Breaking out of ADHD relationship dysfunction — after not breaking a fall? That sounds all kinds of painful, right? It was, but not as painful as remaining on an ADHD Roller Coaster gone wild.
I’ll tell you my personal story in a minute. It might help shed some light on your own ADHD relationship troubles. But first some background.
ADHD Relationship Dysfunction Junction
Here’s how ADHD couple conflicts typically develop —and become entrenched:
- You’re several years into a relationship before discovering that one or both of you have ADHD.
- By that time, you both have developed misinterpretations of the other’s behavior and counter-productive coping responses.
- Not to forget: the lifelong misattributions and poor coping of the newly diagnosed ADHD partner, since childhood.
Once there’s a diagnosis and maybe medication on board, it can still take enormous effort to overcome these entrenched patterns and emotional responses. Especially if you don’t know what they are or how to do it.
Moreover, how do you distinguish ADHD symptoms, which should respond to medication, from these entrenched poor coping responses? This is an often-overlooked essential challenge. In my long-held observation, it’s why even the best attempts at medication don’t create results folks are hoping for.
I’ve tackled this topic for years, in my writing and in my presentations to the public and clinicians, from San Francisco to Turkey. Now you can find ADHD couple interventions in my online training. For more information: Solving Your Adult ADHD Puzzle
In This Post on ADHD Relationship Dysfunction:
In this post, I merge years of personal and professional experience. I bypass the basics (amply covered elsewhere in this blog and my courses) and focus on seldom talked-about core issues.
- Could I Depend on Him?
- “Good Intentions” Go Only So Far
- Injured, Stranded, Heartbroken
- Warning to Self: Never Trust Him Again
- Nurse Nightengoat With Ice Cream—And Barbiturates
- ADHD Relationship Dysfunction: Big Dip on the Roller Coaster
- Caring Deep Down: Exactly How Far Down?
- The Gray Area of ADHD Relationship Dysfunction
- Educate Yourself on ADHD—and Be Realistic
- Beware the Professional (And Amateur) Gaslighting
- Learning to Bank on Newer Memories
- Happily, Things Are Different Now
- We Hope Our Story Helps You
1. Could I Depend On Him?
Yes, I’ve hard-earned the status of “ADHD Expert” from my own original research and writing. Yes, thousands of adults with ADHD and their partners or spouses, too, have shared their stories with me. But rest assured: I’ve had plenty of opportunity for “walking the talk” at home.
One particularly negative repetitive pattern involved my fear that my husband (the ADHD partner in our marriage) would be incapable—and even disinterested—in caring for me should I become sick or disabled, even temporarily.
I am not alone. This is a recurring fear expressed in ADHD Partner, my online group for the partners of adults with ADHD. This fear has a basis in reality. A commonly repeated phrase in the group is: My ADHD partner is unreliable. This is not offered as a criticism so much as a statement of fact. Many have learned to live with it. But still, they fear that moment when they might be incapacitated and have to rely on their ADHD partner.
2. “Good Intentions” Go Only So Far
In our case, my husband was reliable on some level. At least, he meant to be. But what do you call it when good intentions still fall flat?
- How do you know if you’re fooling yourself, knowing the difference between your spouse being incapable—or unwilling?
- More importantly, at what point does it matter which it is?
- When you’re dropped on your head, metaphorically speaking, it still hurts.
In fact, there was an incident just yesterday.
Let me tell you about it. But first, turn on your speakers, because there are sound effects.
3. Injured, Stranded, Heartbroken
Over our first years together, I had plenty of “evidence” to support this not-so-irrational belief. That is, I’d be on my own if I were ever to become sick or incapacitated. He might mean to be attentive but, you know, distraction and disorganization.
[advertising; not endorsement] [advertising; not endorsement]
For example, I had foot surgery. The doc issued strict orders to keep my foot elevated and move as little as possible. My husband, who worked at home then, swore he would be a regular Nurse Nightingale—the 6’2″ and 230# version.
His tenure started post-surgery: He steered my wheelchair careening through the hospital hallways and into the elevator. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride-style. Whee!
A little bit fun, yes. But I was holding on for dear life, praying he didn’t knock my foot into the elevator doorframe—or catapult me out of the chair entirely!
Once home, I saw he had dutifully set up my bedstead with a land-line phone and his cell phone. That way, I could be sure of reaching him upstairs in his office, on the other side of the house, should I need him. Great start.
When it came time to use it, though, the land-line phone had a dead battery. The “pay as you go” cell phone had no more “go”.
I lay there marooned for too many hours, him out of shouting distance. He didn’t think to come check on me, either. Once he gets absorbed in his work, he tends to stay there. As a result, I felt helpless, hurt, duped, and frightened.
“ADHD relationship dysfunction” patterns might have been clear to me—if we’d truly understood ADHD.
4. Warning To Self: Never Trust Him Again
I made a mental note made to my subconscious: Be careful in trusting him again with your welfare—no matter his assurances. Oh, and ask yourself, why do you remain married to him?
It was complicated.
Remember, this was early days in Adult ADHD awareness. Late 1990s to early 2000s. Adult ADHD had been made an official diagnosis only in 1994. Most professionals hadn’t received the memo. We were on the “bleeding edge,” you might say. There were no books to guide us.
Consider my first book: Is it You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?. It was only the third or fourth consumer book about Adult ADHD, published in 2008. It broke ground in acknowledging the impact of ADHD on both partners and the importance of teamwork with evidence-based treatment. This blog is the oldest website of any kind of Adult ADHD, also since 2008.
Our attempts at couple therapy were so disastrous they motivated us to double-down on cooperation. Anything to avoid facing that misery again. We were paying good money to, by turns, entertain and horrify the therapist. My memory of their faces always features a dropped jaw.
Only one mental-health expert I found acknowledged the potential impact of ADHD on the spouse. Fortunately, he was in the Bay Area then: Daniel Amen, MD. Bless him.
Happening upon his Change Your Brain, Change Your Life at the local library is how I first learned about Adult ADHD. I clung to his paragraphs of validation like a lifeline. Then I extended that lifeline to others in my7 ADHD Partner group. We were all feeling our way. On our own.
Gradually, our own “ADHD relationship dysfunction” improved. But it was often one step forward, three steps back. I never knew when things would shift and I’d feel dropped on my head. Metaphorically.
5. “Nurse NightinGoat” with Ice Cream—And Barbiturates
Several years after the foot-surgery fiasco, I had another outpatient surgery. Dr. Goat (my husband’s nickname) accompanied me to the appointment. As we left, I was still groggy. The doctor gave the instructions to him. Once home, I staggered to the bed and fell asleep.
A few hours later, I awakened to Nurse Nightingoat plying me with two Vicodin pills and a bowl of French Vanilla ice cream: “The doctor said every 2-4 hours. The ice cream will prevent nausea.”
Like clockwork, he showed up with the pills and the ice cream every four hours—or was it 2? I don’t know. I was in a semi-stupor. Finally, I said, “Stop! You’ll turn me into poor Marilyn Monroe!”
He showed me diligence, compassion, and care. I updated my fear scenario around being unable to rely upon him in an emergency. But I had not entirely forgotten. Survival instincts have memory.
6. ADHD Relationship Dysfunction: A Big Dip On the Roller Coaster
Yesterday, I took a protracted, ungraceful, and painful fall in the garage.
I tripped over a bicycle pedal and then tried to avoid tripping over an air purifier. In the process, I ricocheted myself in and on several directions and hard surfaces before landing with a thump on the raised kitchen doorstep.
It sounded like this:
My husband is working at home again these days, after 6 years of working in an office. He was right overhead (at least I thought so).
Surely he heard the cacophony. If not that, surely he couldn’t miss my whimpering and calling out to him. Something like this, though not quite as energetic:
Lying there in a crumpled heap, my mind ran through all the likely scenarios: He had heard the calamity but figured “She’s okay. She’s the self-sufficient type.” Or, worse, he heard it and didn’t want to interrupt his work. But damn, I might have actually broken something.
I finally got to my feet and limped Quasimodo-like back to my office, calling out as I went. I held out hope that he might actually be elsewhere in the house, out of earshot during and after my fall. Then, I discovered. He was in the bathroom. On the other side of the house. Shew. That explains it.
“What’s happening!?” he said.
“Goat!” I called, “I just had a bad fall!”
Through the closed door, I heard it: profound annoyance at being interrupted. A sigh something like this:
He, however, recalls his sigh more like this:
My worst fear triggered: He was annoyed that something bad had happened to me that required his help. Is it starting to sound like I’m “in denial” of abusive behavior? I get it. But hang on a minute.
7. Caring “Deep Down”? Exactly How Far Down?
It’s hardly my first encounter with this scenario.
In more than a decade of leading the ADHD partners support group, I’ve heard it too many times. That is, an ADHD partner seems to view a partner’s temporary illness not with compassion but as an….inconvenience. Among the many potential ADHD relationship issues, this is one of the most hurtful.
Yes, I can explain the range of alternate explanations—for example, how ADHD neurobiology can interfere with even the most compassionate person’s ability to organize appropriate responses. ADHD relationship dysfunction issues present only one of the many sets of challenges that adults with ADHD face every day.
But we cannot ignore the fact: When you come against such from your intimate partner, it’s frightening. Your first response might be denial. You don’t want to believe that the person you fell in love with can be that cold, callous, or selfish.
You’ve heard that ADHD treatment can improve functioning. So, you hold out hope against all evidence. You might tell yourself, “My partner cares about me deep down.”
The fact is, some intimate partners absolutely can be that cold, callous, or selfish—ADHD or not. If that’s the case, we better face it. Humans come with variable capacities, especially when it comes to higher-order brain functions such as empathy. There is nothing monolithic about ADHD, either.
8. The Gray Area of ADHD Relationship Dysfunction
How do we know, though, if it’s ADHD creating this undesirable response or something else? Sorry, but there are no easy answers.
When we talk about the ADHD effect on marriage and relationships, we are talking a huge array of variable issues. Not 10 easy tips and tricks. It’s for each person to assess and make the call.
We can get into real trouble, though, if we believe that with enough love and caring—and medication—a true sociopath can change. ADHD relationship strategies can go only so far in some cases.
The complicated truth, however, is this: Sometimes you know for sure what you are dealing with only after medical treatment for ADHD and any co-existing conditions, such as bipolar disorder, anxiety, or depression.
Yes, ADHD medication treatment often improves empathic functioning. To learn more, read ADHD, Empathy, and Dopamine.
9. Educate Yourself on ADHD—and Be Realistic
Granted, this is true for some; ADHD symptoms and poor coping strategies can stymie their ability to express or act upon what’s in their hearts. Psychoeducation is a must for both partners.
But we must be ready to tread the gray area. There’s only one thing that the 10-30 millions of adults with ADHD in the U.S. alone have in common: variable aspects of this highly variable syndrome. Then there is the rest of “personality” and background.
We must consider the complicating co-existing conditions (e.g. conduct disorder, antisocial personality disorder, autistic-spectrum disorders, and more).
It’s easy to toss around “cookie-cutter” platitudes about people with ADHD. But, they don’t help anyone—and can do great harm. We must see people diagnosed with ADHD as individuals, not clones. The same is true for their partners.
So, I want to be very clear: With someone other than my husband, my story could have turned out very differently. The best decision might have been to leave.
There’s “we can work on this” relationship dysfunction. Then there is “impossibly toxic, destructive, and irreparable relationship dysfunction.” As you learn more about ADHD, especially the emotional baggage of late-diagnosis, you’ll be better equipped to know the difference.
