As someone only recently starting treatment, I'm curious about your experiences in regulating emotions as part of adhd.

I learned not too long ago about the rejection sensitivity that is often associated with the disorder, which is something I never knew about before. Despite having been treated for social anxiety.

I've often found emotions in general to come and go fairly unpredictably, with what often seems like disproportionate intensity. In ways which can sometimes leave me feeling unable to function or cope.

• I never seem to find emotional consistency long-term - I ebb and flow through periods of contentment, happiness, and confidence, sometimes finding myself in a sudden cascade of anxiety and depression. Feeling overwhelmed, disoriented, disconnected, disrupted.
• I also easily forget how I felt not long ago - when I'm happy, I forget what it truly felt like to be depressed or anxious; when I'm anxious or depressed, I forget what it felt like to be content or happy. This can sometimes be on the very same day.

The other thing I've noticed is that quite often, when strong emotions take hold for me, they will not go.

• Like a fixation or hyper-focus on the emotion, unwilling to let go until it is resolved. Even when there is no solution other than acceptance.
• Where I can't seem to switch my attention to anything else for very long, other than by thinking about and feeling the emotion almost constantly for long periods of time.
• In some ways, my emotions don't usually seem to get worked out or resolved, they just fade away over time.

The strange thing is that I always know the rational, reasonable thoughts to tell myself. I don't struggle too much with (consciously) countering emotional thoughts and feelings, or putting them into context and perspective. But this doesn't stop them from hitting me in a way which seems to bear little relation to how I 'think'.

• I know emotions aren't necessarily rational, but I wonder whether what I described sounds familiar to any of you?

Side note - sometimes in situations involving (even minor) personal confrontation or moderately-heated arguments, I struggle to maintain composure.

• I can get overwhelmed, my voice trembles, I feel close to tears. I can't think calmly enough to form coherent sentences or collect my thoughts. Sort of like an anxiety attack driven by a strong emotional reaction.
• I've always noted this a strange feeling, and wondered why it didn't seem to happen to everyone else, and felt vaguely embarrassed about it - as if I was over-reacting and not being able to keep things in perspective, taking things too personally. I mean, those things might appear true, in a literal sense, but they didn't reflect the way I think or really feel about the situation. It's a reaction that often feels beyond my control, despite being aware (even as it's happening) that it is unhelpful, irrational and unjustified.

I guess I just want to know if any of you relate to this, and if so, what do you do about it? Both in general, and when going through events that might be emotionally difficult for anyone - a breakup, for example?

tl;dr -

• My emotions often seem disproportionately intense, unpredictable, and inconsistent.
  
• When strong emotions take hold for me, they will not go. I struggle to shift my focus and attention elsewhere while I try to somehow resolve or process how I'm feeling.
  
• They often seem disconnected from and unaffected by my conscious thoughts.
  
• Feeling overwhelmed and intensely emotional during personal confrontations?
  
• Do you relate?
  
• How do you cope?
  

alternatively:
'my emotions'