Bad ADHD Days 2
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Neuro Tribe, the podcast where authenticity meets empowerment. Your host, Teresa, is a certified business executive and life coach, navigating the intricate tapestry of neurodiversity. She's someone blessed with ADHD and dyslexia, and gifted a widow and a mother. To four incredible Neurodiverse children.
So each episode of the Neuro Tribe is an intimate exploration of life, love, business, and parenting through the lens of neurodiversity. Subscribe to the Neuro tribe on your favorite podcast platform or on YouTube and never miss a story. And if you really like this show, be sure to like, subscribe, rate, and of course share the podcast with anyone.
Join us on this unfiltered journey where no topic is too challenging, [00:01:00] no triumph too small. Let's unravel the layers of our community's experiences, embracing the struggles, celebrating the gifts, and finding empowerment and authenticity in every episode. And let's start right now.
Hey friends. Welcome back to the neuro tribe. I am so grateful to have all of you. NeuroTribes friends all over the world. I am so glad that we get to come together and rise up together.
Guess what. It's summertime in the greater Seattle area. And the funny thing is, is we haven't actually really had summer yet. We've had a few warm days, but for the most part, we've had a lot of clouds and cooler days. It's interesting. The other thing is we are now in summers.
So kids are going to summer camp and schedule is all off. So as you know, as neurodivergent individuals kind of have a hard [00:02:00] time with. Schedule change. So that's happening.
Oh my goodness. Today, we are going to talk about ADHD days. Okay. So we all know that we have these bad ADHD days. And first of all, I know that you guys have noticed it. And maybe you don't even know what it is or why you have them or what's going on. I kind of didn't, but I did do some research on it and it turns out there's so many different factors that can play into having an ADHD day. It could be hormonal changes.
It could be stress. It could be that you're dealing with some RSD. It could be. That you are just, you've been in a conflict.
There are so many different reasons for having a bad ADHD day. The [00:03:00] other thing is it could be a lot of changes going on in life right now. Oh my goodness. So let's talk about it. These are the days where we all have ADHD. But this is like ADHD on steroids. You are forgetting things left and right. You're having to go back to get this, to get that you put this thing down and you forgot where you put it. You had to listen to the, the book over and over and over again, you had to reread and reread and reread the same email to get the message across in the email. These are the days where it's like your ADHD is just out of control. And that's what we would call a bad ADHD day. Now what is going on with us mentally with a bad ADHD day?
What I find is that most people are ruminating on [00:04:00] beating themselves up. It's like every single time that they forget something or they have to relisten to something or they have to redo something or they have to ask what, or they have to ask to repeat. Or they didn't quite get the instructions or they've read the email for the fifth time in a row. Frustration levels are starting to go up. And then there's this inner dialogue of ruminating all of the things to beat ourselves up.
Why can't you just be normal? Why can't you just do this? This is taking so long. All of the things, and it's almost like those ruminating thoughts are going into this shame loop. Right. And we're beating ourselves up and we're shaming ourselves and we're wishing that we just didn't have the ADHD. Right. And we're wishing that we could just get out of this day because the ADHD is like on steroids today.
What [00:05:00] happens when we are in this shame spiral and we are in this. You know, ruminating thought loop of all of the things that are going wrong and all of the things that are taking longer than they should. What also, and our frustration is getting more and more and more. What also is happening is our level of fatigue is getting stronger and stronger because if you think about it, it takes us a lot of energy and effort. To do things to begin with.
And some of us have like batteries in our. Souls that make us have more energy than other people. But when we are in overdrive, because we're having a bad ADHD day, we can get this level of fatigue. Right. And then all of a sudden, Our cognitive it's kind of slowing down and it's harder for us to keep track.
And then we're also feeling tired and then our [00:06:00] body is feeling tired. So then we are mentally, emotionally, and physically fatigued.
This can leave us feeling pretty defeated. It's almost like we just want to give up and hide. This is the day that we just wanted to end so we can have a new day tomorrow. But let's talk about it. What can we do for ourselves when we have an ADHD day? One thing that's really helpful is just getting out and going for a walk.
Whether that is for 15 or 20 minutes, it really can help you reset the day. It can help with fatigue. It can help clear your mind. It can lift your mood. It really can help reset things for you. If that is not working in your ADHD day is kind of gotten to the point where it feels like everything is not really manageable. This is the time where we're just really kind to [00:07:00] ourselves.
And we understand that this is heart of our ADHD. This is part of the diagnosis that we live with. Right. So these are the times where we ask ourselves, how can I be kind to myself? What can I take off of my schedule today? What can I do less of today? Right. Maybe for you, it's ordered dinner for the family instead of cooking, maybe it's order lunch to be delivered to you, right? Maybe it's leave the office early or have a nap in the afternoon, or maybe you ask another mom to do pickup today. These are the days that we really want to really be kind to ourselves and listen to our bodies. Another thing that's really important is taking whatever form of way you like to journal, whether it's paper and pencil, or maybe you use a remarkable, or you like to use the notes on your [00:08:00] phone, whatever it is, try and get some of your thoughts, your feelings, all of the things out of your mind and out into paper or cyberspace, whatever tech, right. Then read it back to yourself, ask yourself, is this what I would allow my best friend to say about herself or himself?
Right. That the answer is no. Then maybe start thinking about how can I be kind to myself? How can I. Speak nicer to myself. How can I get out of this? Beat up shame, spiral, ruminating thoughts, right? And into a place of this is one of those days that I just need to give myself a break.
This is also a great day to be able to ask your trusted, loved ones for help.
Maybe it is one of those days where you just say, I want to cuddle today. [00:09:00] Or I want to go to bed early. Or can I have some time to myself? Will you put the kids to bed? These are the days that it's really good to be kind to yourself and have your people that you can trust. And love to be able to help you. For me, I am a widow with four kids.
So when I'm having a day like this, what I do is I take everything off of my plate. That's not totally essential. I look at my schedule. I look at my priority list and I ask myself, what is the most important thing that I need to do today? And I will make sure that I do one income producing activity for my company or my business. And then I will look to see if there's anything else that is time pressing.
If nothing else is time pressing, I will take that day for self care. I will take it as far as I will go pick up a bucket of fried chicken for the [00:10:00] kids for dinner. And then instead of doing all of the normal activities, I'll just say, Hey. Who wants to get, jump into bed and watch bluey and cuddle until that time. And we turn it kind of into a fun evening.
I take all of the pressure off of myself and I really turn the day around into a relaxing, enjoyable stress-free day.
I also make sure that that is the night that I put myself to bed early. So I will stop watching any screens. I will not, not have any screens on for an hour before I go to bed. I will get out my journal or I have these fun frequency. Music that I listened to, or I listened to soft Reiki, healing music, and I will journal, or I let I'll light a candle or I'll do some visualization or maybe even some stretches.
And I will go to bed early. I really hope that you guys have found [00:11:00] some value in this.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I love you all. Take care. Bye bye.