10. Beware the Professional (And Amateur) Gaslighting
One phenomenon I’ve noticed: Many Adult ADHD specialists act very protectively toward their clients. I understand this. I feel the same way toward the folks in my local Adult ADHD group.
Unfortunately, this too often means that these specialists feel little empathy for the partners.
In fact, some specialists view the partners/spouses more as annoyances—perhaps even the core of their client’s problems. More than ADHD itself. They want them to “get with the program” and throw all their support behind their ADHD partners. NOW.
They also imply — and so does a plethora of websites by non-experts claiming expertise — that they are responsible for the so-called parent-child dynamic. In short, they shame them. They want them to feel responsible for the problems. Why? Good question. One could say that’s easier than learning how to truly help these couples.
It goes against all reason, against all of what they should understand about ADHD. But it’s there. I sometimes get that reaction by proxy. Simply by talking or writing about our evidence-based model of ADHD couple therapy. Not from preeminent Adult ADHD experts, who fully grasp this, but more at the clinical level.
The truth is, some clinicians and certainly the non-experts online routinely “gaslight” the partners of adults with ADHD. I’ve seen a marked difference in the last 5 years online. I could explain my theories as to why, but I’ll leave that for another post!
“You must be more compassionate,” they say. “You must understand what your ADHD partner is struggling with.” No matter if that’s how they started out, 20 years ago, with them being understanding and helping. Now they are exhausted.
They need legitimate help, not platitudes. Moreover, their ADHD partners deserve better, too.
11. Learning to Bank On Newer Memories
After almost 20 years together, I’m clear that there is a “deep down” kindness in my husband.
Too often in the past, poorly managed ADHD obscured or sabotaged his innate empathy. He’d fail my expectations—and his own. Instead of reacting with contrition, he’d react with anger.
Later, he could say, the anger was directed at himself (“I failed again!”). But that came as cold comfort to me, caught in the cross-fire.
12. Happily, Things Are Different Now
That morning, as I limped to the back of the house, seeking solace, I decided to momentarily ignore my husband’s put-upon-sounding sigh. I put aside all the old painful patterns around it. Instead, I drew upon the more recent memory with Nurse NightinGoat and the reliable Vicodin/ice-cream routine.
With that memory in mind, I mentally stepped back and gave him a minute or so to “transition”—not to mention finish whatever he was doing in the bathroom. Something like this:
I flopped on the bed and finally said, “Hey, I hurt and I need some comfort.” At that point, he hepped to—speedily fetching a selection of cold packs, sitting with me on the bed, petting my head, kissing my banged-up wrist, and saying, “Poor you.”
This was a much better outcome than we both might have experienced in years past. To wit:
- I’d react with hurt and anger to his imposed-upon-sounding sigh, accuse him of being the most selfish man I ever knew—”and I was stupid enough to marry you!”—and storm out of the room feeling horrible about my marriage and plotting my escape.
- He’d react by withdrawing to the safe confines of manipulating databases, feeling stunned that he screwed up again, that his intent so badly translated into actions, and, finally, in perhaps a subconscious effort at ego-protection “what the hell is wrong with her anyway?”
Will this strategy help your relationship? Are you learning how your challenges might be common ADHD relationship dysfunction patterns?
Will stepping back and allowing for your ADHD partner, now on board with treatment strategies, to have a moment’s transition help to heal past counter-productive patterns?
Will you be able to build enough new patterns, enabling you to let go of some old ones?
I can’t promise it. But it might be worth a try.
Postscript: This morning I went to load the clothes into the washer. What did I find? An absolutely clear and wide path, free of bicycle, humidifier, and other flotsam and jetsam. Thank you, Dr. Goat!
13. We Hope Our Story Helps You
We both believe in sharing our story—and our lessons hard-won—so that other couples can better enjoy the ride on their own ADHD Roller Coaster. To help heal your ADHD relationship dysfunction, you might find these resources helpful:
- Adult ADHD-Focused Couple Therapy: Clinical Interventions (with Arthur L. Robin, PhD): the first clinical guide based on the evidence of what works for Adult ADHD and for couple therapy
- ADHD Success Training: online training and support for adult ADHD-challenged individuals and couples; professionals welcome, too.
- Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.? Stopping the Roller Coaster When Someone You Love Has Attention Deficit Disorder: the book that required 8 years of in-depth research and support groups facilitation, starting in 2000
- My YouTube channel: ADHD Success Training —view my 9-part presentation on ADHD & Relationships, given at a Toronto CADDAC conference.
Thank you for reading this long, but important, post. I’d love to hear your experiences in ADHD relationships.
ALSO: I am entirely self-funded, with no outside support of any kind, including pharmaceutical industry. It makes a difference.
The first version of this post appeared May 24, 2015
—Gina Pera
138 thoughts on “Breaking Out of ADHD Relationship Dysfunction — After Not Breaking a Fall”
It’s true, all of it. I can relate.
Even if the other partner has ADHD too, it can get unbalanced very quickly if one or both decide not to take responsibility for their own mental challenges. I wish my husband would seek ADHD treatment, but he won’t go past admitting he *may* have it. I have ASD and ADHD together, but I have spent decades learning to cope, and regularly go to psychologists and doctors and follow their advice. It’s not easy watching my husband get to ignore that he has serious issues, therefore offloading extra responsibilities and constant vigilance on me. His inattentiveness has almost burned the house down more than once. The only way I’ve been able to continue so long is to think that he has ADHD and can’t help it, because if he doesn’t have it, I would start thinking he’s a manipulative abuser or has some other brain problem. But at the end of it all, like has been said here, does it even matter if that’s how bad it’s making the partner feel? I wish my husband would at least expand his awareness of ADHD but he is not interested. He’s nice in other way, but I would probably leave if I could. You can’t make someone help themselves and I am really burned out at this age, like our house almost was.
Dear Annie,
I’m sorry you can relate to this phenomenon.
For almost 30 years, I’ve been helping folks get through “ADHD denial”. In fact, I’m rather an expert at it.
How do I do it?
First, for the “partner of” (e.g. you): Get educated as much as you possibly can. And by that I don’t mean reading articles online or taking in anything in books, podcasts, etc.. from non-experts. That’s tricky these days, as anyone can call themselves an expert.
Too much of what we see now is, “But they (adults with ADHD) can’t help it. Don’t be so hard on them. Don’t expect much.”
I could not disagree with that more. I believe that patronizing attitude short-sells everyone, including the adult with ADHD.
Proper treatment typically can make a difference. Is that always easy to find? No, it’s never easy. It’s rare as the proverbial hen’s teeth. That’s why I spent years — after writing two intensive-labor books — creating online courses. To bring “evidence-based treatment” to the people. At warp-speed. At an affordable price.
The other thing is for you to receive validation. Validation that what you are living with is affecting your quality of life and that you deserve better.
I would never take at face value someone’s “refusal” to consider ADHD — or “lack of interest.” That is the superficial. And there can be many ADHD-related reasons for it. ADHD symptoms themselves plus poor coping responses.
An example of this is what I call the “Automatic No”. Any proposal is met with no because that’s easier than thinking through a response, following through on a “yes”. It’s a poor coping response born of living with poorly managed ADHD one’s entire life. You can read more here:
https://adhdrollercoaster.org/the-basics-about-adult-adhd/adult-adhd-and-the-automatic-no-and-automatic-yes/
So, I absolutely do not believe that “you can’t make someone help themselves.” That’s a very old therapy trope, repeated by therapists and amateur therapists who don’t know what else to do. They can’t imagine that the limitations are theirs, so they put it all on the person who “refuses help.”
My first book was the very first to — in great detail — explain the dual-nature of “denial” around ADHD. Physiological and psychological.
I can’t make big promises, but I can say that Course 1 students have reported their ADHD Partner becoming willing to consider ADHD after completing only the first few steps. It’s all in how the information is presented, the respect shown to the person, the picture of how life might be better.
I have never been a sales person. I am lousy at it. For almost 30 years, I’ve been a one-woman non-profit with no outside funding. On a mission. Now I have courses, which bring all that I’ve learned over this time.
You can check out Course 1 — Solving Your Adult ADHD Puzzle: Foundations
Take care of yourself! You deserve better, and he probably does, too. Even if he doesn’t know it yet!
Gina
My husbands ADHD came to be obvious in lockdown after our first child was born.
I thought I just hadnt realised Id married a sociopath when he’d go a nice long walk and leave me for hours with no food or water, stuck breast feeding or new born or later, when I suffered gallstones attacks and he would just put me in the spare room and close the door and leave me to writhe in pain screaming and vomiting for hours ( eventually,he would start to dispose of my vomit for me, as the attacks continued..)
I was so confused and hurt that when I would slip or even stub my toe- he wouldnt even look up.
He suffered so much with the changes in routine ( or lack of!) when our baby was born and it broke my heart. It hasnt really repaired.
I tell my husband all the time that I realise he cant help the way he is ,( accidently destructive bordering on dangerous at times ) but any time I react even in a small manner to something he has done/broken/missed/forgotten : he immediately goes on the defensive. And thats what is killing me slowly.
Im now about to start taking anxiety meds just to remain vaguely sane, employed and married.
Quite honestly, Im 50/50 on whether he is actually a sociopath or if it matters either way …
Hi ERS,
That sounds horrifying. Talk about abandonment.
If you’re going to stay in this relationship — are willing to take anxiety meds to stay in it and employed — I believe it behooves you to start learning more about ADHD.
Sociopath is a term that’s thrown around a lot these days. In truth, it’s more descriptive and general than diagnostic. The core feature might be low empathy.
But check on my blog for posts about empathy. For some people with ADHD, treatment enhances innate empathy — and the ability to act upon it.
Seems you could gain a lot from learning and, bit by bit, bringing him on board to the possibility.
good luck,
g
I was hoping to find something insightful here but honestly all your advice is to put even more work and shame on to the person with the disability it seems. It very much like ABA which is horrific and abusive as well. Sometimes the environment and need to be a safe place for the person with ADHD. And honestly as someone incredibly clumsy the fall in the garage and self pity because he didn’t immediately come running to you when you already knew he was working or out of ear shot seams incredibly self centered and narcissistic on it own. I don’t get how people equate ADHD to a lack of empathy. ADHD and Autistics are some of the most empathetic people I have met. To the point of being overwhelmed by the pain of those around them and needing a break to recuperate and recover their energy in a safe environment. To then be met with constant criticism and blame when in what should be a safe space to let the mask down.
You’re not going to understand the larger complex situation with one blog post. The fact that you found nothing insightful might speak to your lack of understanding or even a desire to understand. But your comment speaks more to your anger and need for vengeance, however misplaced.
BTW, it’s not empathy when someone is “so overwhelmed by the pain of those around them” they check out.
That is emotional dysregulation and being able to “rise above” the current environment that is overly influencing one’s emotions. Empathy involves putting one’s own needs before the needs of the person experiencing the pain first hand, not simply watching it.
Even people with disabilities, as you put it, do well to learn basic relationship skills, if they want relationships. That is. Many people with ADHD are excellent at it, in fact, because they are mature grownups.
Good luck finding the “insights” you’re looking for.
Hi Gina
Thank you so much for the first truly insightful article I’ve read to help non-ADHD partners. My partner was diagnosed at the age of 51 last year.
Medication seemed to be like a godsend at first, the change in him was startling. I thought all our prayers had been answered. He takes his medication regularly but he seems to be slipping back in to his old ways since January.
