Those who have ADHD usually have trouble managing emotions. That would include episodes of the blues or just generally feeling down or sad, anticipating a negative outcome or even experiencing post-event letdowns. And it’s likely even to become a pattern concerning certain situations. ADHD coach Jeff Copper knows something about it.
Jeff candidly shares personal stories and real-life experiences related to this type of depression or emotional self-regulation. If you can relate to those experiences, you might recognize a pattern in your own life.
Watch the video to learn more. https://youtu.be/2NZ3svAQwJA
Video Transcript:
Welcome, everybody, to this edition of Attention Talk Video. I’m your host, ADHD and attention coach, Jeff Copper. And I’m here to talk to you about something that I learned personally when it comes to emotional self-regulation and a little bit of depression.
For some of you who don’t know, I was a competitive swimmer back in the ’80s. Never Olympic material, though I did go to Olympic trials, but consolation finals, US nationals, NCAAs, World Game trials, stuff like that. So, not great, but okay.
Anyway, the reason I’m sharing that is in high school, I remember going to Nationals and coming home and my parents said, “How was it?” I chewed their head off a little bit. I was just a jerk. I noticed I was just kind of blue and kind of down and kind of depressed. As time went on, I began to notice a pattern in college after my freshman year of NCAAs. I came home. And again, I noticed it, but I also reflected back on my life and realized that that had happened before.
And I began to realize when it happened before, it was a couple of days, and I would come out of the funk. As time had progressed, I really kind of began to realize and think about I would spend six months focused on this basically two one-minute swims in a day. And after spending all my energy and I put everything into it, when it was over with, it was kind of a letdown. Just some sadness, some depression, some blue, and I began to realize that that was actually a part of the process. So why am I telling you all this? Because once I began to see the pattern and realize it was a part of the process, I began to expect it. Before I would go to a major event, I wouldn’t come home. I’m going to be depressed for a couple of days.
The thing about it was, emotionally, it was a lot easier to take when I expected that it was going to happen. I anticipated it and didn’t get myself upset when it actually happened. In fact, I’m not going to say I loved it, but I kind of embraced it because it was a part of life and it was kind of passive. I’m sharing that with you because if you have things in your life that are emotional, or you can relate to any of this, that understanding the pattern and having an expectation that’s going to happen is a different mindset that can help you get through this. Now, realize this tip isn’t for everybody but for those that it speaks to, it does. For what it’s worth, I changed it over the years from post-trip blues to post-event blues, because I think it reflects it and it’s funny.
My older son, when he was swimming in high school, one time, I saw him coming in and he goes, “Shut up.” Post-trip blues. And after my son was at the National Soccer Championship, he came home. And I remember talking to my older son like, “Be careful. He’s already a crab. He’s already got post-event blues.” And so the rest of the family began to learn how to expect it.
Anyway, hope you found value in that tip. Please subscribe to our channel, leave a comment. Does this make some sense? Do you find value in it? And maybe you’ve got a story to share. With that, we hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of Attention Talk Video. Take care.