Does ADHD Make You More Anxious?

Summary

This video script delves into how individuals with ADHD leverage negative emotions like anxiety, anger, and shame to motivate themselves, contrasting with neurotypical motivation. It discusses the book 'Your Brain's Not Broken' by Tamara Rosier, which explains how ADHDers use intense emotions to compensate for motivational deficits. The script challenges the oversimplification of attributing these behaviors solely to ADHD, highlighting that these emotions are universal and serve as powerful motivators. It also addresses the potential long-term mental health impacts of using such 'dirty motivators' and the importance of differentiating between ADHD's direct effects and the consequences of growing up undiagnosed.

Takeaways

• 👗 The script uses the example of receiving compliments and criticism at a party to illustrate how ADHD individuals might focus more on negative feedback, using it as a motivational tool.
• 🧠 ADHDers often use intense negative emotions like anxiety, anger, and shame to motivate themselves because they might not be able to rely on traditional motivators like interest or importance.
• 🔄 The book 'Your Brain's Not Broken' by Tamara Rosier is referenced to explain how ADHD individuals use negative emotions to function daily, contrasting with neurotypical individuals who may have an easier time with motivation.
• 🚫 The script challenges the oversimplification of attributing all negative emotions to ADHD, noting that these emotions are common across all humans and serve useful purposes.
• ⏳ Negative emotions are highlighted as stronger motivators than positive ones, which is why they have been conserved in human evolution.
• 🧐 The script points out that the brain is more sensitive to negative stimuli than positive, which is why negative feedback can be so impactful.
• 👨‍⚕️ An example of medical students is given to show how high levels of neuroticism, which includes a tendency to worry, can lead to better performance due to the use of negative emotions as motivation.
• 🤔 The term 'dirty motivators' is introduced to describe the use of negative emotions like shame and self-loathing, which can lead to success but at the cost of personal well-being.
• 👨‍🎓 The script discusses how anxiety can be particularly useful for ADHD individuals to counteract forgetfulness and inattention, serving as a form of protection against these issues.
• 😡 Anger is noted as a common emotional response for ADHD individuals, but it's not necessarily an adaptive mechanism like anxiety or shame; it's more about emotional dysregulation.
• 👨‍⚖️ The script emphasizes the importance of treating ADHD and the emotional consequences separately, as medication can address ADHD symptoms but not the emotional issues like low self-esteem that may arise from living with undiagnosed ADHD.

Q & A

How do people with ADHD often motivate themselves using negative emotions?

People with ADHD often use intense negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and shame to motivate themselves because these emotions can be powerful motivators. They might use anxiety to remember tasks, anger to push themselves to complete tasks, and shame to feel driven to succeed despite feeling unworthy.

What is the role of anxiety in ADHD as described in the script?

Anxiety in ADHD serves as a tool to counteract forgetfulness and inattention. People with ADHD may develop a paranoid mindset to constantly worry about forgetting things, which ironically helps them remember because they are always anxiously thinking about it.

How does the book 'Your Brain's Not Broken' by Tamara Rosier explain ADHD motivation?

The book explains that individuals with ADHD often struggle to motivate themselves in the same way neurotypical individuals do. Instead, they rely on strong negative emotions to drive themselves, focusing on interests more than importance and consequences.

What is the significance of the example given about wearing a fancy dress at a party in the script?

The example illustrates the bias towards negative feedback. Even with multiple compliments, one negative comment can have a more significant impact and be more memorable, highlighting how negative emotions can be powerful motivators.

Why are negative emotions considered 'dirty motivators' in the context of the script?

Negative emotions are referred to as 'dirty motivators' because while they can drive success, they often come at the cost of personal happiness and well-being. They can lead to feelings of being damaged, competent, or stupid, and can result in imposter syndrome.

What is the difference between the anxiety used as an adaptive mechanism in ADHD and the other negative emotions mentioned?

Anxiety in ADHD is seen as an adaptive mechanism to compensate for forgetfulness and inattention, whereas the other negative emotions like anger and shame are not necessarily adaptive but rather consequences of growing up without a diagnosis or treatment for ADHD.

