u/Fair_Ad4417

I (25F) am not new to therapy but am new to the IFS side of it. My new therapist and I have been working on it since April. I have anxiety and ADHD and a strong inner critic, which heightens any abandonment worries/struggles I have and produces a lot of shame about myself and my life.

My therapist and I are pretty open regarding how I’m feeling during this work and have had to tweak the cadence of it at times to better fit how it’s affecting me. However, with being so new to it and not knowing anyone else who does it, I’m a little shocked by how emotionally dysregulated I feel during these months.

My partner and I agree I’m getting better with this work and that it’s a net plus, but it seems like my moods can fluctuate so rapidly in a day and I tend to almost cry more easily now.

Have other people experienced this same thing while doing this work? For instance, I’ll feel on top of the world realizing the progress I’m making but then later that day I get slammed with so much emotion and ruminating thoughts that I feel like I’m gonna have a mental breakdown. It almost feels like I’m constantly on the verge of a huge mental breakdown for some reason and the world around me doesn’t seem as optimistic

I (25F) was diagnosed with ADHD late last year after a lot of testing. I’ve probably had it my whole life, but my parents didn’t realize how differently it can show up in women, so it wasn’t caught until now.

Around the time I was diagnosed I was also in the middle of moving, and my primary care doctor honestly hasn’t been much help. I have an appointment with a new doctor next week, but for the most part I’ve been figuring things out on my own (with some help from my therapist).

Overall, medication has been a really positive change. I’m on a low dose of Adderall XR, and it’s helped so much with my focus and has also made it easier to stop ruminating during the day (I have anxiety too). I’ve just been learning how to deal with the comedown as it wears off.

One thing I’ve noticed is that alcohol seems to make that comedown way more intense.

I’m not a big drinker. Most of the time I’ll have one or two drinks at dinner or an event and I’m totally fine aside from my normal medication comedown. But on the rare nights my friends want to go out to bars (maybe once a month), even if I only have about four drinks over five hours, it’s like someone flips a switch. I’ll be having a great time, and then all of a sudden I feel like I’m on the verge of a breakdown and my thoughts start spiraling, which I’m assuming is when the comedown hits.

I’m definitely planning to ask my new doctor about it next week, but I was curious if anyone else has experienced something similar and has non medical ways of learning to cope with these comedowns. I don’t really know many people with ADHD, so I’d love to hear other people’s experiences.