Can you write on overlapping symptoms of anxiety and ADHD? At 33 years old, I suspect anxiety symptoms played a much larger role in my life story and daily function than I thought.... and certainly more than the minor role I thought it had relative to ADHD. I seriously often wonder if I situationally drop 30 IQ points because of anxiety.
These are great questions, and I have tried to address that in prior articles about ADHD. I strongly suspect that a lot of "anxiety" as experienced by those who have ADHD is really just ADHD. I like the term distress a lot better. I think the term anxiety biases us towards treatments that are unlikely to be effective.
Fascinating. I notice at the end of the day, that as I relax and notice "anxiety" leaving me, my "mental aperture" widens and I find myself making all sorts of mental connections and remembering goofs and missed opportunities from the day. Perhaps it's worth revisiting the terminology I'm assigning there.
This article is right on in my opinion. Anxiety and related conditions have been a very fundamental part of my life and now that I’m in my 60s I am starting to unwind it. My root cause is childhood trauma and a lot of my anxiety is very embedded in my fight or flight response. The real breakthrough for me was completely convincing myself that my anxiety was a muscle memory, and there was nothing to be anxious about in this moment.. it sure didn’t work at first, but coming to that rational conclusion really got the ball rolling. I don’t know that I could’ve really attacked it until I retired from the world of competition and acquisition, etc. even materially supporting myself, was enough to generate a hell of a lot of anxiety, or at least become a very good hook for the anxiety. I had anyway once that was gone I had room..
About two years ago, I came up with my own working definition of anxiety, which became my mantra and helped keep me focused; anxiety is knowing something to be true and refusing to believe it. It is especially true when the truth is that you don’t know what’s going on. In other words, resisting the truth of not knowing produces an enormous amount, anxiety for me.
Can you write on overlapping symptoms of anxiety and ADHD? At 33 years old, I suspect anxiety symptoms played a much larger role in my life story and daily function than I thought.... and certainly more than the minor role I thought it had relative to ADHD. I seriously often wonder if I situationally drop 30 IQ points because of anxiety.
These are great questions, and I have tried to address that in prior articles about ADHD. I strongly suspect that a lot of "anxiety" as experienced by those who have ADHD is really just ADHD. I like the term distress a lot better. I think the term anxiety biases us towards treatments that are unlikely to be effective.
Fascinating. I notice at the end of the day, that as I relax and notice "anxiety" leaving me, my "mental aperture" widens and I find myself making all sorts of mental connections and remembering goofs and missed opportunities from the day. Perhaps it's worth revisiting the terminology I'm assigning there.
I became a paid member just so I could comment.
This article is right on in my opinion. Anxiety and related conditions have been a very fundamental part of my life and now that I’m in my 60s I am starting to unwind it. My root cause is childhood trauma and a lot of my anxiety is very embedded in my fight or flight response. The real breakthrough for me was completely convincing myself that my anxiety was a muscle memory, and there was nothing to be anxious about in this moment.. it sure didn’t work at first, but coming to that rational conclusion really got the ball rolling. I don’t know that I could’ve really attacked it until I retired from the world of competition and acquisition, etc. even materially supporting myself, was enough to generate a hell of a lot of anxiety, or at least become a very good hook for the anxiety. I had anyway once that was gone I had room..
About two years ago, I came up with my own working definition of anxiety, which became my mantra and helped keep me focused; anxiety is knowing something to be true and refusing to believe it. It is especially true when the truth is that you don’t know what’s going on. In other words, resisting the truth of not knowing produces an enormous amount, anxiety for me.
That is such a remarkable and validating comment,. Thank you for reading. Thank you for persevering!
How does your patient, doctor?
Doctor
Not so sick, my lord,
As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies
That keep her from her rest.
Macbeth
Cure her of that.
Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased,
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain,
And with some sweet oblivious antidote
Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?
Doctor
Therein the patient
Must minister to himself.
That guy never would’ve been board-certified
It's not impossible to pass the boards :). You just have to study. You don't have to be wise.