ADHD with Jenna Free8 Sep 2025

24: ADHD Overstimulation vs Dysregulation: How to Tell the Difference

If noise and bright lights leave you irritable and desperate to leave, and you can't tell whether you're overstimulated or dysregulated, this episode sorts out the difference. ADHD overstimulation comes from your surroundings and eases when you change them, while dysregulation follows you onto the couch during a quiet family movie. This is for the ADHDer who wants to get through the mall or a loud afternoon at home without losing their patience.

I talk about how sensory overload and a nervous system stuck in fight-or-flight feed each other, why accepting that you're overstimulated has to come before any tool, and which coping strategies for ADHD overstimulation help in the moment, like earplugs and sunglasses indoors. I also cover how to ask for what you need without waiting for everyone to understand, and why nervous system regulation for ADHD makes you harder to trigger over time.

00:00 – Overstimulation vs. Dysregulation: What's the Difference?

01:10 – Understanding Sensory Overload in ADHD

03:08 – What Is ADHD Dysregulation? Nervous System Explained.

09:29 – Immediate Tools: Coping with ADHD Overstimulation

20:51 – Regulation Work: The Long-Term Solution for ADHD

Check out the show notes and other resources at https://jennafree.com/blog/adhd-overstimulation-vs-dysregulation

Let's stay connected!

You can get your free ADHD Reset Guide here: adhdwithjennafree.com/adhdguide

Want to thrive with ADHD? Come hang out with me on Instagram!

Get out of paralysis, be more productive, and enjoy your life again! Join an upcoming group!

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(82)

81: Is AI Helping or Hurting ADHDers?

You use AI to get your swirling thoughts out of your head, so why do you still feel rushed and behind? If you've been handed one more tool for your ADHD and the overwhelm and rushing haven't eased, th...

26 Okt 24min

80: Why Is ADHD So Hard? What Regulation Can Change About Your Symptoms

You keep wondering why ADHD is so hard when everyone around you makes it look like a simple brain difference, and you're tired of wondering if you're just bad at life. If you've spent years blaming yo...

12 Okt 24min

79: 4 Reasons Behind ADHD People Pleasing

You keep saying yes when you mean no, then spend the rest of the day resentful about something you agreed to in the first place. If you've been told your ADHD people-pleasing is a boundaries problem, ...

28 Sep 23min

78: How to Regulate with ADHD When Tips and Tricks Don't Work

You've been told to take a deep breath and get regulated, and it didn't stick, so you're stuck wondering what you're missing. If tips and tricks have stopped working, this episode is for you. I get in...

21 Sep 26min

77: ADHD Time Blindness: How to Stop Fighting the Clock

Your relationship with time feels broken, and you've probably filed it under ADHD time blindness and left it there. If rushing, scrambling, and never having enough time has started to feel permanent, ...

14 Sep 19min

76: 3 Reasons to Set Your ADHD Diagnosis Aside

You know the label. ADHD, anxiety, OCD, autism, whatever you have been diagnosed with. You know the symptom, and it still hasn't changed anything. If a diagnosis has started to feel like a wall instea...

7 Sep 18min

75: Scarcity Mindset in ADHD: Why Nothing Feels Like Enough

You've screenshotted the same tip four times and still feel like you're behind. Or you finish the whole to-do list, and your brain zeroes in on the one thing left undone. If that constant sense of not...

31 Aug 16min

74: Stop the Confusion Between ADHD Emotions and Reactivity

You've been calling it "being emotional" for years, and it's kept you stuck. Or you're a clinician who lumps every client reaction into the same emotional bucket without separating what's really drivi...

24 Aug 24min