How does the script relate the experience of negative emotions to the broader human experience?

The script emphasizes that negative emotions like anxiety, shame, and anger are not exclusive to people with ADHD but are part of the human experience. They have evolved because they serve as powerful motivators, even if they are often viewed negatively in society.

What is the role of the brain's bias towards negative information as explained in the script?

The script explains that the brain is more sensitive to negative information than positive, which is an evolutionary bias. This bias makes negative feedback more impactful and memorable, thus making negative emotions strong motivators.

Why might treating ADHD not resolve feelings of self-loathing according to the script?

Treating ADHD might not resolve feelings of self-loathing because these feelings are often a consequence of growing up without a diagnosis or treatment, and they need to be addressed independently, possibly through psychotherapy.

How does the script differentiate between the adaptive use of anger in ADHD and the emotional dysregulation experienced by some individuals with ADHD?

The script suggests that while some individuals with ADHD might adaptively use anger to manage situations, emotional dysregulation, including difficulty with frustration tolerance, is more commonly a challenge for those with ADHD and not necessarily an adaptive mechanism.

Outlines

00:00

👗 ADHD and Motivation Through Negative Emotions

The speaker begins by illustrating how individuals with ADHD might use negative emotions to motivate themselves, contrasting the positive feedback from many with the impactful criticism from one. The book 'Your Brain's Not Broken' by Tamara Rosier is referenced, which discusses how ADHD individuals often rely on intense negative emotions like anxiety, anger, and shame to drive themselves, unlike neurotypical individuals who are naturally motivated. The speaker critiques the oversimplification of attributing these behaviors solely to ADHD, noting that these emotions are universal and serve as powerful motivators due to their evolutionary significance.

05:01

🧠 The Power of Negative Emotions in Motivation

This section delves into how negative emotions, particularly anxiety, can be harnessed as a tool for motivation. The speaker explains that while these emotions can be mentally taxing, they are also a powerful driving force. Examples are given, such as medical students using anxiety to study harder or individuals with ADHD using anxiety to counteract forgetfulness. The concept of 'dirty motivators' is introduced, referring to the use of shame and self-loathing to achieve success at the cost of personal contentment. The speaker also touches on the idea of imposter syndrome being a consequence of using negative emotions as a primary motivator.

10:02

😡 Emotional Dysregulation and ADHD

The final paragraph addresses the complex relationship between ADHD and emotions, particularly anger. It suggests that while anxiety can be an adaptive response to forgetfulness for those with ADHD, anger might not serve the same adaptive purpose. The speaker points out that individuals with ADHD may experience emotional dysregulation and have a lower frustration tolerance, which can lead to anger. However, this is not necessarily a learned behavior but rather a part of the condition that can be managed with treatment. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the emotional challenges associated with ADHD and the need for separate therapeutic interventions to address self-esteem and emotional regulation.

Keywords

💡ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. In the video, ADHD is central to the discussion of how individuals with this condition use negative emotions as a motivational tool, often due to challenges with attention and memory. The script mentions how ADHD is associated with forgetfulness and emotional dysregulation, which can lead to the development of coping mechanisms that may be harmful in the long term.

💡Motivation

Motivation in this context refers to the internal and external factors that drive individuals to take action or engage in certain behaviors. The video discusses how individuals with ADHD may struggle with motivation and instead rely on negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and shame to fuel their actions. This is contrasted with neurotypical individuals who may have more natural motivation without the need for such intense emotional stimuli.

💡Anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of worry, unease, or fear that can be experienced in varying degrees. In the script, anxiety is highlighted as a common emotion used by individuals with ADHD to motivate themselves, particularly to counteract forgetfulness. The speaker gives an example of how anxiety can serve as a reminder to perform tasks, such as locking a car, by creating a worry loop in the mind.

💡Anger

Anger is an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt, or threat. The video script discusses how anger can be harnessed as a motivational tool by individuals with ADHD. It is suggested that people with ADHD might experience anger more intensely and use it to push through tasks, although the speaker also notes that anger may not always be an adaptive response and can lead to emotional dysregulation.

