ADHD Anxiety Support

@Kaysheridan23 Hi friend. I'm sorry that your post has been sitting here for so long unanswered. I haven't had ADHD anxiety before so I don't know if I will be able to help. However from a possibly niave perspective, it seems that if you can't seem to lower you anxiety on your own with breathing exercises, grounding techniques, meditiation, etc. it might be time to go to a professional and see if it's time to suppliment these other strategies with medication. There's nothing wrong in using medication when you need it and since you have already tried all these other strategies, maybe it's time to consider another route. But again, that's just my guess. I would do see a doctor for a medical opinion and I would take the dosage they recommend. You can see if that helps you feel any better.

And don't give up completely on the other strategies. They are still good tools to practice and get better at to help lower anxiety. Since it's been a while since you originally asked for help, I was wondering if your anxiety is still as high? Were you able to find a solution that worked for you? What was it?

I find just getting it and finishing something,e Ben just anything helps me. It tends to give me a buzz of dopamine that I am told we ADHD’rs crave!

@Kaysheridan23 Hi there, I am so sorry you have been experiencing anxiety along with your ADHD. As someone with ADHD myself, I too understand the great vicious circle of anxiety our ADHD creates for ourselves triggering us to feel copious amounts of anxiety that feel impossible to shake off. Strategies most offered are medications, however, those often require professional attention that some cannot access for immediate relief. Cognitive behavioural techniques have helped me most, specifically when realizing that breathing wasn't doing justice for me either.

Ways not not only satisfy our ADHD brain's need for dopamine and moving away those intrusive thoughts back to the back of the brain are through calming tasks that we can complete from start to finish. A great way that eases the brain is by listening to a short audio story available on YouTube with your eyes closed; not only does this allow your brain to focus on the story being told with a calming voice, it allows you to realize your body to reduce that feeling of overstimulation and stress. By listening to the story in full, your brain is not only aware that you have completed something giving you the dopamine it longs for, but you have actively given your body a calming and relaxing state making you feel in control and accomplished.

I personally find this so important as it not only relieves dependency of medication, but it allows practice for self-regulation and stress techniques that only get better with time. I really hope this helps and I encourage you to try!

I know this is an old post, but I am struggling with this a lot lately. I become irritable and irrational...I am like a rubber band stretched too far. I'm tense and ready to snap at any moment and I end up taking it out on my loved ones. Which results in more guilt and anxiety. Adhd meds don't help me with that...I feel pretty hopeless.