By Jeff Copper, MBA, PCC, PCAC, CPCC, ACG – November 27, 2023
Everyone can feel stress and anxiety, but those with ADHD probably experience it more than others. Stress at its core is a physiological response to perceived threats or anticipation of an event where you may or may not be prepared. Reactions may be triggered by situations where you feel you have no control; it may feel like you are being attacked by a lion. When stress ignites the limbic system, it’s like throwing gasoline on a fire.
So, what can you do about it? How can you manage anything if you don’t know what you’re managing? For example:
- How are stress, anxiety, and daily hassles different from each other?
- What about anticipation and actual events?
- Can stress be different from, say, physical, biological, cognitive, or emotional perspectives?
- What strategies work for managing stress, anxiety, or daily hassles?
There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy for dealing with stress, but there are methods available to manage stress and anxiety. If you have ADHD and suffer from stress or anxiety, it’s important that you learn to down-regulate the emotion. If this topic resonates with you, learn more in my interview with Dr. Blythe Corbett of Vanderbilt University, titled “ADHD: Stress and Anxiety in a Context We Can All Understand.” http://tobtr.com/5198211