADHD Shutdown or Paralysis
Brain battles: understanding ADHD and anxiety will help you fight aganinst the symptoms.
When you’re going through an ADHD shutdown, you’re likely to experience one or more of these symptoms — any or all of which can significantly impact your ability to function and engage with daily life.
Therefore, by acknowledging and being open about these symptoms, you can begin to identify shutdowns at an early stage.
This may help you engage with healthy coping strategies and seek professional support.
1. You’re unable to start tasks: Even the thought of beginning a task feels insurmountable. Likewise, you might sit down to work, only to find you can’t even take the first step.
2. You have difficulty maintaining focus: During a shutdown, it’s tough to keep your attention on a task. Particularly, your mind may wander, or you might find yourself staring blankly without making progress.
3. Your time management is poor: Time seems to move slowly during a shutdown. Consequently, hours can pass without much getting done, and you may have a hard time tracking time or managing how long tasks should take.
4. You’re unable to make decisions or prioritize tasks: Decision-making becomes a monumental task. In fact, even simple choices can feel overwhelming, and determining what task should come first can seem impossible.
5. You experience rapid mood swings: Emotions can be unpredictable and intense. Thus, you might feel fine one moment and then suddenly become irritable or despondent.
6. You struggle to speak: This might mean literally not being able to talk or finding it extremely difficult to articulate thoughts, especially in social or high-pressure situations.
7. You withdraw from social interactions: You might avoid friends, family, or colleagues because interacting becomes too difficult or because you feel misunderstood.
8. You feel mentally frozen: This is like the brain is stuck in a loop or unable to move forward. Therefore, it’s a sensation of being mentally paralyzed.
9. You lack motivation: Subsequently, there’s a profound lack of drive or enthusiasm, even for activities or tasks that you usually enjoy or find important.
ADHD and Social Anxiety
Brain battles: understanding ADHD and anxiety will help you with social anxiety.
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often co-occur.
The exact reasons why are not clear, but genetics and environmental factors may be a factor.
Some say that ADHD characteristics can make people more likely to feel anxious in social situations.
For example, ADHD symptoms like hyperactivity and inattention can undermine social skills and cause difficulties.
Additionally, ADHD can impair emotional control, working memory, and self-awareness, which can make teens and young adults more susceptible to social anxiety.
SAD is characterized by a fear of social situations or events where a person may be negatively evaluated or judged.
People with SAD may have distorted, negative self-perceptions and avoid specific triggering situations, such as in-person classes.
They may also feel intensely nervous and uncomfortable in any social environment, and may not be able to eat in front of other people or speak in public.
ADHD and Panic Attacks
Brain battles: understanding ADHD and anxiety help with panic attacks.
Since there’s no rational thinking in the midst of a panic attack, it doesn’t work to trying to talk to your child reasonably in these moments.
Yelling at them to calm down is equally ineffective. Panic attacks are best managed by having a concrete set of steps to follow that you and your child or teen have figured out beforehand.
When you work together to name the triggers and notice the warning signs, it’s easier to create an effective strategy to use in a panicked moment.
The goal isn’t to eliminate panic attacks: that may be unrealistic for now. Instead, the immediate goal should be to teach your son or daughter techniques for self-soothing in uncomfortable moments.
Focus on becoming familiar with the clues that anxiety is rising and how to respond to those signals to lessen their intensity.
We want to turn down the volume on the anxiety so it doesn’t mushroom into a panic attack.
Consider sharing this with your child’s school counselor or teacher as well so you are all on the same page.
- Breathing exercises: Alternate nostril yoga breathing calms you down quickly. Put your index finger on your right nostril: breathe in and out of your left nostril. Now switch and breathe in and out of your right nostril. Thereafter, do this on both sides for 4-6 times until you start to settle down.
- Make a playlist of songs that you love, soothe you or just make you smile. Give the playlist a fun title like “Cooling down tunes.”
- Change your environment: If you are inside, go to a different room or step outside. In detail, notice what’s happening around you as you are inhaling in for 4 counts and exhaling for 4 counts.
- Go to the bathroom and wash your face and hands. Tell yourself something encouraging such as: “You’ve got this.” “This has happened before and you’ve survived.” “It’s just your fears trying to run the show. Slow down so you can calm down.”
- Physical movement: Walk, run, ride a stationary bike, jump on a trampoline, etc. In essence, get the body moving so kids move their attention from out of their heads and into what’s happening around them.
- Comfort activity: Reading, drawing, coloring, Soduku, playing with a pet, Lego’s, listening to a story, receiving a hug–these can also quiet the system until the storm passes.
ADHD Clutter Anxiety
Brain battles: understanding ADHD and anxiety will help de-clutter.
One of the characteristics of ADHD is disorganization; because of issues with executive functioning that result in distractability and difficulty focusing, planning and organizing.
This, combined with the psychological factors mentioned above, causes clutter to grow.
Then, because of the clutter, ADHD symptoms of distractability and difficulty focusing increase. It’s a self-reinforcing negative cylce.
For an individual with ADHD, their sense of well-being can get snowed under all the clutter.
Consequently, their cluttered environment increases stress.
The idea of organizing can be overwhelming, and the temptation to procrastinate or avoid organizing seems to makes sense to them.
But with the right approach, you can eliminate clutter and get organized.
Tips for De-cluttering and Staying Organized
Below are some recommendations from experts about how to keep the clutter under control.
- Don’t buy things on impulse, and try never to buy “souvenirs” that you don’t need and aren’t going to use. Also, don’t accept items that someone gives you for free unless you absolutely want them.
- Strive to keep surfaces bare. Put away kitchen appliances you don’t use every day; don’t cram stuff onto every ledge.
- Don’t let newspapers and magazines pile up. Put them in the recycle as soon as possible.
