In the midst of wrenching loss, many of us get the message from our culture or from those around us that we’re doing it wrong. Ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief are both ways that social and cultural expectations add complexity to our grief experiences. 

Sleep is indisputably a cornerstone of good mental health. If you have the core aspects of sleep hygiene all dialed in and you’re still struggling to fall asleep, there are a few more things you can try.

As estrogen levels (and therefore dopamine levels) fluctuate throughout a woman’s life, the symptoms and severity of her ADHD may change as well. Instead of a “set it and forget it” approach to their ADHD, women may need more awareness of what’s going on in their bodies, more tools, and more proactive ADHD management.

The feelings wheel can help guide us from our general feeling down into the specific experience we are having. And knowing what’s really going on inside can help us see what we might need in that moment.

Things will go wrong; outcomes won’t match intentions. In the face of the many challenges ADHD presents, self-compassion is essential.

Let’s not let uncertainty or self-consciousness stop us from showing up for the people we love or care about.

Guilt will have us denying our needs and our inner knowing, but remorse will never lead us astray.

Today we have a much better picture of ADHD as a broader challenge with self-regulation, rather than specifically a deficit of attention and/or hyperactivity.

If we are not informed and intentional about how we sit with our feelings, we can end up just stewing in them and staying stuck, or ruminating and reinforcing a harmful belief.

Most of us, even those of us with the most loving and well-meaning caregivers and teachers, did not receive an emotional education. We learned to use a fork, to tie our shoes, to read and tell time. To share and to wait our turn. But not about the anger of having to share, or the frustration of waiting, or the embarrassment of being the last to read.