Breaking Out of ADHD Relationship Dysfunction—After Not Breaking a Fall

This podcast is the audio version of a popular post at the ADHD Roller Coaster:  Breaking Out of ADHD Relationship Dysfunction—After Not Breaking A Fall

In this story, I share with you some hard lessons learned.  My hope is this might help you to smooth your roller coaster ride. More fun. Less whiplash!

[Please note; the first release of this podcast contained an error. I have fixed! Apologies!]

Here’s how ADHD couple conflicts typically develop —and become entrenched:

1. You’re several years into a relationship before discovering that one or both of you have ADHD.
2. By that time, you both have developed misinterpretations of the other’s behavior and counter-productive coping responses.
3. Not to forget: the lifelong misattributions and poor coping of the newly diagnosed ADHD partner, since childhood.
4. Entrenched assumptions and knee-jerk emotional reactions can perpetuate dysfunctional patterns—and exacerbate them over time.

Once there’s a diagnosis and maybe medication on board, it can still take enormous effort to overcome these automatic mindsets and reactions. Especially if you don’t know what they are or how to do it.

Moreover, how do you distinguish ADHD symptoms, which should respond to medication, from these entrenched poor coping responses?  This is an often-overlooked essential challenge. In my long-held observation, it’s why even the best attempts at medication don’t create results folks are hoping for.  It's also why therapy seldom works as well as it should.

I’ve tackled this and other essential topics for years, in my writing and in my presentations to the public and clinicians, from San Francisco to Turkey.

Now you can find ADHD couple interventions in my online training.  For more information: Solving Your Adult ADHD Puzzle

The hard truth is this: The mental-health profession has not caught up to Adult ADHD.  There are pockets of expertise but they are few and far between. Moreover, getting traction can take years, 50-minute session by session.

My program speeds your learning curve and gets you on solid ground.

In this podcast I mention another popular post/podcast:

ADHD, Empathy,  and Dopamine: A Study, Book Excerpt, and Definition (blog post)

ADHD, Empathy,  and Dopamine: A Study, Book Excerpt, and Definition (podcast)