Critically important: Nervous system dysregulation is KEY

4h (edited) • 💡 Tips

You guys... I've been reading a book I needed 25 years ago: "The Simple Guide to ADHD Regulation." Here's the TL/DR version:

Our ADHD is less than half the problem.
The bigger problem is that we almost all have nervous system dysregulation.
Nervous system dysregulation makes all our symptoms far worse.
If **ALL** you do is learn to self-regulate, you will dramatically improve.
Dysregulation is caused by being in fight-or-flight (or freeze or fawn).
Can't stop doom-scrolling? That's actually "freeze."
Keep avoiding miserable tasks? That's actually "flight."
Identify what it feels like for you to be dysregulated (unhappy stomach, tense muscles, headaches, urgency, overwhelm, racing thoughts, rumination, feeling paralyzed, negative self-talk, etc.)

Solution:

1. Notice when you're dysregulated (right now, it might be all the time)

2. Physically interrupt: slow down, slow your breathing, relax your shoulders

3. Mentally interrupt: Remind yourself, "I'm exactly where I should be. I'm safe. I'm just going to keep doing one thing at a time."

4. Acknowledge the circumstance you're currently facing, and notice what is in your best interests to do next

5. Do the thing while you continue to move slowly, breathe slowly, relax, and remind yourself that you are safe.

It takes practice but I have noticed DRAMATIC improvement in less than a week.

I had posted a couple of weeks ago about the intense misery or even "pain" of doing unaligned work, and now I realize it was just that that work is dysregulating for me. Now that I'm consciously regulating while doing the work, the misery is 80-90% gone. Absolutely delighted about this and had to share it!!!

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