One minute he wants to marry me and the next he’s chucking me out of the house because I’ve dared to calmly raise an issue when he’s not in the mood (I’ve this happen twice this week).
Am I being delusional that he just needs his ADHD meds adjusting or is there something else going on? Lately he seems to only want things his way and any time I need help, then he just ignores me and turns it back around to himself.
I’m getting extremely frustrated and on the verge of walking. It’s like he flips a switch to decide which version of him he’s going to be that day (this can vary a few times a day – one minute he’s happy and relaxed and you’re the best thing in his life, you can nip to the shops and he’s now ignoring you completely and shutting down for the rest of the night or he’s telling me I’m not spending enough time with him and he’s lonely all the time but then still shuts me out and asks me to leave). I’m bewildered at what’s happening.
I’m seeing my own counsellor (he refuses to go as there’s no point) but they just tell me I need to be more understanding of his neurodivergence and do research on how I can help him cope.
Dear Hayley,
I hate it when optimism about healing one’s life and relationship crashes on the rocks.
I’ve heard this story wayyyyy too many times.
And, I’ve worked hard to guide folks to enjoy so much better outcomes.
That’s what my online training is all about.
Unfortunately, too many people believe that a diagnosis and rx is enough. It hardly ever is, and it really saddens and frustrates me.
For one thing, I’m betting good money that your partner is taking Adderall. Because most prescribers are brainwashed that it’s “best for adults”. Thanks to relentless marketing, not science. Whatever amazing transformations happen initially, for far too many people, “treatment” can go downhill. Fast.
For another, I’m betting that neither of you were that closely involved with the evaluation. Rather, it was a passive affair. And no treatment goals were set and monitored. At least that is too often the case.
Add to this the wide range of information about ADHD that consumers get online, from solid to absolutely toxic.
It doesn’t have to be this way but sadly, it is the norm, and that’s a shame.
Maybe something else entirely is happening with you. I cannot possibly say. But I know these patterns like the back of my hand.
Take care of yourself,
Gina
I’m currently divorcing my adhd husband after 27 years together. He is now stonewalling me as punishment.
No empathy or accountability kills the love and the icing on the cake is being blamed for it.
I’m traumatised by my relationship with him now looking for a good counsellor who can show some empathy. Any recommendations please. Thanks for sharing and you are not alone I get your anger. X
Dear Dee,
I’m sorry you find yourself in this situation.
Most people unfamiliar with these patterns will never understand.
Unfortunately, that includes most mental-health professionals, often especially including those who claim specialty in ADHD.
The invaluable resource I’ve offered for 20 years is ADHD Partner group. This is where you can share support and validation with other partners of adults with ADHD.
There is a range of situations, and that’s good. It means that I am not painting ADHD as all one thing — or even several things.
ADHD is a highly variable syndrome. It affects individuals.
But there are definitely common patterns, and I know you would find more understanding in this group than likely with any therapists.
Some therapists will, in fact, blame you, your childhood, your….whatever.
Also, when you say he is “stonewalling” you. Maybe it’s as punishment. But maybe he is just stuck in his own dysfunction and poor self-observation. He might truly believe you have abandoned him for no reason, etc..
ADHD is very tricky. And, again, highly variable.
Check out the group here. There is no monthly commitment, and there is opportunity to join in our monthly live Zoom meetings.
https://adhdpartnerwithginapera.groups.io/g/main
take care,
Gina
I was diagnosed with ADHD in 2021 aged 60 which you can imagine was met with both feelings of relief and regret. Whilst medication has helped me to be calmer and less impulsive it’s still work in progress alongside other lifestyle changes and I remain off work as a result of ‘burnout’.
Unfortunately, I am also having to cope with my wife’s drinking disorder for which she is in denial and won’t accept that she needs help. Initially, I thought my wife was onboard with my ADHD diagnosis and this helped to explain my actions over the years (married Sept 1991 having courted for 7 years prior!) or inactions/procrastination and unfinished projects! I may add however, that we have been blessed with four children albeit with challenges of childhood cancer in 2008 and late diagnosis’s of autism in our two boys. We’ve also had to deal with caring for parents with dementia; it’s perhaps no wonder that my wife has basically burnt out herself and resorted to self-medication during the pandemic. Initially, there was concern that my wife had early on set dementia like her mum but I now understand that her short memory problems were more likely to be as a result of alcohol misuse.
I have sought help from Al-anon which has helped me cope but my wife and family don’t understand my actions and feel that we should be getting help for my wife.
Sorry, for the preamble but I am struggling to cope with my situation and wondered whether there has been any commentary from other ADHD sufferers (tea-total) who have a similar problem with their partners addiction/disorder?
Blessings to all for the new year!
Dear David,
My heart goes out to you. I find your “burnout” quite understandable.
Is it possible that your wife also has ADHD? “Self-medicating” is a common phenomenon with undiagnosed ADHD, with all kinds of substances and activities (e.g. shopping, etc.).
I don’t recall any commentary from folks in your position. But I have heard the stories.
How does your family expect you to help your wife if she doesn’t acknowledge the problem? Have they offered to help?
I can imagine they might blame you for exacerbating the situation. It’s not easy, at age 60, to turn on a dime with ADHD-friendly strategies. The fact that medication is often prescribed poorly, and there is a lifetime of counterproductive habits to overcome doesn’t make it easier.
Maybe someone will read your comment and respond.
Meanwhile, I encourage you to optimize ADHD treatment as best you can. As I said, prescribing patterns are largely inadequate. It takes self-education and self-advocacy. Your use of “whilst” makes me think you are in the UK. :-). If that’s the case, you have a roe to hoe there with ADHD medication guidance and options, unfortunately.
The more your symptoms and habits improve, perhaps, the less your wife might self-medicate with alcohol. Though addiction might well have set in.
Has she had any support around living with your ADHD symptoms? Sometimes validation starts the path toward healing.
She might be interested in my e-mail/website-based group for the partners of adults with ADHD: https://adhdpartnerwithginapera.groups.io/g/main
Best of luck to you,
g
Hi David,
I’ll put myself out on a limb here as a partner with someone with ADHD, and I had AUD for a long time. However, even though my partner was diagnosed with ADHD, in the last five years he’s decided he doesn’t have it, though all signs point that way — moodiness, unfinished projects, disorganization, and clutter at an all-time high. And now on top of that, he lost yet another job, leaving me to be the sole breadwinner.
I stopped drinking earlier this year, and though I didn’t have to care for children or elderly parents, I was an animal caregiver for 20+ years with zero assistance from my partner. I also lost all of my siblings to tragic deaths and had to deal with all of those feelings all on my own. I also took on caring for the household and working a full-time job. My partner only stepped up a handful of times and he mostly spent all his time blaming me for the problems in the marriage. And I believed him — so much shame and guilt there.
So, what ended up happening was a “shame spiral” — I took everything on because I couldn’t trust my ADHD partner to stay focused or help me, and I drank from chronic stress and burnout, and then felt guilty about that. It was only when I realized that I couldn’t change him, that I could only change myself, that things got better. I don’t know all the specifics of who carried the burden in your household, but usually it falls to the woman 80% of the time (no judgement on you).
Ultimately, I learned that life hands you a certain type of sandwich, and you just have to work out what kind of sandwich you’re willing to put up with. I’m dealing with my frustrations and struggles with my ADHD partner w/out alcohol, and wish I had enough wherewithal to leave the marriage earlier than I did. But a lot of people stay in these situations (myself included) because attachment/family, even in an unfortunate situation, is preferable to loneliness. However, we lose our authenticity and ourselves.
I’ve decided to stay for a while, but under no circumstances am I going to spend all of the little energy I have left to help solve my partner’s issues, or try to change him. From very early on, I never wanted to be a mother or be in the parent/child situation I found myself in, and that has not changed. I wanted a partner when I got married, and I did not get that.
So, I wish I had a solution for you, but it’s really about asking yourself who you really want to save here, and at what cost?
Cora
This article and subsequent comments really resonated with me. My fiancée was diagnosed this year, and from where I’m standing, the diagnosis seems to have exacerbated the problem. Instead of periodically struggling to get her work done and having a confusing (to me) approach to project and task management, she is now obsessing over ADHD content — books, YouTube videos, and business coaches promising the world if she’ll only go another $10,000 deeper in credit card debt. This obsessive hyper-focus is causing even more paralytic lapses in productivity than before she was diagnosed.
She is doing a medication regimen and frequent counseling, and I really appreciate her willingness to take these strides. The medication sort of works, but it seems to pull her focus toward the wrong things. Instead of manifesting as action, the medication seems to exacerbate decision paralysis. Rudimentary decisions require a level of forethought with the complexity of a doctoral dissertation. If I suggest that maybe it’s ok to just trust her instincts from time to time, you’d think I had asked her to light herself on fire. She seems to believe that she can think her way out of her lack of action — that if she could just think about her problems hard enough, she’ll uncover a hidden, fail-proof plan. Any suggestion that this kind of certainty simply doesn’t exist, or that imperfect decisive action produces better results than endless “strategizing,” causes extreme outbursts of anger.
She has a (failing) business. Her stubbornness and lack of self-awareness about her strengths and weaknesses have driven her to 100K of debt. I’m terrified about combining our finances in marriage, but we can’t talk about it because anything I say translates to me “not believing in her.” And she’s not totally wrong. In this current cognitive-behavioral state, I honestly struggle to believe that this is the right path for her. But that is a scary and forbidden thing to say. She will not begin to consider that her present behavioral modality is ill-suited for solo entrepreneurship.
I have been pulling the lion’s share of the financial weight for the household (we moved in together two years ago). On top of this, I’m constantly pushing aside my own work to help with hers — putting together and managing a website, running her ads, designing PDFs and marketing materials, and sitting & listening while she talks out the same thing for the 1000th time. I always thought it was awful when parents did homework for their children, but here I am doing the same thing.
The absolute worst part is the inability to have a rational conversation about these issues. She raises her voice, stamps her feet, deflects the blame towards me for “not understanding” or “not trusting,” and cries until I go back to being meek and subordinate. She has integrated these ADHD behaviors into her sense of self, rather than seeing the negative parts of ADHD behavior as areas to improve, and if I’m not 100% capitulating to her mode of operation, then I don’t love her for who she is, and I’m crushing her soul.
The sense of loneliness for the non-ADHD partner particularly resonates with me. I very often feel like I’m not only in this partnership alone, but that I’m somehow beyond alone — cause regular loneliness doesn’t come with such financial strain and endless conflict. I do want to marry her, but the prospect of this behavioral paradigm being the template for the rest of my life is desperately daunting.
Hi Jeff,
I get it. You are certainly not alone. In fact, I hold a monthly Zoom group for men with female ADHD partners. It’s an off-shoot of my e-mail/web-based discussion group. ADHD Partner. You can participate with a pseudonym e-mail, to retain privacy, or as you like.
https://adhdpartnerwithginapera.groups.io/g/main
What you describe typically does not end well on its own. I have almost 25 years in this field and have seen too many trajectories.
“Adult ADHD” is a huge market. The number of charlatans, hustlers, and gurus seeking to exploit this market is shocking. And it’s all amplified and even “weaponized” by social media, podcasts, etc..
I am placing a hefty bet that she is taking Adderall. You might want to read my most popular blog post:
https://adhdrollercoaster.org/adhd-news-and-research/the-tragic-truth-of-prescription-adderal-or-madderall/
While Adderall works best for some, for many others, it lessens insight, increases irritability, grandiosity, and “tunnel vision”.
