ADHD, Autism, And Emotions

Why neurodivergent folks often struggle with dysregulation

Emotional Dysregulation

Why do Autistics and people with ADHD seem to get worked up so easily?

Why do we seem to be more “sensitive” than others, more emotional, or hot-tempered?

Well, it’s actually pretty complicated…

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Never enough

I mean, we’re constantly told we’re “too” this, “not enough” that, or somehow doing things wrong.

We also frequently find ourselves in environments where others don’t “get” us.

Like, at all.

They don’t understand our needs or communication.

They don’t understand executive dysfunction and why it makes things so difficult.

People are always telling us we just need to “try harder”.

And that’s just the beginning…

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Neurological differences

In addition to those social and environmental challenges, we also have neurological differences which impact our ability to regulate our emotions.

People with Autism and ADHD (and other divergent neurotypes) have less effective communication between our Prefrontal Cortex (PFC — the control centre of the brain) and our limbic centre, which is primarily responsible for emotions.

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The PFC is the part of the brain which helps us slow down and think things through before acting, while the limbic system is primarily responsible for our emotional responses.

When we’re calm and regulated, our limbic system and frontal lobes are communicating well, and our Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) has things under control. This means we don’t get overwhelmed by our emotions because we can use logic and reason to process and work through whatever comes our way.

When we’re stressed, scared, angry, or dysregulated, our PFC “stands down” to allow our more basic reflexes and responses to take over.

This happens more easily in Autistics and ADHDers because these processes are already less efficient, and because we often encounter increased daily stressors due to the incompatibility between our needs and our environments.