Are You a Hotline Hothead?
How to Call Customer Service You have a customer service issue that you need to resolve by calling the company’s 800 number. This has been difficult for you in the past, as you struggle to regulate your emotions. Your friends and family may refer to you as “reactive” or possibly even a “hothead.” You are…
Read MoreMy ADHD Got Me Fired!
… And How the Right Tools Can Prevent That Outcome Interactions in the workplace can be daunting for many people—difficult supervisors, impossible expectations, toxic work environments that doesn’t foster support and cooperation between coworkers—the list is long. ADHD brings its own set of challenges in the workplace: having difficulty prioritizing tasks, lagging motivation when tasks…
Read MoreImproving Anger Behavior
“I think the issue is we really don’t communicate, even with ourselves, to know what we need in our world, or we don’t communicate well enough with others to tell them what we need and how we can each help to make each other’s worlds better,” says Dayle Malen, LCSW, MEd, a therapist based in…
Read MoreUnderstanding Meltdowns: The ADHD Volcano Model
A MELTDOWN CAN SEEM TO COME OUT OF NOWHERE. It’s one of the challenging or explosive behaviors we see in those who have ADHD. Sometimes it appears as poor self-esteem, yelling, rage, or tears. But sometimes the challenging behavior is your own in reaction to your spouse, child, sibling, or friend who has ADHD: “Why…
Read MoreTreating ADHD and Emotion Dysregulation
A TENDENCY to experience and express intense negative emotions is among the most significant problems people with ADHD face. Among children, low frustration tolerance, rageful outbursts over seemingly small annoyances, and explosive overreactions to disappointments other kids handle with composure often make peer relationships and family life difficult. These difficulties can lead to a cycle…
Read MoreHow to Be Angry Better
MANY OF US, INCLUDING SOME PEOPLE WITH ADHD, have anger behavior problems. We know emotional dysregulation is a common reason for this. In their study on ADHD and emotional dysregulation, Philip Shaw and his colleagues define it as “an individual’s ability to modify an emotional state so as to promote adaptive, goal-oriented behaviors.” To modify…
Read MoreWhat’s Up with All This Anger?
Here’s how you can reduce your frustration, manage intense feelings, and live with more contentment. YOU KNOW THE MOMENT. The moment when something goes wrong or someone says a few words that set you off. A switch has flipped and suddenly there’s a bubbling volcano of angry, negative emotions inside of you waiting to erupt.…
Read MoreChildren and Violent Behavior: Where it Comes From and What to Do
MANY CHILDREN HAVE VIOLENT THOUGHTS AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS. Normal rough-and-tumble play-fighting can get too rough. Kids hit, kick, scratch, bite, throw, or even choke. Many children enjoy playing with toy guns. Even in households where toy weapons are banned, kids will still pretend to be warriors, making rifles out of sticks and guns out of…
Read MoreA Novel Treatment for Severe Irritability: Exposure-Based CBT for DMDD
MANY CHILDREN get annoyed when asked to stop playing video games or to help with chores. However, for some children these types of age-appropriate demands can lead to extreme behavioral responses that are out of proportion relative to the request, such as snapping, yelling, or even throwing things. In addition, they tend to have a…
Read MoreWe All Have Our Parenting Kryptonite
PARENTS ARE MY SUPERHEROES. Who else but a superhero would wake up multiple times every night to help a crying child calm down? Who else would carry a baby everywhere, even when it means that they cannot sleep, sit, or eat? Who else would drop everything and dash to the aid of their child when…
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