I cannot possibly convey how much damage the medical community is wielding on people who just want ADHD treatment. They don’t know the science. They are unthinking, brainwashed, and believe they can know how to treat ADHD by reading a flawed meta-analysis.
It’s really nuts. Which is why I”m still here. Compared to when I started, in the late 1990s, we are going backward.
Check out the group. It will be the best thing you can do. You simply cannot trust a person with poorly managed ADHD when it comes to judgment about businesses and money—or insight to their own strengths and weaknesses.
Also: Read my book. https://amzn.to/3BwD8AM
It’s up to you to take action on the course of your life. “Rolling over” to poorly managed ADHD can be a very, very bad idea.
take are
Gina
I was online searching for answers as to why my boyfriend, who has ADHD, ended our relationship yesterday.
I know things have not been great, especially in communicating with each other. I often times, lately, felt like I didn’t matter to him and he didn’t care about me.
The articles I have read through have helped me understand his perspective on things. My friends say he will call, just give him a few days or a week. But I honestly don’t think he would call.
I cannot find information online about grief, the ending of a relationship, or how to deal with a breakup with someone who has ADHD. I understand their brain works differently than mine. So how can I take what I read and listened to and apply it to my relationship (now former relationship)? How can I leave him alone for 1, 3, or 6 weeks?
Will he miss me enough to contact me? What I read for non ADHDers, sure if the person loved you wants the relationship, they will contact you. But how does this translate to a relationship with one person having ADHD?
What are the rules of a break up with one person as a non-ADHD and the other is ADHD? I know I love him, I love some of his ADHD traits, and there are some I most likely “nagged” about. Lately, he said he “forgot” to text, to call, that we were spending the day together. This makes me hurt which within moments makes me angry. Which has lead to other communication issues.
The break up came to me out of left field, he never said anything was bothering him or anything. It blows my mind, my heart broke. But I have been really looking for information on how to heal from the relationship or I’m not even really sure how to word what I’m looking for. Not really game play, but what are some of the rules of break ups of non-ADHD and ADHD?
Like the person doing the breaking up, will contact you after x amount of days or weeks. Does that hold true in ADHD? Is it okay if after a week or two or three weeks I contact him to see if the break up is really want he still wants? Or is that something I shouldn’t do, no matter who did the breaking up. I don’t know the rules of break ups, usually I am the person who is doing the breaking up because of the other person cheating or lying or whatever. This is a different relationship and I guess I’m just looking for answers of some kind. Thank you.
There are no rules. If you want to contact him, do it. But I’d suggest contacting him once and then leaving the ball in his court. Ask your questions for your own sense of closure if he is done. If he is not, he should say if you ask.
Hi Gina,
I’m so glad I came across this article, I really appreciate your work.
My relationship with my boyfriend is incredibly similar to what you describe. I know he loves me and cares deeply for me, but since those feelings are so often disconnected from actions, I find myself asking myself how much it really matters. I hate feeling like I can’t trust him, I hate feeling like I have to be his therapist, and most of all, I hate feeling like he’s not really present a lot of the time. In those moments, I feel lonelier than I ever have during many years of being single.
I’m especially disappointed by his unwillingness to get treatment. He was diagnosed as a child and he knows that his severe ADD is negatively impacting many areas of his life. I have told him about how it makes me feel, and he said explicitly that he is worried his ADD will prevent him from being a good husband for me, yet he has not taken any initiative to learn more about the disorder, find a therapist, or start a treatment. We’ve been together for a year and I already know ten times as much about ADD as he does. I have told him some of what I found out during my research, but he has expressed no interest in learning more. It doesn’t make sense to me.
I thought that, with time, we could work on finding better coping strategies together. I thought that, if I create a safe, loving environment for him in our relationship, it would become easier for him to be present with me, and also to address his challenges. Now, since none of this has happened, I’m coming to terms with the fact that none of these behaviours are likely ever to change, and I find myself questioning whether I want to stay in the relationship. I love this man with all my heart, but I’m unwilling to stick to a relationship where I cannot feel like my partner is an equal to me and where I have to do the lion’s share of the work. It was incredibly validating to find similar sentiments expressed in your writing.
Hi Neama,
It’s an awful feeling, that your partner doesn’t feel trustworthy, isn’t present, etc..
I would just wonder…are you sure that he “resists” evaluation/medication or do his ADHD symptoms mean he procrastinates, is overwhelmed, etc..
When ADHD affects a relationship, in one or both partners, it truly must be a team effort.
Check out this post:
https://adhdrollercoaster.org/book-club/chapter-12-solving-adhds-double-whammy/
Now, I’m NOT saying, “With medication, everything will be great!”
No, sometimes there are many poor coping responses and bad habits to overcome. But at least with medication, there’s a fighting chance.
At the very least, even if you decide to leave the relationship, you’ll have helped this person you care about to potentially have a happier, healthier life.
take care,
Gina
I’m so glad I found your blog and have just ordered your first book. Though some of what I read is overwhelming. I began researching ADHD because a young man (“J”), my husband, and I have taken in like a son, was dating a girl who said she had ADHD and she needed her “drugs” to stay focused. Well, the girlfriend is gone but the research continued. All of the research I’ve done mirrored “J” to a T. But it also mirrored my husband “M” of 32 years. It was like a ray of light followed by a dark cloud. I’ve found a possible answer but the road ahead looks as bumpy as the road I’ve been on for 30+ years. Over the years I’ve taken on the smarter, parent role and I know that “M” feels bad about it. All the years of criticizing and shaming him make me so sad. I’ve shared my reading with him and he does see himself in much of it. And it’s made him feel better about himself. So now the work begins for us. Let me say that we have a very good relationship and we’ll continue to work on it till the end. Just a little (big ?), twist in the road for us. :>) Interestingly enough the person I did this deep research dive for is in deep denial and avoidance of the issues and us. “J” is 37 and wants so much more in life including a wife and family. He’s smart, funny, kind, and cute. But I see that his bad communication, and inattention to things that aren’t in his “interest lane” slam the door on real relationships. Friends see his lack of social skills as “oh that’s “J”, he’s funny, a little odd but nice” and keep their distance. My husband says he’s reliving his youth and not necessarily in a good way since the same things happened to him. I hope that “J” sees that acceptance of ADHD and meds and learning new coping skills can help him live the life he wants. In the meantime, “M” and I will continue our work and hopefully model change to “J”. This was a very long comment to thank you for your work on this site and to all of the commenters also. I can’t wait to get your book!
Dear Susan,
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me. I really appreciate it.
Blogging is a slog! Hard work. Constantly dealing with Google’s changing algorithms that favor the highly commercial sites.
I do it only so others will find this life-changing information.
I wish the best to you and your husband. Read my book! Consider enrolling in my new courses — one provides a foundational education, and the next details how to optimize ADHD-related sleep issues and medication.
After helping people through awareness, I got tired of seeing treatment (and even evaluation) stories crash on the rocks. Hence, the courses.
If your relationship is strong now, it can be that much stronger — and happier. Less frustrating, for you both. But please know, we must be smart mental-health consumers. We just cannot rely on the average therapist or physician.
Solving Your Adult ADHD Puzzle – Foundations
As for J……it can be very tricky, reaching folks like J, as you describe him. Be sure to read my book’s three chapters on “Getting Past Denial.”
take care,
Gina
I’m in a relatively new relationship with my partner newly diagnosed with ADHD. I feel so wronged as we only moved in together 18 months ago and he hid all the signs from me. I’m so scared and lonely. He can be amazing but all the bad stuff is undoing the good and he doesn’t ever see it. I’m feeling anxious and sad most of the time and close friends have started to comment along with my grownup kids. I have no idea what to do. Our relationship was amazing and I was so smugly happy that I’d found “the one”. I just want to get back to being me without being Criticised and having someone constantly overreact over everything! He has all the self-help books and constantly cracks on about “not sweating the small stuff” and how he craves a “partnership” in a relationship. Well bugger me, there is NO partnership here and I’m friggin’ drowning. 🙁 🙁 :’(
Hi Connie,
Do you know that your partner purposely hid his ADHD-related challenges?
It could happen, but it might be a wrong assumption.
What do you mean by an “amazing relationship”? Sometimes the “thrill of the chase” is stimulating.
Sometimes when a thing feels too good to be true, it is! 🙂
But sometimes with treatment, the ADHD partner becomes more that person again.
You say he’s newly diagnosed with ADHD. So, what is that meaning in terms of treatment?
These are the questions you might be asking yourself.
In the meantime, what can you do in terms of self-care?
Having “all the self-help books”….might be a sign….of something. 🙂
take care
Gina
funny that I happened upon this article and comment so soon after it was published, still hot off the presses. Connie, what you said is 100% what I am also experiencing, but instead of 18 months, it’s closer to 3 years. Earlier on, it wasn’t as noticable because we weren’t living together or trying to be “life partners”. as things progressed, the arguments, overreacting and irresponsibility started showing. Most conversations devolve and any talk about ADHD is in context to why she shouldn’t be held accountable. She never acknowledges the elements of ADHD that affect the relationship. The whole internet says I’m supposed to just sacrifice myself to be supportive, while having none of my needs met. Quite a doozy I found myself in. It should also be noted that all the amatuer psychologisslts who write articles never say “this is how you make the distinction between a workable and unworkable situation”. Chronic irresponsibility is abuse, regardless if they have a note from their doctor. we don’t get into relationships so we can be subordinate to the other person’s disorder. So I’ll be the “mean person” that says, leaving is a fantastic option and we aren’t meant to be martyrs or saints. I’m still in my relationship and I would have left a year ago but in my situation, leaving will result in (temporary) homelessness. Over the last year, and definitely in the few months I’ve shifted to figuring out how to manage the homelessness and am making plans to leave. I find it hard to believe there is an positive prognosis in most relationships with ADHD and i think most people dislike being alone more than they dislike being in a terrible relationships.
Hi Mike,
Actually, I wrote the post several years ago. I just updated it today.
(Appeasing the Google gods, in order that you might find such posts, involves a huge amount of work!)
I agree with you….the Internet has been co-opted by amateurs peddling all kinds of ADHD snake oil. And many of them have PhDs and MDs!
I am known for holding the line on nonsense.
Absolutely it does NO ONE any good to “be more supportive, have no needs, etc.” It doesn’t help you, it doesn’t help your ADHD partner.
It is easy blather from charlatans using SEO terms to improve their clickbait and make more money from Google ads! Or “coaching.” Or “seminars.”
For many ADHD-challenged relationships, proper education and treatment can make a big difference. For others, there is just too much damage, too much need….sometimes the best we can do is save ourselves.
take care of yourself!
Gina
Hello! I’m grateful for the information you have presented. I am in an odd situation and have not found any information concerning it directly. I’m am 57 and my daughter who is a 34 and her 3 year old live with me. It was suggested to me by her therapist in April that she is likely suffering from ADHD. Since then I have spent a good amount of time researching it. There is more to say than I can possibly write but our biggest thing is I CANNOT say anything at all to her without it being flipped back at me “I know mom I’m just a failure” or “You only ever criticize me” I feel like she is gaslighting me constantly. Today it was so bad that I thought I might just have to leave the situation and let her face life on its own. But my concern is for Ezra. I pay for everything and my entire life revolves around taking care of Ezra, I love being around my grandson but I have zero time to take care of me. I’m exhausted and have no life. On top of that Saturday will be my last day employed as my remote position is being move to the office 5 states away and I can’t just leave her with no support. There are just so many issues. I need help just as much as she does.
Dear Karen,
thanks for your comment.
You know, what you describe isn’t such an odd situation. It’s rather common, in fact.
I’m not sure how what you describe is “gaslighting.” But I understand how bizarre and blaming it must seem.
The thing is, when someone has poorly managed ADHD — undiagnosed well into her 30s — there is a lifetime of living through a distorted filter. Not knowing why she has the challenges she does. Not knowing why she’s always criticized. Not knowing how to do better. All kinds of things.
Can you think back through her life since childhood and reframe through the ADHD lens? How some things were harder for her (and that probably made things harder for you, too)?
You don’t mention….is your daughter open to an evaluation? People don’t suddenly change because they hear they might have ADHD. They still have the symptoms. :-). But they might not agree that ADHD is an issue for them. They might have poor insight to their challenges, also called “denial.”
Sometimes, even suggesting “I think you have ADHD” feels like criticism. Because it hits all the “sore spots” that have been criticized for years.
It’s so tricky, the complexity. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read my first book. I suspect it will explain a lot. I would urge caution about “researching” on the Internet. There is a lot of garbage mixed in the legitimate info, and until you are really solid in your education, it can be tough to know which is which.
https://amzn.to/3TtABPk
Your best bet, I’d guess, is really focusing on education and trying to help her to an evaluation. If not for her or your sake for her son’s.
good luck,
g
Hi! My marriage is defined by the parent child dynamic. He hates it, I hate it, but if he cant function without being told, reminded, prompted and held accountable, then he cant follow through.
I have to remind him to set the reminders or write the list and even then, the task is always unfinished or done half assed to where I then must do something.
He feels like a failure and I feel like the mom that has to hold it all together. I am exhausted and want a husband that is capable and reliable. That adults with me. That I dont have to find ways to get him to do normal household things like, mow the lawn, fix the sink or call a plumber, or change my flat tire or pay the electric bill on time.
Then there’s interrupting conversations and being impulsive — which creates more things for me to navigate!!! No diagnosis, no meds, tried couples therapy and he’s the victim. I’m hard to please. I expect too much. I am too critical.
But I really am capable of handling all the things and just expect a partnership. That’s it. Not another son (we have 6 kids between us) that I have to tell to shave his face!! He’s 46 and we fight about me telling him to shave to look professional at work and look nice for me!!!
If I speak calm and sweet, I’m told I am belittling. If I am assertive and direct, I am harsh and controlling.. if he could just do the things without any hiccups or me having to prompt, I wouldn’t have crap to say right?! Every. Single. Day. I am disappointed and let down and then have some extra thing to do because he didn’t. He’s sorry. He didn’t do it intentionally.
At what point is not doing some action intentionally to follow through not intentionally hurting me?!!! He’s the victim with a mean wife and I’m the only capable adult that consistently shows up and handles everything for our 6 kids and 2 grandkids and 2 dogs.
Oh and I work full time and I HAVE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS!! I am tired. I have regular weekly therapy where even my therapist says that i have therapy just to vent about my husbands lack of effort, emotional maturity, self awareness and continuous disregard for how his ADD and fractured executive functioning affect me and the family. It’s going to therapy to try to manage a grown man. To get him to do the things.
She literally asked me if I think she can make me ok with living this way and then everything would be fine! He has to do work on himself or it will always remain the same because no matter what I do, it is literally just me doing and that is not a team. He can’t remember or focus to read the several books given or to do the homework given and feels like I wont just love and accept him how he is.
Seriously? Why should I accept this unfair work load and forced stress that impacts my MS which forces me to find ways to overcome MS challenges more so to be able to work harder to maintain our family and home?! Because he wont put the same effort into managing himself?! Ugh. Sorry, that was a lot to unpack.
Nobody I know gets it. They have no idea. I wish someone would just look at him and say “hey, you’re killing your wife and ya need to figure your crap out to be able to life and understand that her MS is getting worse, she can’t mom you forever, nor should she have to!” Leaving is an option, but he swears he loves his wife and he’s trying and he’s sorry, then continues to do this when he doesn’t like the result? Why risk losing the woman ya love? Why continue to feel awful and not want to problem solve?
Your article resonated so deep in my soul, to my core. You get it. Thank you so much for sharing.
Dear Melissa,
I appreciate your letting me know that this blog post resonated for you. It and the rest of my work resonates for many people (thank goodness).
I’ve been in the trenches myself. And, I am intimately familiar with literally thousands of other folks’ battles on the same theme.
I know this territory extremely well, more than most authors, bloggers, and even other ADHD experts that you will encounter.
You are in a seriously unsustainable situation. But you knew that.
People in your situation tend to get stuck. As if in a trance.
They are exhausting themselves in order to compensate for their partner’s poorly managed ADHD symptoms.
They are trying to make sense of it on the fly. They are trying to keep a lid on their intense feelings of resentment, frustration, and anger — even as they are spinning untold number of family plates.
You have a diagnosis that, as I understand it, is worsened by stress. (As most conditions are!). You absolutely must take care of yourself.
The best thing you can do in that regard is getting educated in what you are up against — and how best to help your partner to “see the light” about ADHD.
Please read or listen to my first book. Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?
To fast-track your process, consider joining my online program — Course 1 (Foundations) is available now, and Course 2 (Sleep & Medication) will be out soon.
Solving Your Adult ADHD Puzzle
Please avoid one common stumbling block — that is, folks who refuse to learn about ADHD unless their (potentially ADHD) partner does it with them. Or, worse, expects their partner to take the first step and manage it on their own.
That is a sure-fire method of failing.
Learn about it first. Let your emotions settle about how life could have been different to this point, if only you’d known earlier, if only he’d pursued treatment.
Get your ducks in a row. Then approach your husband.
Take care of yourself!!! (And I mean it 🙂 )
g
P.S. In a survey I conducted years ago (among the partners of adults with ADHD), I asked respondents about expectations of/satisfaction with therapy. For themselves or their ADHD partners — or couple therapy.
Most agreed that therapy regarding untreated ADHD was mostly guaranteed to go nowhere. Most were disappointed that the therapist had nothing to offer — in the way of “getting through” to their ADHD partners.
This is just one of the many serious problems with general therapy.
I am in the same position as you. I shattered my knee because of his ADHD and not completing his project. I can’t work , I’m literally hanging on by a thread. And if I say anything he runs and hides and tells everyone how horrible I am. I think if I hear “I can’t handle conflict” one more time ( even though he’s the one who creates it, I just get to clean up the mess) I’m gonna scream. I’ve lost myself in his problem. I’ve even started having panic attacks. If you knew me , you would know this is so not something you would ever think would happen to me. I’m tired of being the only adult in the house. I really feel for you.
This is exactly how I feel right now…and he can’t see it…I’m the one with the problem.
I’m exhausted and tbh, am beginning to dislike him in a big way.
It’s been over a year for you since writing this post. Has your situation improved, gotten worse or stated the same out of curiosity?
Hi Jenny,
I realize you are asking Melissa this question. But I’ll just chime in to say..
The point here, though, is not what is happening in anyone else’s marriage.
The point is that it’s not easy navigating ADHD-related challenges in our relationships. What’s ADHD? What’s selfishness and bad character? What’s projecting our own feelings onto someone who might be incapable of empathic feelings? To make things more complicated, our ADHD Partners are not clones — and neither are we!
You have to understand the nature of ADHD, as it’s manifesting in your partner, before you begin to get clear.
Notice….I do not stop with “understanding” ADHD. Many partners of adults with ADHD are taught (scolded, rather) to stop there. That they must understand more, be more accommodating, deny their own needs. No.
Understanding is the path to clarity—and then deciding next steps.
If your ADHD Partner “can’t see it,” you should know that this can be part of ADHD-related challenges. We can either help them to see it — and work together on mutually beneficial strategies — or we can leave the relationship.
If we sit around remaining hurt that our ADHD Partner doesn’t get it, we guarantee that nothing will change.
You’ll find all kinds of resources at my Services page. I hope you find something that can help you to “move the needle.”
good luck,
g
Hi again,
I was wondering how everyone that is non ADHD deals with the lying and the blame from the ADHD partner? I’m really struggling with this.
Hi there,
Yes, unfortunately, many people deal with that kind of dysfunctional behavior.
You can learn in depth about how this happens — and what might cause it — in my book:
https://amzn.to/3d0qAbz
Other of my blog posts touch on this from different angles.
I hope this helps
Gina
Take care,
Gina
Thanks, Gina, this is SO helpful.
I’m a 65-year-old husband and father, officially diagnosed with ADHD a few weeks ago, and you articulate so many of the issues and challenges my partner and I face in our relationship – and so much of the pain and hurt I’ve caused and continue to cause my wife and 12-year-old daughter.
The scariest message for me is: “Just because you have ADHD and behave like a sociopath/narcissist/spoilt child, doesn’t mean that you AREN’T a sociopath/narcissist/spoilt child”. I’ve just started medication, and you’ve helped me to think about how I need to approach this phase of the roller-coaster journey.
I have to read the empathy and dopamine article next. Thanks again, you’re a gem!
Dear Peter,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
I’ve been working crazy-hard for too many years now. It’s only comments and feedback such as yours that continue to fuel this mission.
Kudos to you — for being willing to wade into this “scary” topic. Nothing in our culture and even little in the mental-health field guides us in navigating this gray area.
But there is lots of great information on Adult ADHD these days, in this blog and in my books and other books by experts, such as Russell Barkley, Phd.
take care!
g
Hi there. I can’t explain to you how much relief I’ve felt in finding your article.
I am 28 and my adhd partner is 26. We are engaged and have a 4 year old son together. He was diagnosed about 18 months ago and we go through stages of being really good, but then it all just goes down hill.
I have only started researching his symptoms in the last couple of months. I understand that some aspects of his personality are adhd. But I do know now that this emotionally abusive relationship I’m in is not right for me and not right our boy and I certainly don’t deserve it.
Saying that, I don’t want to give up. I love him dearly. But he has no inkling to self educate himself on adhd. I have been trying to send him things I’ve found on the internet (tiktok) hoping that he might watch them and take some information in.
I really badly want to do your course, and I hope I can convince him to do this to. He refuses to go to therapy so maybe enrolling in your course with it being via the internet may be less overwhelming.
Thank you so much.
I hope I can share better news with you in the future.
Hi Sarah,
I’m glad you found my blog. You, he, and your child deserve better.
The truly mind-boggling aspect of ADHD for so many people who have it — its very symptoms can impair self-observation, problem-solving, initiation, and motivation. Including on “learning about ADHD.” Plus, there are often reading impairments.
This chapter in my first book explains why sometimes the “partners of” must take the first step. This essay is written by a woman in a dual-ADHD marriage. This isn’t “ADHD vs non-ADHD.” This is ADHD. Period.
https://adhdrollercoaster.org/adhd-and-relationships/chapter-12-solving-adhds-double-whammy/
take care,
g
Sarah,
I’m a 33 yr old diagnosed with ADHD and social anxiety disorder. I’d also add codependency/cptsd to my list of isms as well.
Rather than spend all day trying to diagnose your husband, repair your relationship, etc, it may be worth focusing on your own healing for a season if possible.
The plane of your relationship is losing altitude and the O2 masks have dropped. You’re struggling ironically for and with your husband to get him to put a mask on that is supposed to save his life but you have yet to put a mask on yourself.
For the better part of three or four years, I’ve tried to diagnose my wife’s behavior as HPD, BPD, NPD, Autism… All the while, getting caught in cyclical conflicts pertaining to my forgetfulness, instability, and unreliability. She is great at being a preschool a physical caretaker and I’m the emotional/mental caretaker. It is not a happy arrangement and I’m currently seeking help for my codependency/ADHD to get better for myself and family.