💡Shame

Shame is a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrongs or foolish behavior. In the context of the video, shame is described as a negative emotion that some individuals with ADHD use to motivate themselves. The script mentions self-loathing as a form of shame that can drive individuals to perform tasks to avoid feelings of worthlessness, although this can be detrimental to their self-esteem.

💡Neurotypical

Neurotypical refers to individuals who have typical neurological development and do not have conditions such as ADHD. The term is used in the video to contrast the motivational strategies of individuals with ADHD, who may rely on negative emotions, with those of neurotypical individuals who may have more straightforward access to motivation and may not need to rely on intense emotional stimuli.

💡Emotional Regulation

Emotional regulation is the ability to manage and control one's emotions. The video script suggests that individuals with ADHD often struggle with emotional regulation, which can lead to heightened experiences of negative emotions like anger. This difficulty can result in the use of these emotions as a coping mechanism, even though it may not be the healthiest approach.

💡Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is a psychological pattern where individuals doubt their accomplishments and fear being exposed as a 'fraud'. The video connects the use of negative emotions as motivation with the development of imposter syndrome, particularly in high-achieving individuals who may feel that they do not deserve their success despite external validation.

💡Forgetfulness

Forgetfulness refers to the inability to remember or the act of forgetting. In the context of ADHD discussed in the video, forgetfulness is not due to memory problems but rather attentional issues. Individuals with ADHD may not encode information properly due to inattention, leading to forgetfulness. Anxiety can serve as a countermeasure, as the worry associated with potential forgetting can help reinforce memory encoding.

💡Self-Esteem

Self-esteem refers to an individual's overall sense of self-worth or personal value. The video script discusses how the use of negative emotions as motivation can lead to low self-esteem, particularly in individuals with ADHD who may struggle with feelings of self-loathing and shame. The speaker emphasizes that while treating ADHD can help with attention and impulsivity, addressing self-esteem issues often requires separate therapeutic interventions.

Highlights

ADHD individuals may use strong negative emotions to motivate themselves, as they might not be able to motivate like neurotypicals.

ADHDers are motivated by interest rather than importance and consequences, leading to reliance on anxiety to prioritize tasks.

The book 'Your Brain's Not Broken' by Tamara Rosier discusses how ADHDers use intense negative emotions for motivation.

Anxiety can be used as a tool for ADHD individuals to remember tasks, serving as an antidote to forgetfulness.

Anger is used by some ADHDers to fuel themselves to complete tasks, although it can be unhealthy and lead to exhaustion.

Shame and self-loathing can be intense motivators for ADHD individuals, but at a cost to their mental health.

The negative emotions used by ADHDers are not exclusive to them but are conserved across the human race.

Negative emotions are powerful motivators, often stronger than positive emotions, due to the brain's sensitivity to negative stimuli.

The bias towards negative emotions has evolutionary benefits, as it helps avoid harmful situations.

Cultural conditioning can influence the focus on negative feedback over positive, impacting self-perception.

ADHDers may develop adaptive mechanisms to cope with their symptoms, but these can be harmful in the long term.

The experience of shame and self-loathing in ADHD is not a direct consequence of the disorder but a result of growing up without diagnosis or treatment.

Anger in ADHD is not necessarily an adaptive mechanism but can be a result of emotional dysregulation.

People with ADHD may have difficulty with frustration tolerance, which can lead to anger and emotional outbursts.

The emotional challenges faced by ADHD individuals can lead to a high risk of depression and self-esteem issues.

Treatment for ADHD does not automatically resolve issues like self-loathing and anger, which require independent therapeutic approaches.

The video emphasizes the importance of understanding the connection between ADHD and emotions for effective management.

