ADHD Flare Ups: What I Noticed So Far
Photo by Zach Vessels on Unsplash
When I’m on a downward spiral with my ADHD, everything feels overwhelming. I can’t usually predict when it will happen very well, but I know that there are certain events in my life, certain times of the month (where my anxiety rises at the very least) and when I’m not being as careful on my ADHD management that can impact how I respond or when I’m more likely to have more frequent flare ups (however, like everything with ADHD, it’s consistently inconsistent, so even these predictions aren’t an exact science for me!) It took until I was in my late 30s before I finally clocked that with all the feelings of being up and excited, the downs would eventually come and I would feel debilitated, utterly demotivated and helpless again.
After I had the breakdown and burnout that eventually lead to me being diagnosed, it really made me see how important it was for me to understand how my ADHD flare ups seemed to happen and what I could do about them in the moment. The truth is, there isn’t a lot that I can do in the moment to snap out of them yet, but I’ve found that the better I manage my ADHD, the down times seem a little less intense and maybe a bit shorter than when I was undiagnosed. My meltdowns seem less frequent too. The diagnosis and most likely the use of meds has helped with that. I think they allow me to pause so I can make sense of what’s happening.
I’m trying to be a lot kinder to myself, sorting through when it’s ADHD and when it’s something that I genuinely believe. At least now I recognise what is going on. These days are always going to be in my life, slowing down my progress towards my goals, and making me doubt myself. But on the other side of the coin are the days where I’m going to blast through things and feel unstoppable.
It’s not ideal. The feelings don’t get any better in the depths of it and I’m still unsure of how long they will last. But knowing it’s my normal gives me power to implement solutions to see what helps most and make them work for me so that I can finally do all the things I know I’ve always been capable of achieving - and in a way I know works for me.