ADD ADHD – The Anxiety and Worry Connection

Does ADD ADHD cause worrying and anxiety?

“Cause” being the key word here, I would say yes, but I think it’s good to look at it from another perspective, as in, the effects of having ADD or ADHD cause worry and anxiety!

My thoughts on this are that worry and anxiety keeps us alert—so we think. We ADDers are so used to being in trouble and criticized that we constantly worry about what we will do or say wrong next. Things slip from between our lips that we wish we would never have said. We are so impulsive at times that we do things we wish we could have back. Shoot, I wish I could go back in time and fix a lot of things, but I can’t and neither can you!

But, to save ourselves and just plain keep ourselves out of trouble we learn to worry incessantly and by doing this we create an inner anxiety that seems to have a life of its own. It’s not healthy and I believe it makes us age faster than we already do. I mean, we have such a difficult handle on time as it is and worrying takes us out of time more than anything. How can we pay attention with so much agonizing going on in our heads?

I think Anxiety and Worrying are a bi-product of ADD ADHD. We want to do better, we want to be better and most of all, we want to stay out of trouble. Many of us find the answer to this is to stay alert and worrying somehow gives us the feeling we are more aware of our actions.

Here are some ideas I use to help keep me from worrying so much:

• Before speaking, take a deep, full breath.
• Before sending an email, put it in drafts for an hour or two. Relax, breathe and then go back and see if you still feel the same way.
• Read and watch things with positive themes. In today’s culture there is so much violence and we ADDers tend to be very sensitive and take things in deeper than the common person. Thinking negatively seems to come easier to us, so we must make the effort to view, read and think positive.
• Be caring and compassionate of other people. When we cultivate an attitude of gratitude, it is much more difficult to say mean things impulsively. Practice makes perfect, but that doesn’t mean you have to let people walk over you—being able to think clearly, with a pause, can give you smarter answers, more constructive answers. Remember, we ADDers have very witty minds, use that to your advantage with clear headedness.
• Some people are just plain mean and we react quickly, impulsively. It is good to remember that many people act in a manner to get you to engage in their behavior and that just meets their needs, so they don’t feel alone. You are not a pawn—don’t engage if you don’t have to and if you do have to, breathe and try to be constructive. Mean people usually don’t have solutions. Calm, rational, nice people create solutions and are better thought of.
• Try meditation, Yoga or Tai Chi. a calm mind is a rational mind and remember you are not alone.

Is Anxiety and Worry a form of mental hyperactivity? Probably, and therefore all the more reason to train ourselves to think first by breathing first!

Those are just my thoughts – what are your solutions or thoughts on this?

~Bryan

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