My admittedly stress-inducing behaviors are a massive influence on my wife’s moods but ultimately, she is responsible for her own actions, reactions, and recovery/healing. I cannot do therapy, study, research for her. You are worth just as much care/effort you are putting into helping him out.
You cannot control whether or not he agrees to get help for his issues but you can decide what you are going to do about his actions(or lack thereof). This could mean setting better boundaries out ground rules/consequences. I told my wife that I didn’t want her clearing my laundry out and thatI need to suffer the consequence of not doing laundry. As all adult , my responsibility includes doing my laundry and not throwing dirty laundry wherever/wheneverI feel like it. The other day we brainstormed other boundaries to help her stay sane and me stay organized. There is very little room for toxicity and your account set off my red-flag alerts as have several of the posts on this site. I’m shocked at the advice to spouses to become more codependent to save toxic/unhealthy relationships. ADHD is not causing your spouse to possess a dark-triad personality disorder (psychopath/sociopath, narcissist personality), your spouse’s dark-triad personality disorder (psychopath/sociopath, narcissist personality), your spouse’s is making dealing with their ADHD more difficult.
Hi Rex,
Thanks for taking the time to write your perspective.
The thing is, though, you might not be fully qualified to either understand Sarah’s situation or the often complex manifestations of ADHD.
In fact, your advice echoes much of the “bad therapy” that keeps people stuck.
Sarah has a four-year-old child with her ADHD partner. This has larger ramifications.
I encourage you to learn more about ADHD. As you do, you might see how the old tropes about “codependence” and HPD, etc. are being revisited by…science.
best,
Gina
Thank you for this! All this time I thought it was just me and my unreasonable fear after seeing my spouse react with little empathy to his very ill mother. It’s a comfort knowing that it isn’t just me and that my fears are legitimate. Like you, I know that my husband is caring deep down. His recent diagnosis (after 21 years or marriage) has explained so many things that I’ve experienced in the past. It’s not easy because he is in so much denial that even the Psychiatrist was unable to tell him his diagnosis. Knowing he has ADHD has really helped me to be more compassionate to him and I am learning how to use his love language whenever he is in imminent danger of a meltdown.
I just wanted to say that I appreciate you sharing your experiences and helping families dealing with Adult ADHD navigate this slippery slope. Thank you!
Thanks for letting me know, Happy!
I’m glad you found me!
I would not give up on him….as to never accepting the diagnosis.
Many professionals just don’t have a clue about how to approach a patient when talking about ADHD.
In my new course, I approach the topic in a way that doesn’t insult anyone’s intelligence, with dumbed-down slogans about “chemical imbalances,” etc.
ADHD is a sophisticated syndrome, and it affects individuals.
take care,
g
I’m so glad I found this site. My husband has ADHD. I found out a few years ago after 28 years. Yes, I feel duped! He and his family has known since he was a kid. I’ve literally sacrificed myself protecting his reputation,cleaning up his mess time and time again. When I finally asked him if he had ADHD ,his response was “you couldn’t tell”. Like it was a big joke. I’ve gone through hell with this man, and after doing research I get “You couldn’t tell”. I think the hardest thing for me is his family all knew, but nobody would say anything. They just kept blaming me for everything. I feel so stupid .
Hi S,
Ach, that’s just….dirty. I’m sorry, but that’s beyond the pale.
28 years and they kept you in the dark, while you cleaned up the messes.
Life is short, hon. I hope you come to a reckoning and that life gets better for you soon.
take care,
g
Oh my God, that is just cruel on their part. I’m in the beginning of just finding out it is adhd instead of passive aggressive. My spouse swears he doesn’t hate me, but recently said “ he hasn’t left cause the marriage commitment before God” I told him he can go to hell and I’m out a here, he looked at me just totally confused that I had said that, are these people actually retarded, I’m serious here.
I was the AD/HD Partner – Diagnosed about three years ago and medicated.
I was in a relationship with a fantastic person who knew I had ADHD. Still, I didn’t understand my condition to communicate that I even had neurotypical challenges to deal with, let alone explain the scope of potential symptoms. I was drugged and experienced a life-changing improvement in my behaviour, professionalism, emotional regulation, but regrettably hadn’t sought other methods or tactics to deal with behavioural issues before meeting her because I didn’t understand that ADHD is more than just being a goofy, silly, hyperactive, extrovert. That is just the socially unacceptable but fun negatives. I met her and was amazed by how well we worked together. She was forthcoming in expressing her appreciation for my personality, and the ease of the relationship, like puzzle pieces.
My biggest challenge as a professional who is often addicted to work is managing my home life, eating correctly, sleeping correctly. Sometimes it catches up with me – 4 months before the relationship ended, I stopped my medication because it interferes with the ease with which I eat, prepare and manage my diet and makes it challenging to sleep often, especially when I have a busy schedule. So I stopped taking them, feeling happy and in control but tired. Then we started having trouble; I began to take minor errors I made way too seriously, overreacting with severe self-loathing and the resultant behaviours, not being attentive to her minor issues or concerns, which all relationships have. But most importantly, I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong with the relationship – I began thinking she was losing interest and getting extremely rejection sensitive to perceived rejection when there was no problem at all—inventing reasons for guilt. Because I didn’t link any of this to the ADHD and my behaviour but thought it was relationship incompatibilities. I was stunned at my actions, rationally knowing they were unacceptable and unfair over-reactions in hindsight every time, but never having any self-control of my outbursts and behaviours and, more importantly, of my extreme emotions. Eventually, we broke up. And I behaved much, much more demandingly. She was very understanding and caring even in the face of childish behaviour and overall severe depression, to which she ironically suggested I begin retaking my medication, but it was soon too late. I swore I’d just been depressed for a while, and it had caused the problems, and the ADHD meds wouldn’t help. She asked me never to contact her again; after, in an effort to show me far more caring and attentive help than I deserved, she offered to help me clean my apartment and do some meal prep. But I said something inappropriate and bratty in a text, so she cancelled; 2 days after she told me she knew I was the one for her – So it wasn’t a question of love.
I absolutely, rapidly unleashed in a tirade of horrible, angry, undeserved text messages and calls, with no thought and absolute un-tempered self-control, then exhausted fell asleep. I wake up to instantly realise I’ve ruined my chances with someone amazing, something I’ve never experienced anything close to, as far as fulfilling, mutual, caring adult relationships go.
In that aftermath of despair, I started asking more profound questions about what was wrong with me, and with the help of desperate research have been learning about the extent to which ADHD affects dysregulated emotions, their intensity and the lack of impulse control which can’t regulate the resultant behaviour.
I am struggling right now, and ironically, although I never want to let go of this beautiful kind souled person, I have no choice – BUT if this hadn’t happened, I know I never would have opened my eyes. I’m 35, and other relationships weren’t a priority in my life to this extent and came quickly, so this reaction didn’t alarm me in my past.
Im back on the Meds and using their effectivity to help me understand myself and look at what happened; I tried to think about things before realising it was all ADHD that ruined my relationship but I couldn’t bear my emotions without the Meds.
I am trying my best to move on from the intrusive thoughts that –
if only she understood, as the super caring, attentive, loving person she is, we could have worked together through this. She doesn’t deserve the bad memory of me, but it’s Catch 22 – I didn’t know, and she didn’t know, and neither of us could tell each other. In my desperation, I only hope I can one day explain this and redeem myself to some extent in her eyes, fully expecting her to tell me that she doesn’t need these problems in her life.
I know I must fix a myriad of issues, but know, ADHD makes you push away pretty much everyone by the time you’re 30, so I’m going it alone.
So – Addicted to work and lonely is my Normal.
I hope this isn’t too long a reply – thanks for the article.
Dear K,
I’m saddened by your experience. Thanks for detailing it, so that others coming along on the path behind you might reap some wisdom.
Here’s the thing. You did what you were supposed to do. You got diagnosed. You pursued “treatment.”
And, from the sound of it, you …. and your girlfriend…were absolutely failed by hack “treatment.”
You say you went off the medication because it was interfering with your regular dietary habits and your sleep.
Your prescriber should have been monitoring that, should have been using rating scales, should have been educating you about treatment goals and progressing toward them. But I bet none of that happened. Why? Because it rarely does.
Yes, self-education and self-advocacy often make the critical difference. But how were you supposed to know that?
There is so much glad-hanging nonsense online, it’s anyone’s challenge to separate wheat from chaff — and expertise from self-serving hustle.
I’ll just take a wild stab. You were taking an amphetamine that suppressed your appetite during the day and made it hard to “come down” at night, for sleep. And your prescriber either didn’t ask about that or….let’s face it…didn’t care. Sadly, this is all too common.
If you’re in the U.S., chances are good you were prescribed Adderall. While that unique amphetamine might work well for a subset of people, it can ultimately cause disaster for many others.
https://adhdrollercoaster.org/adhd-news-and-research/the-tragic-truth-of-prescription-adderal-or-madderall/
If you’re in the UK, Adderall XR (not IR) is an option, as is Vyvanse, Dexedrine, and several methylphenidate products unique to the UK.
If you’re in Australia, I’ve heard from more than a few folks once optimistic about ADHD treatment see it drain away due to taking Dexedrine.
So, you can see why I’m wondering if a poorly prescribed amphetamine contributed to this situation. Adderall. Dexedrine. Vyvanse/Elvanse at too high a dose.
Your “normal” needn’t be “addicted to work and lonely.”
You deserve a shot at better ADHD treatment. But you might have to work to get it.
My first book, 2008, was a major attempt to empower people with ADHD and their partners to understand ADHD and pursue evidence-based treatment, including with medication. Second book? Same!
Now, my new course. It takes participants by the hand, step by step, through a solid ADHD education — including potential problematic patterns for individuals and couples — and treatment strategies.
You’re only 35. Please don’t give up on a better life. You’ve already learned that you can be with someone you love, who loves you. It’s just managing that pesky ADHD bit that got in the way.
https://adhdsuccesstraining.com/solving-your-adult-adhd-puzzle-for-couples-and-individuals/
take care,
g
How refreshing that this article did not first say the “nagging” partner. I am the non-ADD partner and have a hard time finding self help books and articles that don’t label the partner as nagging!! I Don’t Nag!! I stay silent and have learned to not depend on my husband for any appt making, or taking(the kids), no “honey do” list, no expectations or requests. I do what needs to be done. I do not rely on him for my care, kids care, house care, animal care, etc. “Don’t schedule My time!” I was told many years ago. Then on the flip side, “you act like your a single mom…I am capable of helping out”…. No remembering or insight into the years of lack of follow through and angry yelling.
Going to work and being in my office space is MY control, nobody to tell me what can and can’t be put on the desk, decorations, clutter. I don’t have to worry about someone else being “triggered” by a mess or how I do this that or anything. Home is where I constantly try to avoid any cause of discomfort or annoyance. I feel sometimes everything is stripped of personal choices. “If you know your keys jingling drives me crazy, I don’t know why you don’t do something about it?” So I can’t have my matching keychain (a gift from my sister) because I should be more sensitive to his “triggers”…. One of many examples.. but I don’t argue, I don’t fight back, I silently just do something else that removes something happy for me to not cause discomfort for him… 19 years together. It wasn’t always like this, has gotten worse the older he gets.
I choose to stay. That is what I tell every therapist I have ever gone to. I explain I just need help with tools to manage my own feelings and responses. Couples therapy never makes it past 2-3 appts before he shuts it down for one reason or another.
