ADHD Adult Behaviors Make These Symptoms Worse
ADHD: Lack of Exercise
If your memory is hazy, your ADHD may be to blame. And if you don’t exercise much, you aren’t doing your brain any favors. However, physical activity can improve your memory. It can also help you make decisions, learn, and pay attention.
ADHD: Eating Out Often
Making dinner takes a lot of mental effort if you have ADHD. You have to plan, prep, and follow steps. Sure, it’s easier to go out, but you should do so rarely. Healthy food can help you manage ADHD, but it’s hard to get on the go. Restaurant food is packed with calories, sugar, salt, and fat.
ADHD: Junk Food
So far, science can’t answer the question of what foods make ADHD worse. But research suggests that food coloring, can make symptoms worse. Junk foods like soda and candy are loads of empty, harmful calories.
ADHD: Don’t Skip Breakfast
If you blow off that morning meal, your symptoms could get worse. Breakfast can make it easier to handle social situations. It can also help you think and keep you focused longer early in the day. Even if your meds zap your appetite, try to eat a little something. A hard-boiled egg or carton of yogurt will do the trick.
ADHD: Messy Homes and Offices
Clutter is a sign of genius, say some people. But a messy home can make some ADHD symptoms worse. Piles of papers, books, and laundry increase stress by reminding of all the stuff you need to do. On the other hand, clearing the clutter may increase productivity.
ADHD: Shop Till You Drop
Shopping is fun, but a nonstop habit can lead to hoarding. For example, ADHD sufferers find it easy to get too much stuff and then hard to let it go. One way to control this behavior is to follow the “one in, one out” rule. If you bring a new item into your house, you have to donate an old one.
Wrong Medications
Medications can often be hit or miss for ADHD sufferers.
- ADHD meds don’t always work well if you have substance abuse problems.
- Drugs for major depression can make symptoms worse.
- Some medications can make anxiety worse.
Sleep Deprivation
Sleep problems and ADHD often go hand in hand. For some, the cause is a stimulant medication. For others, anxiety, depression, and other conditions that come along with ADHD are to blame. Lack of sleep doesn’t just make you tired. It can also worsen symptoms like a lack of focus and problems with motor skills. In fact, a medical protocol that works is often the result of painstaking trial and error.
Quit Therapy, Get Worse
If you’re doing well with therapy plus medication, stick with them. You might be tempted to quit therapy once you feel your ADHD is under control. After all, taking a pill is so much easier and therapy costs money. But research shows therapy paired with meds, really helps.
Too Much Internet
Doctors have found links between ADHD and excess screen time. Internet addiction can also lead to more severe symptoms. However, we don’t yet know which problem fuels the other. What we do know: Screen time before bed will disrupt your sleep, and that will make ADHD symptoms worse.
Caffeine
If you have ADHD, your coffee or tea habit may make your symptoms better. The caffeine in coffee and tea boosts your alertness, helps you to focus, and helps your brain work better.
Conclusion
Watch this very informative and moving video on the personal and professional fall out experienced by Adult ADHD sufferers: