Symptoms of anxiety:

Cognitive: racing, intrusive or ruminating thoughts, difficulty with concentration, forgetfulness, irritability, avoidance, sleeplessness, restlessness (psychological), worry

Physiological: rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, muscle tightness, perspiring, restlessness (physical)

ADHD

According to The National Institute of Mental Health, ADHD is a developmental disorder characterized by an ongoing pattern of inattention, hyperactivity or impulsivity. It occurs where there is dysfunction in a person’s executive functioning, commonly referred to as the task management center of the brain.

Symptoms of ADHD:

Hyperactive: racing thoughts, difficulty slowing down, interrupting, restlessness

Inattentive: no attention to detail, forgetfulness, unfocused, avoidant

Many symptoms of ADHD can be internal as well, meaning that the hyperactivity presents inwardly as maladaptive, racing thoughts. This is true for many women diagnosed with ADHD; leaving them underdiagnosed and overlooked as a population. As a brain struggles to focus or calm itself, it becomes increasingly self-aware, this often is where anxiety starts to gain footing.

The Intersection of ADHD and Anxiety

Examining the two disorders shows us several overlapping symptoms, making them difficult to separate. To help, we can look at two factors that explain the overlap. Firstly, you are genetically predisposed to low serotonin and/or low dopamine; where your symptoms are part of a biological influence. In addition, those living with ADHD and the hurdles it presents, have faced a world of stress and confusion for most of their lives. We can understand anxiety’s role in ADHD based on how life has been experienced by the person; more failure, judgment/rejection (whether real or perceived) and social disadvantages.

ADHD is a disorder defined by its issues with executive functioning and is dependent on both serotonin and dopamine function. When a brain struggles with working memory, impulse control and cognitive flexibility, there are bound to be hangups. The harder a brain has to work to navigate daily life like remembering where the keys are or working hard to not interrupt, the more it is likely to experience symptoms of anxiety. Similarly, anxiety can be very distracting for a brain already working extra hard to manage focus.

Genetic Influences on ADHD and Anxiety

Understanding the two neurotransmitters involved in ADHD and anxiety is essential. When there is a deficit in serotonin and/or dopamine, the issues with executive functioning are present.

Serotonin and Dopamine

Serotonin:

Responsible for regulating mood, healthy sleep cycles, digestion, blood clotting, and sexual desire

Dopamine:

Drives the brain’s reward system, regulates voluntary movement, focus, sleep, mood, and working memory

While we hear more about dopamine in relation to ADHD, we don’t often talk about serotonin. Because they both have overlapping purpose and symptomology, you can begin to see why there is so much overlap between these anxiety and ADHD. Finding a therapist who is trained to understand brain chemicals, diagnoses and updated research is crucial.

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria and Anxiety

While your brain is working so hard to navigate life through an underfunctioning task manager, you’re slowly struggling to manage social interactions; often leading to deficits in socialization. Mixed with impulse control issues that can make it difficult to listen effectively, seem interested in what someone else is saying or to avoid talking over others, your interpersonal relationships may begin to suffer. Eventually over time this difficulty leads to a perception that others are not safe to interact with or be around.

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, or RSD, is defined as experiencing severe emotional pain because of a failure or feeling rejected, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The important thing to remember about RSD is that the initiating event could be real or perceived, meaning the hypersentivity may be internally recognized by the brain as rejection or failure whether it actually occurred or not. This eventually turns to hypervigilance where the brain is looking for rejection and failure in the environment, making anxiety unavoidable.

There is much to be said about the role RSD plays in a person’s anxiety. It’s helpful to process through talking and role play. Using therapy or a loved one to practice social interactions, learning what anxiety feels like physically in your body and mapping those sensations to emotional labeling as well as grounding exercises can help greatly. These are just a few interventions that will assist your brain in relearning dysfunctional programming.

Other things that help anxiety and ADHD

It can be helpful to first understand what is happening in your brain, that can help you work to separate self from brain. A brain has been conditioned to react based on what its environment has taught it across a lifetime. While it sounds silly, first recognizing that we are not our brains. ADHD and anxiety both have strong physical feelings in that body, learning mindfulness practices such as grounding and breathing exercises have been shown to provide relief. The hardest thing here is to focus on repetition; learning how the body feels at rest and when activated help you identify what the brain is experiencing and help to further view your brain as a separate functioning entity.

Where to go from here

As you can see, there is a lot to learn about these two disorders and the correlation between them. Finding someone who deeply understands this overlap and is proficient in latest research is a great way to take your mental health to the next level. Overcoming anxiety and ADHD is a tall order, finding someone to help is key. At Inner Body Works we specialize in ADHD and anxiety and put our clients’ needs first. You do not have to face it alone, reach out today.