ADHD Symptoms in Adults and Holiday Expectations.

Managing holiday expectations (our scripts) can minimize the impact of ADHD symptoms in Adults.

With the long commercial ramp-up to the holiday season comes the retail decorations and music blitz just after Halloween.

Beautiful holiday decorating ideas and cable specials, invites to parties (“please bring 12 dozen of your favorite cookies to share at the annual neighborhood cookie exchange”), school performances, church pageants, getting the decorations up, gifts purchased and wrapped (mailed too?) can be overwhelming.

Then there’s the immediate food planning, shopping and preparation. That’s on top of the everyday stuff we have to manage.

In homes where ADHD is a factor, the “ho, ho, ho” can quickly become a high-pitched scream of frustration, sadness and anger.

After years of dealing with this myself, I offer a few suggestions for better managing ADHD symptoms in Adults during the holidays.

 

I can remember many celebrations with family when my then sister-in-law would start to fume within an hour of our arrival. By the end of our visit (we had to travel and spend a night or two) she had morphed into a screaming maniac. Why? She had a script (in her head) about how her perfect holiday celebration would come off, but hadn’t shared it with the rest of us. It’s really not that uncommon an occurrence, but when you throw ADHD into the mix, out goes the script, and in comes a lot of improvising.

Potential landmines of emotional energy are lurking at every corner. Lots of excitement, stress, overwhelm and lack of sleep are like logs on the fire. Some simmer, while others immediately burst into flames and have to be addressed immediately.

On the other hand, a little surprise here and there (thoughtfully created and executed) can bring in an unexpected element of fun. Just make sure that you are reading the situation right and are aware of the schedule of events and expectations before hand.

In other words, this is a great time to practice your self-regulation and coping skills. Think ahead about what has worked well for you in the past, and what hasn’t. Write it down and keep it handy for a quick review over the next couple of weeks. Whenever you feel stressed, or are starting to feel like people (your partner especially) are being overly critical or short with you, it’s time to review the list and self-correct.