So Thank you again for not automatically labeling the partner as a Nag, it was refreshing.
Hi Ms. B,
You are most welcome. I think it’s safe to say that no one knows this territory better than I do, from all sides.
Many non-experts claiming expertise are selling easy answers——answers that seem directly targeted to people with ADHD who have little insight to their challenges. Answers that deny and minimize ADHD-related challenges.
I’ve worked hard to help individuals understand what is happening and know how to start problem-solving.
I hope that you can get on that soon. ADHD challenges typically do not improve with age. Treatment can typically make a remarkable difference.
good luck!
g
❤️ this, that’s exactly it! Why are we always labelled as the nagging partner? It’s so hard, I’m just in the process of leaving after 3 years but respect your decision to stay.
I wish I could stay but I have my daughter to consider (not his) and I’m struggling myself to cope with the rollercoaster of behaviour, I just can’t can’t put her through that. I love him dearly, I’ve been through therapy to try and work through it but just got told I should consider what I can do to make life easier for him.
I’ve literally been crying out for help and can’t take any more of the cycle of behaviour. I’m exhausted and distraught at the emotional mind games. Some of it is fun and makes for an interesting life but the other side is so difficult, the constant moodiness, anger out of nowhere and the mixed emotions he suffers with does not make for a happy relationship. Good luck everyone, it’s a bumpy ride x
Hi Hayley,
The mental-health field has a lot to answer for. Missing ADHD entirely (or not knowing what to do with it) and putting all the responsibility on the partners and other loved ones.
If they don’t know what to do, they can at least say so. Instead of making things worse for us.
Again and again and again.
I’m sorry you spent so much time and effort with people who couldn’t help you.
I recognized this 20+ years ago and have been writing, teaching, speaking about it ever since.
If you do want to try to jointly address ADHD-related challenges — this time the right way — I encourage you to check out my courses. Or even to give him a good resource as you go.
Solving Your Adult ADHD Puzzle – for individuals, couples, and professionals
take care,
Gina
Hi Gina!
I can scarcely believe it but hugely grateful that I have found you … someone genuine to acknowledge and validate my experiences [and feelings] with my undiagnosed adhd male friend, of senior years, my immediate neighbour … whose behaviour and responses over the past 17 years, and particularly over the past two months [as he recovered from surgery and required my care], has sucked the life out of me but which has also spurred me to search for some explanations for his extra-ordinarily fractitious, hostile and verbally-aggressive behaviour …
I thank you warmly for your beautiful and thoughtful approach … hope to join your new courses I live in the antipodes …
Dear Ptolemy,
Thank you so much for letting me know that my work has helped you.
This understanding is so important. Confusion tends to keep us frozen and hurt. With understanding, we can start creating better boundaries, seeing context, and taking care of ourselves.
g
P.S. The antipodes…..had not heard Australia referred to thusly! There are quite a few Australians taking the course. I’m always mindful of time zones when I schedule the Zoom meetings. Can’t always include Australia and UK — especially at the same time — but I try to create regular opportunities.
Im taking care of my adhd cousin, it drives me nuts, now im in big depression, i just couldn’t handle his lack of empathy and carelessness. Im very suicidal now
Dear Ryo,
Please take care of yourself. Call a hot line. Say that you cannot continue doing this.
Sometimes. You deserve a life. Extreme ADHD can suck the life out of everyone in the vicinity, including the person who has it.
g
My wife and I’s marriage (of 29 years) is falling apart at the seams. After dealing with shame, failure, and disappointment for years, I was diagnosed with ADHD inattentive a couple of years ago at the age of 54. My wife refuses to believe that my lack of empathy and inattention could be caused by ADHD and is sure it is because of a willful motivation on my part. She refuses to understand the symptoms and its effects on my behavior. I now nauseate her when I withdraw into my own world or lose track of time while watching a TV show. How can I get her to understand the effects of ADHD on my behavior and relationships?
I’m so sorry, Trent. I can only imagine how that feels.
What I’ve found is that the partners of adults with late-diagnosis ADHD become more willing to listen, to learn when their own pain and hurt is acknowledged.
Until then, it just all sounds like, “Here’s even MORE you can do for your ADHD partner.”
I created a course exactly for people in this situation — and for those where the ADHD partner is “in denial” and many more.
I encourage you to take a look. Maybe if she sees you being pro-active, etc.., she will be more receptive.
BUT HERE’S THE THING, TRENT: WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MANAGE SYMPTOMS??? You mention diagnosis but no treatment.
Sometimes this works out better if it’s a team effort.
Two special offers end Oct. 15.
https://adhdsuccesstraining.com/solving-your-adult-adhd-puzzle-for-couples-and-individuals/
I hope this helps,
g
Her responsibility is to herself. She cannot fix your adhd, nor should she be forced to absorb it. Someone needs to speak up for us. We count as much as anyone else, and it’s high time we are recognized for our own needs, rather than just that we don’t have a boatload of neurological problems, so we should absorb everyone else’s. I am the neurotypical wife of an adhd/asd man, and I was duped and cheated on. I lost 15 good years of my life trying to make things work, while my own needs were overstepped and shamed. Enough already. It is what it is. We deserve happiness, too.
Hi Enough Already,
You hit the nail on the head.
This is one big reason I devoted 4 years, with my writing partner Arthur Robin, PhD, to producing the couple therapy guide.
For too long, “ADHD couple therapy” has been focusing all support and sympathy on the ADHD partner — and recruiting the Other Partner has a helper. And if that Other Partner dares to balk, mentions they have needs, too….well, they are not compassionate, cold, withholding, etc.
It’s BOGUS. And it springs largely from three things on the clinical side:
1. Believing that the best way to help people with ADHD is to “align” with them against the world, including their spouses. e.g. “You are gifted and creative. You need to be around people who appreciate you.”
2. Not knowing what else to do.
3. Knowing what else to do (because it’s in my book) but not wanting to learn or be that “directive.”
I hope you are finding more happiness in life.
g
Today, I actually clocked the sigh. And was thinking allot about how much I sigh, something I know both my parents do too.
So it’s strange to read this after those fresh ponderings.
I’m still awaiting and prepping for a diagnosis.
But the awareness is transforming my dynamic with my partner, who I believe also has ADHD. I think we are like inverted pie charts of inattentive to hyperactive ratios… he mostly physically on the go, and I’m usually in my head, with a little of the other in each of us.
With this knowledge, shared with him, courtesy of my obsessive thinking and researching and self help endeavours, we are increasingly, growing in awareness and giving each other so much more benefit of the doubt. I ask for kisses, we share a loving, knowing joke when he squirms and pulls away, or talks about how much he likes his new shoes directly after… but he also obliges much more freely, when I ask him, and seems to enjoy the physical affection, the little pecks on the cheek, that he had totally stopped giving me over the last year or so.
And… as for the sigh, that’s me, today he asked me to do some tasks, wash the dishes, carry this over there etc… I noticed each time I sighed, without thought. I heard it happen, and simultaneously clocked him wincing at my response.
Computing all this I then said. “By the way, I’m not sighing because I don’t want to help you, I think I’m just sighing because my brain is switching gears.” It’s like a part of my brain is sighing, but not my heart, or my higher brain… I absolutely want to help him, and make him feel supported. I was fully willing to help, the sigh was an involuntary reaction, before even processing any follow through thought.
And it made me remember a history of subconsciously letting these out, and thinking back on times when this has been misunderstood by others. And also when the same experience from family members, who also sigh a lot, and who I believe are high in ADHD traits / have ADHD, have left me feeling equally dejected, and triggered my frustration and depleted emotional bank account.
If only we were taught, sooner and more broadly in society, that many of the non verbal cues, we’ve been told mean this or that, may actually not mean anything much at all. It’s potentially as meaningless to read anything personal into it, as it is getting offended by the sound of a cog turning in a machine.
Another one of these sorts of moments to be misunderstood, i’ve noticed happening allot for me, is in understanding the effect my slow processing time, can inadvertently have on others. As well as acknowledging why other’s responses to this, has been so upsetting for me, and lead to my battling to control a short fuse response, or internalising and harbouring anxiety and a feeling of unfairness.
So many times people thought my inability to answer straight away meant I didn’t care. Only to get upset with me, and in turn I’d get very quickly frustrated because I knew I was simply attempting to think, or process. Understandable from both sides. I now say things out loud over and over until the information goes in, with my partner, and this signals to him that i’ve heard and am attempting to process. He’s yet to repay the favour, but I’m able to understand why he’s frequently absent, and what was leading to me feeling unheard. I’m also able to say to him when he’s inpatient with me, doing something he’s requested, when he keeps repeating it, “count to 5, so I can actually process you command and get it done.” And he will count to 5, with a wry smile. We are becoming more mature in our innate childlike deficits. It’s a sweet and beautiful thing to share.
Thank you as ever for sharing all you do, and for believing in people more than most x
Dear Amy,
Thank you for sharing a beautifully thoughtful perspective here.
Inattentive folks often have the most insightful insights. 🙂
I’ve learned this through my local Adult ADHD group. My co-moderator is a fast talker but not a fast thinker. He’s more careful. That means it’s harder for him to jump into the conversation.
With the group, there can be (as you might imagine) some “over-talking” and impulsive responses. I don’t mean it has less value or that these folks are being rude. They aren’t not. We have very interesting conversations — among 25 people or more.
But sometimes the conversation can devolve to rapid-fire “and then there’s this app and this website and…” lol
For the inattentive types, this is frustrating — “I feel like a squirrel trying to cross a four-lane freeway,” said one woman to me. 🙂
So, at my co-moderator’s suggestion, we developed the practice of stopping the conversation for a minute or two, mostly to give the folks with Inattentive traits a chance to speak. And they always have remarkable things to say. Given the space.
I love this in particular in your comment:
Computing all this I then said. “By the way, I’m not sighing because I don’t want to help you, I think I’m just sighing because my brain is switching gears.” It’s like a part of my brain is sighing, but not my heart, or my higher brain… I absolutely want to help him, and make him feel supported. I was fully willing to help, the sigh was an involuntary reaction, before even processing any follow through thought.
ADHD symptoms cannot always be overcome by more understanding. That’s true for individuals and couples. But without the understanding, it’s hard to get past a certain superficial point, even with “optimized” medication.
I devote a good part of Course 1 to this: https://adhdsuccesstraining.com/solving-your-adult-adhd-puzzle-for-couples-and-individuals/
Thank you, Amy. And best of luck with bridging the gaps.
g
This article is so timely! When I was first diagnosed with ADHD, at the age of 47, my husband thought that I would learn about it and fix my behavior, problem solved. Of course it doesn’t work that way, and I had to explain that to him. So then he wanted me to learn everything I could, break the information down into it’s most basic points, and explain it all to him. I had to explain to him that I would be lousy at that. Finally he agreed to read ONE book on ADHD, so I started looking around to see which one I thought would be most helpful. I considered Driven To Distraction; Saved From Distraction; Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?; and a few others, but none of them seemed to be quite the thing for someone with an engineering/hard facts kind of person, especially as I have fairly high functioning ADHD, and there is quite a lot in each of the books that doesn’t really apply to me. I needed to find a book that was short, sweet, and to the point.
I haven’t yet found the right book, and he’s gotten more annoyed by my behavior over the years, even though I have been trying to do a better job of not letting my ADHD get in the way. Needless to say there are times when both of us are unhappy with the other, him because of my behavior, and me because of the way he responds.