Transcripts

so for example let's say I get dressed

up and I go to a party and I'm wearing a

fancy dress and nine people walk up to

me and say Dr K that's a beautiful dress

you look great in it you're really

rocking the dress bro and then one

person walks up to me is like you look

absolutely ridiculous what on Earth are

you doing wearing a dress it looks

terrible you all need to hear this ADHD

ears use strong negative emotions to

motivate ourselves so I was reading this

book your brain's not broken by Tamara

Rosier and explains the most effed up

oh whoops

about how adhders motivate themselves

using intense mode emotions since we

can't motivate like neurotypicals as you

know we are motivated by interest rather

than importance and consequences so how

do we get the day-to-day stuff done in

order to function here we go anxiety we

rely on anxiety to tell us what needs to

be done did I lock my car what happened

if I accidentally unlocked it my stuff

would get stolen I can't buy a new one

lock car lock car lock car it is like we

inject strong emotions like fight or

flight into ourselves but the thing is

they can linger after oh wait I just

locked my the car right yeah oh I'm

worried oh gosh and that's mentally

taxing anger getting mad in order to

fuel ourselves to do the task the book

gives an example of this guy whose

mother was angered by his behavior and

when no one else else was around to yell

at me I learned to yell at myself as you

can imagine this is not healthy and it

leads to exhaustion and crankiness shame

and self-loathing an intense feeling of

flawed of unworthy of love to start I

imagine how disappointed my supervisor

would be if I don't finish on time she

will then she will realize she shouldn't

have given me the job in the first place

I have to get this right or I'll screw

up my kids for the rest of their life so

we are rehearsing different ways we are

damaged and competent and stupid there's

more like more in the book but these are

really the top three that I found crazy

we use anxiety anger and shame to fuel

the motivation deficit and neurotypicals

have naturally and it can come at a cost

so I really like this post for a lot of

reasons and there are some things that I

would sort of disagree with the first

thing that I really like is that it

shows how having ADHD and negative

emotions can synergize in some ways what

I dislike about it is that I think it

once again

oversimplifies into attributing all of

these things to ADHD so this isn't just

true of people with ADHD this is true of

everyone where if we kind of think about

it why do human beings have negative

emotions right let's just start there

let's start by recognizing that anxiety

shame and anger are not exclusive to

people with ADHD these are conserved

across the entire human race and why is

that it's because they are very very

useful emotions so in today's society we

tend to think about negative emotions

this is negative right it's like I want

to feel a lot of excitement I want to

feel a lot of Joy I want to feel a lot

of curiosity but I don't want anxiety I

don't want anger I don't want shame

those are bad emotions and those are to

be avoided but let's remember that if

they didn't do something for us we

wouldn't have evolved them and it turns

out that the negative emotions are

actually very very powerful motivators

in fact they're stronger motivators than

positive emotions so let's just

understand that for a sec the first

thing to get is that our brain is more

sensitive to negative things than

positive things this is a bias that's

baked in so for example let's say I get

dressed up and I go to a party and I'm

wearing a fancy dress and nine people

walk up to me and say Dr K that's a

beautiful dress you look great in it

you're really rocking the dress bro and

then one person walks up to mean it's

like you look absolutely ridiculous what

on Earth are you doing wearing a dress

it looks terrible hey Chad subscribing

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subscribe and click a bell now now in my

