Emotional dysregulation, difficulty with controlling your emotional reactions, is a mental health symptom associated with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
People with ADHD often benefit from a combination of medication management and talk therapy. Working with a therapist offers a safe and secure environment to challenge negative thoughts, develop healthier coping strategies, and increase emotional awareness.
Additionally, there are several practical strategies that can help adults with ADHD manage their emotional responses and improve their overall well-being. These include mindfulness-based interventions, self-care, and regular physical activity.
Emotional dysregulation is very common in adults with ADHD. It means having intense emotions that feel hard to manage or control — like anger, frustration, sadness, or anxiety that seems to come on fast and fade slowly. Instead of being able to calm down or respond in healthy ways, you might feel like your emotions take over in the moment.
Anyone can experience emotional ups and downs, but this kind of emotional intensity affects an estimated 30% to 70% of adults with ADHD. Experts believe it’s linked to differences in how the ADHD brain processes and regulates emotions.
Learning how to understand and manage these emotions can make daily life feel more stable and less overwhelming. With the right tools and support, you can build more balance and confidence in how you respond to challenges.
Signs of emotional dysregulation in people with ADHD
People with ADHD tend to experience strong emotional reactions. And in many cases, the reaction is disproportionate to the situation.
For example, most people would view misplaced car keys as a minor inconvenience. But for someone with emotional dysregulation, missing keys can lead to angry outbursts and extreme frustration.
Other signs of ADHD emotional dysregulation include:
Impulsivity
Frequent tears
Intense emotional reactions
Trouble managing anger and frustration
Being prone to anxiety, depression, or mood swings
Trouble getting out of negative moods
Trouble making decisions
Examples of emotional dysregulation in ADHD
Emotional dysregulation can show up in everyday life — especially when you’re stressed, tired, or overstimulated.
Here are a few examples of emotional dysregulation in ADHD:
At work: You might take feedback personally, overreact to minor mistakes, or feel embarrassed long after a small slip-up.
In relationships: You may get angry or withdraw quickly during conflict, or feel hurt if someone seems distant or distracted.
During decision-making: You might make impulsive choices when emotions run high — like quitting a project out of frustration or overspending to feel better.
Recognizing these patterns is the first step toward building more emotional control and self-compassion.
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Four ways for people with ADHD to regulate their emotions
Knowing how to effectively manage your emotional responses can help improve your overall well-being, leading to more satisfying interpersonal relationships and a greater sense of personal achievement.
Below are practical tips and strategies to help adults with ADHD learn how to improve their emotional regulation skills.
1. Acknowledge your emotions
Naming your emotions can help you identify what you’re feeling and reduce the intensity of negative emotions. For example, if you’re feeling “bad,” try to describe the feeling as clearly and specifically as you can. Are you actually feeling something closer to anger, sadness, frustration, or shame? By taking a moment to analyze that emotion, you’re better prepared to process it in a way that changes its emotional impact.
2. Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness-based interventions — including yoga, meditation, and body scans — may help reduce ADHD symptoms, including emotional dysregulation, in both children and adults. And one study found that meditating for 13 minutes per day for 8 weeks helped improve emotional regulation and mood.
3. Remember self-care
Self-care means making time to nurture your mental, physical, and emotional health. In addition to a balanced diet, sufficient sleep, and regular exercise, think of other ways to create calmness and mental clarity.
For example, listening to music can help people with ADHD regulate their emotions and improve overall functioning when combined with other forms of treatment. Other self-care ideas include mood journaling and spending time with close friends. If you struggle with impulsivity and distractibility, creating a regular self-care routine can help life feel a bit more manageable.
4. Move your body
Most healthcare professionals will agree that regular physical activity is important for overall wellness, but this is particularly true for people with ADHD who might be prone to emotional dysregulation. Exercise has been shown to improve people’s mood, memory, and ability to manage their emotions.
Some research shows that a combination of aerobic jogging and mindfulness-based yoga, in particular, is effective for emotional regulation. But if you don’t consider yourself a runner or a yogi, there are plenty of other ways to get quality exercise.
Helping children with ADHD and emotional dysregulation
Having a child or young family member with emotional dysregulation and ADHD can be overwhelming without access to the right resources and education. Here are some tips to help caregivers support their children’s emotional health and development.
Create and enforce boundaries and routines to help provide consistency and stability.
Help them understand their feelings by modeling emotional self-control and encouraging them to discuss feelings when they come up.
Offer patience and positive feedback as they learn to manage emotional outbursts.
Practice deep breathing to help the entire family calm down during difficult or distressing moments.
Consider your child’s developmental level when responding to their emotional reactions. Regulating emotions is a skill children learn and then need to practice as they continue to progress developmentally.
Seek professional support as soon as you notice symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity, or emotional dysregulation. Early intervention can make a significant difference in a child’s mental health outcomes.
Treatment for ADHD and emotional dysregulation
Many adults with ADHD benefit from a combination of medication management and talk therapy. ADHD medications are designed to reduce hyperactivity and impulsivity symptoms and improve people’s ability to focus. But while medication improves symptoms on a chemical level, talk therapy equips people with the necessary skills to create healthy change in their lives.
Therapy can teach people how to challenge negative thoughts, develop healthier coping strategies, and increase emotional awareness. People with ADHD often have co-occurring conditions, such as anxiety and depression, and therapy can help address those concerns as well.
While the exact type of therapy will depend on your therapist’s recommendation and your unique needs, many people with ADHD and emotional dysregulation benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).
Living with ADHD often means feeling emotions more intensely and having a harder time calming down once they’re triggered. That’s what emotional dysregulation looks like — your feelings can shift fast and hit hard. The hopeful part is that with awareness and practice, you can learn to pause, understand your emotions, and respond instead of react.
Brandy Chalmers, LPC
Clinical reviewer
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ADHD can cause a wide range of mental and behavioral symptoms, including emotional dysregulation. The good news is that recognizing the signs of emotional dysregulation is the first step in learning how to manage your emotions, understand your behaviors, and improve your overall well-being.
When you feel ready to seek professional help, Rula is here to help you find a therapist to meet your unique needs. With our therapist-matching platform, you can find a provider who takes your insurance and is available to meet with you as soon as tomorrow — all from the comfort of home on our secure virtual platform.
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Alex Bachert
Alex Bachert is a freelance copywriter and mental health advocate. Since earning her masters degree in public health, she has focused her career on creating informative content that empowers people to prioritize their health and well-being. Alex has partnered with organizations like Ro, WellTheory, and Firsthand, and her work has been recognized by the Digital Health Association.
When she’s not writing about mental health, Alex is usually playing pickleball, meeting with her local board of health, or enjoying time with her three kids.
Elise Miller, MA, LPC
Elise received her Masters in Professional Counseling from Liberty University and went on to become a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor in Texas and Colorado. She has served in many facets of the mental health field including inpatient psychiatric hospitals, intensive outpatient programs, hospice, and mental health tech. She is currently working as an outpatient therapist in private practice.
Elise is also a mom of three little ones and brings this experience into her counseling work with fellow moms. Elise’s work comes from a place of deep compassion and lived experience along with her extensive training and specialization.
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