One of the hallmark behavior issues of people with ADHD is impulsivity: we can be reactive the our emotions in the moment, taking action before we fully consider it.
Impulsivity leads to behaviors like interrupting, binge eating, over-working, over-exercising, purchasing things you don’t need, and risk-taking behavior.
Many people don’t realize that ADHD isn’t just a behavioral issue. It also has a large emotional component.
Impulsivity is actually an effect of allowing emotions to run the show.
There’s another side to this impulsivity that gets less attention.
That’s when emotion shuts down action. Instead of taking impulsive action, the effect is to freeze and take no action.
I am naming this pattern Emotional Dissonance.
Emotional Dissonance is when the energy of how you feel in the moment is disconnected from the energy you associate with the action you need or want to take.
The result is not taking action at all.
It’s the opposite of impulsivity.
In the case of emotional dissonance, action (or non-action) are being directed by emotion around a current state rather than a bigger picture view of the situation.
A Curse of Presence
In a weird way, it’s almost like a curse of presence.
In this state, you can’t see back to the past or forward to future; you can only feel into the present emotional state.
Everything is in the now.
Finding a Way Out
Sometimes, just naming what’s happening is enough to help us see away out of it.
When we can name that we are in a state of emotional dissonance, we can rise above it to realize the distorted thinking and cognition and find a path to action.
[…] is where emotional dissonance rears its […]