mind I've got nine compliments and one

person has criticized which one do I

focus on I tend to focus on the

criticism right so I've also seen this

in in especially kids that are South

Asian or East Asian where their parents

will focus on like it doesn't matter

like how much I get right all that

matters is what I didn't get right or

that someone else does a better job than

I do it's like you got 92 on on the test

but our neighbor across the street their

kid got a 98. why can't you get a 98 why

do you have to get a 92 and so even like

culturally or can will be conditioned to

focus on the negative right we'll see

that a lot and so if you kind of think

about this where does this come from I

sort of use food poisoning as a good

example so if we weren't biased towards

the negative like let's say that like I

got food poisoning from eating something

right if I got food poisoning 40 of the

time but it was fine sixty percent of

the time I would be in a lot of trouble

if I kept eating it because even though

technically sixty percent of the time

I'm fine that's more than half on

average it's a good idea for me to eat

but the consequences of making that

negative mistake are so high that even

if you really think about it if you go

to your favorite restaurant you get food

poison once it's actually like hard to

go back there right and so we tend to

see is that the brain is biased towards

the negative that we weigh the negative

more powerfully than the positive and so

what this results in is some of us who

struggle with motivation have one really

powerful tool to motivate ourselves and

that's negative emotion and this isn't

just kids with ADHD so you'll see this

for example in medical students where

some Med students or most Med students

are high on neuroticism so this is one

of the five Factor personality

dimensions and neuroticism is the

tendency to worry and so people may

think like why on Earth would a tendency

to worry be a good thing like why would

we even have people who have a tendency

to worry well it turns out that if

you're worried about failing a test

you're going to study harder and that

fear of failing can make you actually

work harder and actually outperform

people who are kind of chill so on the

one hand we have the paranoid medical

student who's a or paranoid pre-med who

wants to go to medical school and on the

flip side we have our classic Stoner

personality plus or minus marijuana

whatever we've got someone who's like eh

everything will be okay right we're not

even saying that it's marijuana related

we've just got people who are like that

bad that personality and they're like

I'm just chilling like live for today

don't worry about tomorrow everything

works itself out and the pre-med is the

one who gets an a the person who's

pretty chill will get like a B plus B

minus right because on Friday night one

of them's out having a good time the

other one's actually at the library

study so we tend to see is that actually

negative motivators uh what I call the

dirty motivators so I kind of think of

them kind of like nuclear power or like

they harness a bunch of energy but

they're radio active and if you're not

careful they'll damage your life right

you can succeed but you won't be happy

or content in doing so I see that a lot

also in like the fields of like finance

and stuff like that where you'll see a

lot of imposter syndrome so people who

use dirty motivators will be will

experience a lot of imposter syndrome as

well so I'll give you a like let's just

take a quick look at this so if you use

shame or self-loathing oh my God like

I'm gonna do so bad at this let me try

my best even though I'm Unworthy of it

and then you end up feeling damaged and

competent or stupid but you do well

enough in school right because you're

beating yourself up all the time then

you'll actually succeed and you go to

medical school and then it when someone

has used shame and self-loathing to

motivate themselves and they get into

medical school or they wind up in

residency at Harvard what do they end up

feeling like they end up feeling like an

imposter an imposter is someone who has

shame and self-loathing on the inside

but performs well on the outside and

we're seeing a growing level of imposter

syndrome across society as a whole and I

think part of the reason for that is

because we're using shame and

self-loathing as motivator now out of

these three specific things I think the

anxiety one is the best that's ADHD

specific so the anxiety one really

illustrates how we can use anxiety as an

antidote to forgetfulness so in the

brain of someone who's got ADHD they're

highly distractible they also tend to be

forgetful but really if you look at it

it's not that they have memory problems

it's that they have attentional problems

so when I I forgot where my keys are

it's not that I knew where my keys are

and then my I had a memory problem what

actually happens is I'm not paying

attention when I put them down so it's

this is this is important to understand

but it's not the recall that is impaired

with people with ADHD it's the insertion

of the information it's the like you

know it we don't write it to the hard

drive well enough like that's where the

real problem is it's inattention not a

lack of not really a memory problem but

we can still see how anxiety can be an

antidote to that so when I'm anxious

if I've trained my brain to be paranoid

then I won't forget because I'm always

worrying about it because what can

protect me against forgetting if I'm

always worried about it and even if it's

okay I've trained myself to always worry

because I can't trust my memory so I'm

always worrying always wearing always

worrying and this is what you see in

people with ADHD is that they develop

adaptive mechanisms which are harmful to

them over the long term so this is why

for example ADHD people with ADHD have a

very high risk of depression children

with ADHD have a very high risk of

depression developing major depressive

disorder later in life so these kids