- Identify a particular place for everything. This will allow you to find what you need easily and avoid having important papers such as bills scattered around everywhere.
- Deal with the piles that accumulate in the hallway, in corners, on bedside tables, on the dining room table. Seeing them there will more likely propel you to do something about them.
- Remember that storing a thing means you don’t need to use it. Before you squirrel something away, ask yourself, “Do I really need to keep this? If you have things that you’re reluctant to throw away because you’re not sure what they are, put them all in one box. You’ll never use the stuff, but you’ll know it’s there. It’s a good idea to put a date on the box, and if you haven’t opened it in a year, throw it away.
- Hang up your coat and other clothes, and have plenty of hangers in every closet.
- Make your bed every morning.
- Set aside a place or box where you put things to give away. Once you realize you want to get rid of something, that’s where it should go.
- When you undertake a major de-cluttering effort, take it one room at a time. That way it won’t seem so overwhelming.
- Consider getting a “body double” (partner) – either in person or virtual – to help you get started and keep you motivated.
- If you haven’t used, worn, or otherwise noticed something in a year, get rid of it.
The key to any de-clutter plan is to get started. Take it in small increments and turn your de-cluttering strategies into habits that become second nature.
ADHD Anxiety Treatment
Herbs for ADHD and Anxiety
Brain battles: understanding ADHD and anxiety will help you decide what herbs to try.
Some herbs may help with ADHD and anxiety, but it’s important to consult a clinician or pharmacist before adding a supplement to your routine.
Supplements aren’t reviewed for safety and effectiveness like medications are, and they can interact with other drugs you may be taking.
Here are some herbs that may help with ADHD:
- Ashwagandha: An adaptogen that may help with serotonin levels, attention, executive functioning, and stress response. Some clinical research suggests that ashwagandha may improve focus and attention in people with ADHD.
- Ginkgo biloba: Also, may help with inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms.
- Panax ginseng: May help with brain cells and stress hormone reduction.
- Matcha green tea: In short, contains antioxidants that may boost brain activity linked to attention and cognitive processing.
- Turmeric: Contains curcumin, which may improve attention and working memory in adults.
- Maca root: Contains adaptogens that may help the body adapt to stress while balancing hormones and boosting brain function.
- Jing-Ning Granules (JNG): A traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that may alleviate ADHD.
Here are some herbs that may help with anxiety:
Lavender
Some evidence suggests that oral lavender or aromatherapy with lavender can reduce anxiety. However, oral lavender can cause constipation, upset stomach, and headache, and children and teens should not take it because it can disrupt hormones.
Lavender essential oil (LEO)
Contains chemicals called terpenes, which may have a calming effect on chemical receptors in the brain.
Anxiety ADHD Meds
- Ritalin for depression and anxiety: Treatment of treatment-resistant depression: Hence, Ritalin may be used off-label in cases where other antidepressant medications are ineffective. It is believed that Ritalin’s stimulant properties can help improve mood and alleviate symptoms of depression.
- Vyvanse for anxiety: Common Vyvanse side effects include loss of appetite, dry mouth, and insomnia. Anxiety, diarrhea, and dizziness are also possible. Serious Vyvanse side effects include heart problems, serotonin syndrome, and severe mood changes. It may also have a negative effect on your child’s growth and development.
- Viloxazine anxiety: Viloxazine, a non-stimulant norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, can cause anxiety and other negative symptoms in some people. In one study, children with ADHD who took viloxazine reported anxiety, irritability, and suicidal thoughts. Other side effects that may occur include:
- Firstly, panic attacks
- Depression
- Trouble sleeping
- Hostile or angry feelings
- Additionally, hallucinations
- Delusions
- Impulsive actions
- Severe restlessness
- Lastly, very rapid speech
- Adderall with anxiety: Adderall can cause mild anxiety as a side effect, and some people with anxiety may also use Adderall to try to treat their symptoms. Adderall can cause the brain to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that can temporarily improve mood and relieve anxiety. However, this relief is often short-lived and can lead to a cycle of relying on Adderall for emotional stability. The increase in dopamine can also mask underlying anxiety, giving a false sense of control over symptoms.
Sum It All Up
Brain battles: understanding ADHD and anxiety will help you have a “normal” life. So, meds isn’t alway’s the best route to take as is in the case of my nephew.
Personally, I would try the herbs first to see if any of those help. Just watch out for the side effects.
De-cluttering and staying organized goes a long way when you have ADHD. I believe my roommate has ADHD because she’s got her stuff everywhere.
You can tell where she’s been because there’s always things left behind. Once in a while, she gets the energy to clean it up, but after a while, there’s a pile again.
So, try to follow these tips to help “de-clutter” your life, even if you don’t have ADHD. It may help for both. Until next time…
Articles About ADHD and Anxiety
-What’s the Link Between Anxiety and ADHD?
https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/anxiety-adhd-link
-Which ADHD medication is best for adults with anxiety?
-Anxiety and ADHD in Adults
https://www.verywellmind.com/anxiety-in-adults-with-adhd-20758
Have a Good One,
Cindee Murphy, One Voice In The Vastness Of Emotions
“The ADHD side of me does lead to certain disorganization and chaos in my life, and I have many flaws and things I’m bad at, but I’m quite good at getting back up again.”-Richard Bacon
“I saw a psychiatrist when I was younger because I had ADHD, and I had some problems with authority, so I guess I can kind of relate to that in a way. I know what it’s liked to be probed and to be asked questions where people are looking for a certain answer and are trying to pull something out of your answer.”-Alfie Allen
“One thing the doctor told me is that with ADHD, you get this thing called hyper-focus. People think of it as being a scattered focus, and it is partly that, but when you find something you like – in my case, you hit on an idea you like – everything almost zones out.”-Richard Bacon
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