HOW THREATS AFFECT ADHD EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION

ADHD adults often experience emotional dysregulation. This means they experience emotions differently and more intensely than neurotypical adults. It is important to understand how ADHD can affect your emotional state. Primary human emotions include anger, fear, pleasure, sadness, and disgust. Emotional dysregulation is a core component of ADHD in adults. ADHD adults often feel emotions that are bigger and stronger than those of a neurotypical adult. Threat perceptions can heighten fear, leading ADHD adults to be paralyzed by this emotion. This article will outline how ADHD affects people’s emotional states and provides five ways to emotionally down-regulate. 

ADHD AND EMOTIONS

Paul Gilbert proposed a model that explains how humans switch between three different systems to regulate their emotions: drive, threat, and soothing. Adults with ADHD can be triggered by perceived threats and overwhelmed by their emotions, leading them to a need to soothe. These triggers that overwhelm often lead to cycles of procrastination. Safety is important for humans to function in our everyday lives. Feeling unsafe can often exacerbate ADHD symptoms. 

David Rock’s 2008 SCARF Model

Threat perception is an important concept to understand, as it can trigger many ADHD symptoms. David Rock’s 2008 SCARF Model outlines the brain’s interaction with reward and threat responses. In his model, he describes how people are consistently moving toward or away from opportunities. His idea is that we move toward things we perceive as socially rewarding and away from things that we perceive to threaten our social standing. His model assumes that our ‘thoughts and perceptions’ are as compelling to our behaviors in the same way as a physical threat or reward may be (Lieberman, & Eisenberger, 2009). And, when we detect threats, we naturally move away from something, yet, if we detect a reward, we may be naturally drawn toward something.

Additionally, perceived threats can reduce someone’s ability to make decisions, solve problems, and collaborate (Elliot, 2008). Lastly, the threat response is often very intense and commonly felt (Baumeister et al, 2001).

To go deeper, let’s explore how threat perception can be seen in five human domains: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness. Here are examples of how each of these domains can affect your perception of safety: 

•  Status

  When your status is threatened, you’ll wonder if you are valued by others. When your status is threatened, you may think: Am I valued in this situation? A threat to your status may appear to undermine your authority or standing in a certain situation. A reward in this area may earn you a promotion or put you i a place of improved standing.  

•  Certainty
  

  Certainty is your brain’s ability to predict a future response. Certainty involves a sense of trust and is contingent upon perceived risk. When certainty is threatened, you may experience a sense of confusion. When you are uncertain, you may not know what will happen next, and instead of feeling excited, you may feel upset or uncomfortable. When you are more certain, an opportunity may seem more plausible, reasonable, and/or achievable.

•  Autonomy

  Autonomy involves your sense of individual control and agency. With autonomy, you feel involved and valued. You have a sense of contribution. When you feel If your sense of autonomy is threatened, you may feel stuck or powerless. You may wonder: Do I have a choice, or have no choice? You may consider: Can I act, fight, or escape?  

•  Relatedness

  A sense of relatedness is all about belonging. When you feel safe in this area you may feel valued and like you can contribute. When you detect a threat of relatedness, you may feel lonely or alone, cast out, or not included.  A threat in relatedness drives feeling unsafe or unsure about a person, group, or situation.
  

•  Fairness

  Fairness looks at our perception of fair treatment. Fair does not necessarily mean equal, but fair means fair and is related to a sense of personal values. When you detect a threat of fairness, you may wonder if an exchange or situation is equitable or unfair. When your sense of fairness is threatened you may feel angry or sad. 

Based on David Rock’s SCARF Model, when you experience disharmony within these domains it will likely activate the threat center in the human brain. And when an ADHD adult perceives a threat, we’re already dysregulated.

Example

For example, if you feel threatened in any way, your brain interprets this signal as a threat to your life. Because emotional dysregulation is an ADHD hallmark, threats can enhance that sense of threat in the brain – and hijack your thoughts. This overactivation of your brain’s threat response takes over making it nearly impossible to inhibit. This is a state of pure emotional dysregulation. Subsequently, when your body kicks into fight/flight/freeze mode (default mode network), it’s large and in charge – and it can be very disruptive to your life. Learning strategies to intentionally pause to reset and regulate your nervous system is essential to manage your ADHD symptoms. 

FIVE EMOTIONAL REGULATION TECHNIQUES TO FEEL SAFE AND IMPROVE ADHD SYMPTOMS 

To assist your unregulated nervous system when it encounters perceived threats, it can be helpful to learn down-regulating techniques. Below are five techniques you can use to improve your ADHD symptoms through emotional regulation. 

1.  Breathe it out

Breathing exercises can help your body get out of fight or flight mode and return to a feeling of safety. So, regular breathing exercises can increase your mindfulness and overall state of calm. Endeavoring to incorporate these exercises during specific times when your threat response is overactivated can help you get out of the threat response and into a more mindful state. You can try this breathing exercise, or this mindful meditation with breathwork to get started. 

2.  Orient your body and mind

Studies have found that mindfulness meditation can be very helpful in relieving ADHD symptoms. As a result, meditating not only lowers your stress but also mitigates the emotions brought up by threat perceptions, such as anger and anxiety. Additionally, body scanning is a great technique to center your body and mind since it can increase your awareness of your emotional state. Scanning your body can help you stay in the present moment, and orient your body and mind toward a feeling of safety. You can look up guided body scanning exercises online, or try this one!

3.  Take a time-out to cool down

To regulate your emotions, awareness is key. The next time you feel yourself flooded with emotions, take a pause and look inward. When you pause, you allow yourself to down-regulate and can more easily identify your emotional triggers. Taking a pause takes you out of the situation that triggered the emotional flood, and helps you calm down more easily. 

4.  Move your body!

Regular aerobic exercise greatly improves symptoms in ADHD adults. Why? Regular movement changes your neurochemistry mix, oxygenates your body, and helps you dump cortisol – the stress hormone. So, if you do not currently have an exercise routine, start slow! You can start incorporating small movements into your daily routine, such as a walk around your neighborhood, or an online yoga class. You can use youtube, or phone apps to guide you through different exercises- there is a plethora of free options out there to discover! Make sure to build fun into your exercise routine to increase your likelihood of sticking with it. Check out my article on how aerobic exercise helps ADHD symptoms.

5.  Talk it out

Whether talking to a friend, family member, licensed therapist, or coach- talking through your emotional state can often help you move through it. In order to practice, try opening up to trusted friends and family members can provide you with support from your loved ones. If you are having significant difficulties regulating your emotional state, an ADHD-certified therapist or coach can help you. Therapy or coaching can help you identify your threat response triggers, and help you figure out what techniques can fit best with your lifestyle. Learn more about coaching here. 

CONCLUSION

ADHD adults often have heightened emotions and difficulties regulating them. Threat perceptions can trigger your body and make you go into fight or flight mode. Learning down-regulating techniques can help prevent extreme emotional dysregulation, and make you feel more calm and in control of your ADHD symptoms. To learn more about emotional regulation strategies for ADHD adults, be sure to check out my article. Emotional dysregulation results from impaired executive functioning caused by ADHD. Be sure to check out my free Executive Functioning Quick Reference Guide and Self-Assessment Worksheet.