Do you ever feel like your emotions are dialled up to 100?

This week, we’re making friends with our feelings alongside the brilliant mental health professional Lucy Hine, from Have A Word.

We explore the intense emotional landscape of ADHD and ask: are our feelings really just bigger, or is there more going on beneath the surface?

Lucy shares her own journey of self-discovery, revealing how childhood illness and understanding her ADHD has shaped her life – from a late diagnosis to redefining her emotional world.

We chat about the connection between trauma and neurodivergence, and the bumpy but beautiful road to self-acceptance. As Lucy shares: "It’s my ADHD that makes me different, because nobody has a brain like me and perceives the world or the situation like me."

Ever felt like your emotional reactions don’t quite “fit” the situation? You’re not alone. We dive into emotional intensity, dysregulation, and how these patterns can show up in relationships. Could our sensitivity even shape who we attract?

We also explore the importance of emotional self-awareness, co-regulation (especially in parenting), and gentle strategies for tuning into your feelings with curiosity, not judgment.

Ready to embrace your emotional world instead of battling it? This episode is for you.

Find out more about Lucy here.

Do you feel like you’re either up or down and never in the middle!? Do you tune in with your emotions and express them, or bottle them up?

In this episode of the Unconventional Business Podcast, join me to talk all things emotions. We get stuck into the emotional experience of ADHD - the highs, the lows and everything in between! Emotional regulation can be tricky for ADHDers and I want to shed some light on some of the key ingredients of the feelings cocktail, including the impact of your brain function, co-occuring conditions, difficulties identifying emotions - and just being a human in today’s world!

In this ep, I offer a more empowering alternative to emotional regulation, centred around accepting and making space for emotions rather than trying to regulate them (and feeling like a failure when that feels impossible!) I also talk through some practical strategies for managing emotions include crying, movement, singing, journaling, and seeking support from friends or therapists.

Ultimately, I want to encourage you to view your ADHD as a difference rather than a deficit. Embracing your emotional experiences rather than trying to control or ‘regulate’ them is actually the key to flattening your ’spiky graph’ and living a calmer, more peaceful life.

• Book recommendation: https://www.pepitasandwich.com/the-art-of-crying
• Podcast recommendation: https://revealmarketinguk.com/podcast-episodes/drug-free-adhd
  

References:

• The ADHD Brain - more on the Prefrontal Cortex, Emotional Regulation & Behaviour https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-brain-prefrontal-cortex-attention-emotions/?srsltid=AfmBOooXeGXUINYRRiTXMb85y7UHviYsrDqLp4sJiT0nTMOAPKUWndmA
• ADHD & Brain Differences, particularly the Amygdala https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26964869/
• ADHD & Co-occuring conditions (Co-morbidity): https://www.additudemag.com/when-its-not-just-adhd/?srsltid=AfmBOoojIZwBYdUY-NuG5-_LwscBCrRd_6sFP-If7U_Tw3Fmvip6C5pG
• Alexythmia https://theconversation.com/alexithymia-why-some-people-find-it-so-hard-to-identify-emotions-and-how-this-affects-them-240480
• Emotional tears & their differences: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-microscopic-structures-of-dried-human-tears-180947766/

Tired of the same old advice that just doesn’t work for your ADHD brain?

Joseph Pack, founder of Drug-Free ADHD, is here to shake things up! In this eye-opening episode, we explore the world of the ADHD mind. We discuss why controlling our thoughts can be a losing battle, the magic of non-duality, and how to quiet the ADHD mind without medication.

Joseph shares his journey from a chaotic school experience to a life-changing ADHD diagnosis following a series of seizures and how he discovered the power of meditation as an alternative to medication. Yes - it turns out ADHDers can meditate!

We also dive into unconventional ADHD management approaches, including why traditional methods, like breathwork, meditation and CBT, often fall flat for our busy minds.

If you're ready to challenge everything you thought you knew about ADHD and meditation, this episode is for you!

You can find out more about Joseph and his services here. I highly recommend signing up for his newsletter, too.