What do you do for heightened emotions?

@JotheFlowerChild

Hi Jo, yes I have experience in dealing with intense emotions from my daughter. They are quick to come on and can take over her whole body and mind, making it difficult for her to calm down and regulate herself afterward. Because of how an ADHD brain is wired, emotional volatility is one of the symptoms of the condition.

I plan on doing a more in depth post about the mechanics of how this all works as part of our ADHD awareness month coming up. In the meantime here is a quick list of some tips to help make emotional intensity more manageable.

These were taken from this article and you can read more in depth about each point here:

https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/manage-mood-swings

1. Exercise. Whether you prefer to walk, run, bike or swim, making time for physical activity can help ease your mood swings. 
2. Write your feelings down in a journal. 
3. Eat healthy foods. 
4. Take a nap, and establish a good sleep schedule. 
5. Set a schedule. 
6. Go outside. 
7. Make your hyperfocus work for you. 
8. Use humor.

Hey, I personally have ADHD so I can tell you what works for me, but as a disclaimer, this may not work for you.

I often deal with very intense emotions and it honestly really sucks sometimes but I think it's a privilege to feel things as deeply as we do. 

How I deal with this typically though is if I'm overreacting in the moment, I put my hands together, sit up, and close my eyes for a few seconds. This is the main thing I do in the moment. Afterwards there is always plenty you could do, but there's very few ways to calm down in the moment. You can't exercise in the middle of an argument, you can't start journaling while you're fighting somebody, and while these are good things to do, they are ineffective while you're present so it seems unrealistic to suggest them. What you can do is take a step back from the things that are making you feel those emotions, communicate that, and then try your best to calm down. You could play some music in an earbud, you could close your eyes, you could stop being so stiff, you could clear your mind by reading something on the wall. I think these are all realistic things to do when you're feeling heightened emotions.

But in the end, I'm always thankful for feeling the way I do because reaction is better than inaction and at least I got it out my system.

Hope this helps a little!

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@JotheFlowerChild

Hey Jo I wanted to include a recent breathing technique I learned. This exercise is really good for activating your parasympathetic nervous system which can help you calm down fast. I realize that my earlier suggestions were more of a preventative approach. So give this a try next time and let me know if it helped. :)

1. Lift your arms up to create space in your lungs with palms facing upwards

2. Raise your chin up a bit and take in a breath filling your lungs completely, letting your belly expand.

3. Then slowly release the breath and have your mouth just slightly open so the breath passing out makes a sound.

4. Repeat this until you are feeling calmer.

You want to aim for a short in breath of a count of around 3 and exhale long to about a count of 10

Writing things down has been such a game changer for me! My emotions tend to get bottled up to the point that I only focus on the negatives but I started taking the time everyday to write down the positive emotions I'm feeling to and it really helped. Deep down I know I'm proud of myself and I gotta take some time to remind myself about that.

Hi. I understand that difficulty and hope all to share ideas.