grow up and they struggle in school they

forget all the time things like that

they develop some self-esteem issues so

that too I think this isn't directly a

consequence of ADHD this is usually what

happens when you have a kid with ADHD is

they look around at other kids and they

realize I'm just as smart as these other

kids are they're told by their teachers

they're told by parents you're so smart

you have so much potential so they I

know I've got the IQ but then I can't

perform in school so I can't get an A

because I get distracted I can't pay

attention it's a really classic case

that I kind of think of which is that

teacher asks the kid are you paying

attention answer the question and the

kid wasn't paying attention they look

around they see a problem on the board

they look around everyone's looking at

them okay we're in math class there's a

problem on the board I see that these

other three problems have answers this

one doesn't have an answer let me answer

that question okay this is the answer

and they say it the teacher kind of

looks at them with skepticism writes the

answer on the board and moves on this

inattention makes it very difficult to

function in school everyone recognizes

your potential but you don't live up to

it and then everyone says oh you should

just try harder doesn't apply himself

doesn't apply herself doesn't live up to

her full potential and so then what

happens is you start to feel broken if

you have ADHD because you recognize that

I'm just as smart as these kids when I

pay attention I'm able to learn just as

fast as they do but I'm not able to pay

attention and no one recognizes that my

problem is a lack of attention it's it's

like exactly what happens imagine a

child who goes to school is super smart

but needs glasses and can't read because

they don't have glasses how would that

child feel about themselves if no one

recognized that oh the problems of the

kid needs glasses the child would

stumble adapt do all kinds of stuff to

just be average they exert so much

effort to just perform at an average

level and they end up feeling terrible

about themselves because what they see

is I'm trying hard I try hard every

single day I'm trying so so hard and if

the best I can do is average how screwed

up must I be because everyone says I

could do great but I can't do great and

I'm trying so hard so they develop

self-living now is this a direct

consequence of ADHD D I don't think so I

think this is the consequence of

untreated undiagnosed and untreated ADHD

and growing up in that situation so this

is important to understand that you've

got to differentiate those out a little

bit and the reason that's important is

because once you treat the ADHD some of

this may go away but this won't a

stimulant medication isn't going to fix

this this needs independent treatment

right in Psychotherapy or something like

that now anger is a really interesting

example because we do know for example

that emotional dysregulation is common

in people with ADHD people with ADHD can

sometimes have low frustration tolerance

they can kind of perseverate and if they

get Disturbed they can respond with

anger there's some evidence that given

the same stimuli people with ADHD will

feel more anger but that once again I

think you've got to be kind of careful

because I don't know that that's

necessarily an Adaptive mechanism like

the other two I think sometimes people

with ADHD just experience more anger and

frustration and have difficulty with

frustration tolerance that has something

to do with probably the way that their

frontal lobes strong struggle to inhibit

the negative emotional circuitry in the

brain so for a neurotypical person if I

experience some amount of anger there's

another part of my brain that's like

telling me okay calm down take a deep

breath let's not lose control and that's

the part of the brain that really

doesn't function very well in people

with ADHD or some people with ADHD now

what all human beings will tend to do in

that situation is like if I'm going to

be angry anyway let's make the most of

it so people with ADHD will develop some

adaptive strategies but I think anger is

a little bit different just to kind of

summarize I think it's really

unfortunate but oftentimes people with

ADHD will experience high levels of

negative emotion in the case of anxiety

sometimes that's almost an Adaptive

mechanism to make up for being forgetful

distractible or not paying attention to

things other examples of the negative

emotions they experience aren't

necessarily adaptations per se but are

consequences of frequently growing up

without a diagnosis or treatment of ADHD

and the important thing there is that if

we say that self-loathing is a part of

the Ada HD then treating the ADHD should

fix the self-loathing but in my

experience as a clinician it doesn't

work like that that you can treat the

ADHD but you need to deal with the

self-esteem and self-loathing

independently the last emotion is anger

which in my experience a lot of times

people just get dysregulated very easily

I don't know that it's necessarily

adaptive maybe a portion of that is

adaptive but understand that part of

ADHD is to be unable to regulate your

emotions and then as most people with

ADH do they'll adapt to those

circumstances as best they can maybe use

that anger to manage social situations

maybe use that anger to even beat

themselves up a little bit and then what

we do know is that people tend to

internalize the dialogue that is used

with them that has nothing to do with

ADHD that's just how we all work so you

can take a kid in an abusive situation

where they have ADHD or don't have ADHD

if they're given abusive language they

will internalize those thoughts and have

self-esteem problems later at the end of

the day I do think it's really really

important to understand the connection

between ADHD and emotions and hopefully

we've sort of Illustrated that a little

bit today if you found this video

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