Many couples impacted by ADHD have been able to improve their relationships using techniques known to improve both ADHD management and responses to ADHD symptoms. Pandemic stressors are turning all of that on its head. What’s going on, and what can you do about it to keep from going back to the bad old days?
Your styles have always been different, but now that matters a lot more. Advice for couples struggling with suddenly finding themselves together 24/7, including ideas for making all that time together easier…even happy.
With more than the usual numbers of commitments, the holidays can be stressful. Here are some tips for lessening the tension and upping the joy factor.
Don't let ADHD get in the way of having fun connecting again on a staycation. This post augments a recent NY Times article to make it more relevant for couples impacted by ADHD.
In my last post I wrote about 7 reasons partners lie, hoping this might help you better understand the lying that you or your partner might be doing…and even that lying can be rational, even as it is not healthy for the two of you. Now it’s time to explore a more nuanced understanding of the ways that lying hurts you and your relationship. My hope is that once I lay this out for you, partners who are inclined to think lying is ‘not such a big deal’ or that they only tell ‘little white lies’ will reconsider. Lying, as it turns out, hurts THEM as much as it hurts the relationship.
People with ADHD can be easily overwhelmed – by too much to do, procrastination, and even by sensory overload. If you are easily overwhelmed in the holidays, here are some ideas that could help:
Yes, that sounds like a sales pitch...but it's not. Happiness is good for our brains and good for handling stress better - in marriages, if you are feeling upbeat you are more likely to be able to take some bumps in the road. If you're feeling down, pretty much everything seems grim. Here's a link to a UTube TED talk on happiness that will not only make you laugh out loud, it also has a very important message about happiness. I urge you to watch it...and also to try two exercises.
When you're trying repeatedly to get an ADHD spouse to "respond" to your requests it's hard not to get into nagging mode. But non-ADHD spouses need to avoid chronic nagging patterns if they are to be successful, happy partners. This is much harder than it sounds.
