Have you ever experienced being so angry at someone just because they accidentally bumped into you? Have you ever gotten into a fight with your sibling just because they lost the remote? Are you too overly excited for an upcoming series of your favourite movie? If you’ve gone through one or all of these scenarios, then chances are, you might have an emotional dysregulation or overly intense emotions. In our latest entry of ADHD Coaching, we will give light to this ADHD symptom and explain why it happens.
Emotional Imbalance is a core ADHD symptom. It’s a mental condition that affects the regulation of a person’s emotions. Having a dysfunction of your emotions would mean you tend to overreact to even the smallest of setbacks and challenges. People with ADHD elicit more intense emotions than ordinary people do. This condition can be the most challenging symptom to overcome.
Explaining Emotional Imbalance
If you’ve consulted an expert, you’ve probably been told once or twice about emotional dysregulation being a result of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. But how exactly does ADHD trigger emotional imbalance? Consider the following scenarios:
- A kid accidentally drops his ice cream and all of a sudden, he explodes into an hour-long tantrum frenzy.
- You rant and yell when you arrived at work after learning that your favourite parking spot is already taken.
- Your husband can’t find the remote and is now screaming madly at no one in particular.
- Your neighbour has been reported to have thrown a mug of coffee at their television when Manchester lost to Tottenham.
All of these scenarios are the cause of your emotional imbalance – with a little bit of help from your other ADHD symptoms. ADHD hinders the capacity of a person to regulate the appropriate level of feeling: fear, anger, sadness, joy, disgust, or surprise.
What Causes Emotional Dysregulation?
The amygdala region in your brain is responsible for controlling decision making an emotional reaction. An overwhelming flow of anger or joy will tell the amygdala to send a message to your cerebral cortex. In return, the cerebral cortex will then prevent any emotional response from going through to let you take a deep breath and think things through without jumping into conclusions and regretting the results.
For people with ADHD brains, this process is flawed. That means these people may have the following signals:
- Have emotional reactions associated with being out-of-sync with its cause.
- Struggle with being patient and calming down once an emotion has taken hold of their thoughts.
- Feature lack of consideration of the emotions of other people.
Challenges of ADHD People With Emotional Imbalance
Emotion regulation is a significant ADHD symptom that is often overlooked and ignored. This thought is true when we try to compare ADHD brains with normal ones. The former’s connection between the reward system and the prefrontal cortex has reduced activation, most notably in the dorsal area of the prefrontal cortex. This could be the main reason for over-excitement, anger, frustration, and an inability to respond to delayed rewards.
Conclusion
Emotional imbalance needs to be acknowledged as soon as possible. It’s an uncontrollable condition that can only be managed if you undergo an effective ADHD emotional regulation treatment. If you or someone you know tend to get angry or sad really fast without any legitimate reason, you need to consult a specialist.
At The ADHD Centre, we offer an ADHD Test Online for you to know or confirm if you or a loved one happens to have ADHD and if you would like some further guidance and support on managing your ADHD then please contact us at The ADHD Centre on 0800 061 4276 or via enquiries@adhdcentre.co.uk.
The ADHD Centre offers holistic ADHD treatment and cares for both children and adults. We are also affiliated with other ADHD clinics and organisations to maximise our services. Are you living within UK? Lovely! We also offer an ADHD Online Assessment via Zoom for Healthcare. So wherever you are in UK, know that the ADHD Centre is always available for your ADHD needs.
