Emotional Regulation for Individuals with ADHD

Emotional regulation can be difficult for those of us with ADHD so developing a range of strategies, can help us to find calm in the moment. It’s a process and something we can teach younger individuals to do so they can learn skills for life.

Check out the following ideas to help you regulate your emotions.

Music or Dance – Movement helps us regulate any excess energy

Try the following ideas.

Read a similar post on how music benefits those of us with ADHD

head to nature as it has a calming effect on us

Heading to any form of nature can have a dramatic effect on how we feel. Schedule in breaks that involve nature of some sort. Head to a local park, beach, river, go bushwalking, take a bike ride, or just do anything that involves getting away from buildings and stuff. Check out how nature can help us in this infographic:

sensory ideas – do something with our hands

Doing something with our hands helps to relieve any tension or built up energy. We have hands and fingers that like to be busy so find something constructive to do with them. If you’re into creative stuff, gravitate towards that. If you’re not that creative or haven’t found your creative genius yet, use a fidget toy or object to keep those hands busy.

Find some ideas below:

Deep breathing from the tummy

Breathing is the one thing we can control. Focus on breathing from the tummy. Start with 4 seconds but breathe in and out for longer if possible. Keep trying.

Check out these ideas below:

• focus attention on inhaling and exhaling
• do this sitting or standing
• breathe in for 6 seconds and out for 6 seconds
• focus on the breath to bring us back in to the present moment
• use an app to help us stay on track
• spend 5 minutes a day becoming aware of our breath with no external distractions

mindful stories for relaxation, focus & calm

Mindful stories are great for taking our attention off one thing and placing it on something else, even if it’s just for a short bit. Mindful stories are a form of guided meditation and can help relieve tension, anxiety, and even improve sleep in some of us.

YouTube is good for visual stories but they can also be done via an app such as ‘Insight Timer’ or ‘Smiling Mind’.

These apps are free, while others start with a free trial, followed by a monthly or yearly subscription. It’s often beneficial to just purchase the yearly subscription as it can come with more features and the ability to download or work without WIFI. These kinds of visualisations are good for both adults and children. I use them during the day but mostly for sleep.

Doing something creative can help provide an outlet

When we’re overwhelmed, it can be hard to express our needs or how we’re feeling. Some individuals may also not have the communication or verbal skills to tell us what they need or how they feel. If we relate this to ourselves, it can be difficult even to talk to someone while we’re in a heightened state.

Recording how we feel helps get it out of our head and onto paper. Throwing ourselves into something creative can help take our mind off whatever problem or situation we are currently facing, and into something productive. If you’re not super creative, try colouring, or something similar.

Five-Finger Breathing to slow down our breathing in the moment

This technique is good to try if we are on our own and just want to slow our breathing down a bit. Give it a try to see if it works for you.

Resources to help with emotional regulation & the building of skills

If you’re keen on improving your life skills, check out my products for adults with ADHD. I create the information in bite-sized chunks to make it easy to follow so it’s not so overwhelming. The feedback I’ve received from my resources is that they also help provide motivation to make a start on changing behaviour or starting a positive habit.

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