Your Adult ADHD Success program sounds great, but we’re living on my public servant’s pension, so money is tight, especially with the cost of knee replacement surgery this year (both of knees). I will definitely look at your book Adult ADHD-Focused Couple Therapy: Clinical Interventions, and I will visit your YouTube page. It’s really encouraging to know that you are a source of helpful information that I can turn to, because when we’re not being really annoyed at each other we really enjoy being together.
Hi Virginia,
I hate when that happens!! When a couple “really enjoys being together” — but ADHD-related issues are creating mischief.
I’m trying to think of a “short and sweet” book.
My friend Annick Vincent’s book might fit that bill. She is an MD in Quebec specializing in ADHD, having trained at UPenn with its ADHD experts.
https://www.attentiondeficit-info.com/book-adult-adhd.php
The thing is, in her metaphor — of the brain needing glasses — the glasses is stimulant medication. And through past conversations, that doesn’t seem to do much for you — for whatever reason.
It might be worth re-doubling efforts there. But also, maybe my course would be useful.
I’m wondering…is it possible he has ADHD, too? I get the engineering-hard-facts profile. But many engineers can read complex books.
Anyway, in the meantime, I encourage you both to sit down and develop a list of “targets” where you can problem-solve one-by-one.
This might help him feel that his needs are being considered — and that there is a procedure. Your first attempt at problem-solving might not always work, but then you problem-solving THAT.
Gathering data. Naming issues. Developing structures. This is so key for ADHD-challenged individuals and couples.
g
Gina,
Thank you for re-posting (?) this article. I wish I had seen it 12 years ago when I was struggling with the same basic issues that the writers here describe with such sorrow. My own experience is so similar. I believe your counsel, especially that about therapists, because it is grounded in so much common sense.
My husband was diagnosed twice with AD/HD. Once by a psychiatrist and then 8 years later, by a neurologist. Both suggested counseling and medications to him–he refused claiming he “didn’t need that stuff.” The neurologist contacted me a few weeks later. She apologized for not sharing his results and her medical counsel with me sooner. She wanted to point out that during his few weeks of testing she observed narcissistic behaviors. She shared that AD/HD often ponies with psychological disorders in addition to its comorbidities. I reflect now–10 years later–how compassionate and forward-thinking she was for the strength of our marriage which she feared would not last without “therapeutic support.”
What I discovered since that (shocking) phone call was, yes, seeking therapy is a good thing. However, I discovered that (many) therapists shift behavioral managment to the non AD/HD partner (me). They often (1) express that the non-AD/HD partner isn’t compassionate enough, (2) suggest that the conflict was due to my “high expectations,” (3) suggest that my codependency is the issue, and (4) do not hold the AD/HD partner (ie, my husband) responsible for either his choices or his actions; instead, because I am the “stronger” of the two, that responsibility is mine.
I also discovered that those psychological disorders influence AD/HD. In my case, I lived with two intertangled impairments that, no matter what I did or we did (when possible), hopelessly caged me and my marriage. I tipped into considering divorce was when I had an epileptic seizure and I had to go to hospital. A day later I was discharged. He was called to come pick me up, he looked at me with disgust at this inconvenience. A nurse soon came in to help me as he could not keep his angry taunts quiet as I struggled to get dressed. On the drive home he berated me for embarassing him, interrupting his work, and setting a poor example for our son (who was then on his own). He made it clear that any more “nonsense” meant my safety would be in jeopardy. I reasoned that if I fell ill, it would be so overwhelming that he would not know how to respond or take action. My gut sense was that he’d sooner toss me under a bus than risk caring for me. This felt too threatening for me to continue our marriage and so after 27 years of marriage, at the age of 61, I ended our marriage.
He claimed he was “dropped cold without the courtesy of an explanation.” This was not true. I took me many years to see, and then to accept, that my endless struggles to just talk to my husband got nowhere. No matter what I said, or did, or tried, were ever rememembered or made the smallest impression on him. I could talk until I dropped, and he’d never hear anything. And, it was that specific processing disorder that worried the neurologist all those years ago, and prompted her to call me. That he’d never be able to listen–a marvel to her and me that he’d been able to attain his PhD.
A year ago I came across your Rollercoaster book. I love how you set it up, not by chapters but that one can just open it anywhere and read. It has profoundly improved my understanding of the misery I had hopelessly tried to figure out for 27 years. I don’t think it alone could have saved my marriage. It had too many disorders and “baggage” to heal and sort out. I had to recognize and accept that I was a worthwhile person who deserved a happier intimate partnership. That it took me so long to realize is ok. I chalk that up to what I had to learn about myself and love. I lost a husband and the companionship I enjoyed so much early on, but I gained a wonderful son–my gift.
Divorce is not what I ever wanted, but it was the only option I could imagine. I reflect back to the early days, of courtship, honeymoon, the birth of our son… Those were such happy times for both of us. I believe to this day that there’s a good, deserving person underneath that husband of cruel words and behaviors. But I also know from experience that after spending so much effort and years working with professionals–medical, psychological, and CODA–that no one knew how to reach that deserving person without requiring me to donate my lifetime first.
Dear Carla,
Thanks for telling your story here.
Yes, I decided to re-post my essay from 2015 because this information is needed now more than ever. Yes, I am the writer here. 🙂
You Me ADD came out 13 years ago, one of the very few books on Adult ADHD at that time. And the only one — then and since — to comprehensively describe Adult ADHD, particularly the late-diagnosis complications, the evidence-based treatment strategies, the nature of denial and getting past it, and the potential effect on the partners.
I cannot say that if you’d found my book earlier — and thus had been better equipped, including in vetting mental-healthcare providers — that you could have preserved the relationship. But I am fairly sure you’d have had answers sooner. It is still extremely hard to find professionals who have this expertise. Instead, they overlay common ADHD-related patterns with talk of personality disorders, etc.. And prescribing patterns are generally sub-par.
I say it’s important “more now than ever” because
1) COVID pushed marginally coping situations into the danger zone, and
2) the trend online now is to tell the partners of adults with ADHD to be more understanding, more patient, more accommodating, more, more, more, etc.. As if many didn’t already try that.
This misguided advice does not come from experts. It comes from people marketing themselves as experts. Unfortunately, some less-than-discerning therapists and even prescribers now perpetuate these very bad ideas.
Anyway, my book is not so much about “saving relationships” as it is about “knowing what you are up against and what you might want/be able to do about it.”
I cannot imagine being so callous as to “gaslight” people in situations such as you describe. Rather, I have supported them for 20 years. Along with adults with late-diagnosis ADHD.
I’m sorry it was so hard for you. Thank you for this comment, which might help someone on the path behind you.
I hope you are happy and healthy.
Gina
I’m 41. A year ago, I began to consider that I may have ADHD. Within that year, I lost my job and only a few months later my girlfriend of 3 years broke up with me, as many others have before, because I wasn’t meeting their emotional needs.
I am oh so tired of this pattern repeating itself. I have gotten a prescription and am on meds now. This does make things easier, and for the first time, I’m able to step back and see things from her perspective instead of simply wondering why she “changed her personality” and now finds me to be unreliable and emotionally unavailable.
2020 was such a rollercoaster in itself, and I was very glad we weathered it, only for it all to fall apart in 2021.
I’ve got a more positive outlook now, a new job, and I’ll be moving to a new city soon to start over, but not so far away so that I can’t attempt to patch things up with her.
Without her help I would have never realized I had the disorder to begin with, and I feel like I owe her so much.
Any advice for convincing the love of my life that I’m really not a bad guy and that I truly, deeply love and want the best for her?
Hi AC,
I feel for you both. So much unnecessary hurt, suffering, and loss……all due to unrecognized/poorly managed ADHD.
It seems that many people “hunkered down” during the worst of COVID. Then, as restrictions started easing, they could expand their options.
It might be, as they say, “that ship has sailed.”
“Too little, too late,” say many partners of adults with late-diagnosis ADHD. They are out of steam—and out of caring.
If only they—and their ADHD partners—spent less time operating out of misperceptions and poor coping responses and more time getting proper assistance.
Or it might be the flame still flickers—perhaps (she might tell herself) against her better judgment.
The main thing is for you to focus on “getting on board” with the diagnosis and treatment. “Being on meds” is a step in the right direction. But it often isn’t enough, especially if the prescriber’s expertise is lacking.
New skills. New habits. Getting better connected between cause and effect. This might help you prove to her that “you’re a changed man.” The important thing is proving it to you, as you might consider new relationships.
So, I would wait until you are established and things are going more smoothly in your life.
Maybe at that point, write a letter to her, thanking her for her support and sharing a few of the positive changes you’ve made. See what happens. Let that determine next moves.
Meanwhile, I do encourage you to consider my new course. I’ve worked so hard, for years, to provide the targeted, comprehensive strategies individuals and couples need.
https://adhdsuccesstraining.com/adult-adhd-solving-the-essential-puzzle-pieces-for-couples-and-individuals/
The Internet would have us believe that it’s all “tips and tricks”. But it’s not. Tips and Tricks cannot land for long on a shaky foundation.
“ADHD relationships” don’t exist in a vacuum. They exist in the presence of ADHD, however well or poorly managed. However well or poorly understood by both partners.
Good luck in your new life!
g
I’ve been following this site for a very, Very Long time. I myself was diagnosed at 25 years old and have been divorced shortly thereafter at 28 and now I am 38 and seeking to end a relationship. So take this as you will.
Let me preface this with my daughter’s father (the one I am trying to end it now with) I am pretty sure that he also has ADD, but a different type than myself and our daughter.
Breakups hurt. Like hell. Especially when you’re the one being broken up with. I don’t know if there will be any convincing of her to reconcile. I feel like you *can*, however, reach out in a non-creepy way, say your bit, and then move on. Not as an attempt to reconcile, but as an acknowledgment of her absolutely brilliant and amazing efforts to send you down the path of diagnosis and treatment and that you will be forever indebted to her for that. If you are to add any sort of hint of: “let’s get back together”, I feel that trying to force a reconciliation is in extremely bad taste at this point and will taint the message. The message is: that you are indebted to her brilliance and truly, truly appreciate her efforts to put up with you being such a pain in the butt (while undiagnosed). And thanking her for pointing you in the right direction. That you are sorry things had to end the way that they did and that you look forward to growing out of the ADD slump you’ve been in your entire life and couldn’t have done it without her help. Beyond that, don’t mention reconciliation right now. It will taint your message: gratitude and appreciation.
See how she responds. On your end, forget about attempts to “get her back” for now. Read books about how to be emotionally connected and available and make notes for the future.
Thanks, Rachel. Wise and no-doubt hard-earned advice.
g
As of two days ago, my ADHD boyfriend and I have broken up. He, in a fit of rage, because I had the audacity to confront a woman who sent him a sexting text. I know I drove my point home and badgered him, but I was so angry and fed up / at my breaking point. Although he did avoid her advances, he told me that they would have no contact, and after I confronted her, I saw that he had called her that evening. Yes, I did look through his phone, and yes, I know it’s a breach of privacy. All of my paranoia began when I realized that he was looking at MY phone all the time, and then concocted insane stories based on texts (etc.) from my friends. I suppose that I was retaliating by looking through his phone, because I have noticed a pattern with severely jealous people over the years, in that often, if they are spying on you, they are actually so insecure that they will make up stories in order to have an excuse to do shady things themselves. I am not a naturally jealous person, but I do have a tendency to see the ‘good side’ of people, and allow their issues to be of greater importance than my own. I have been a caretaker in many forms, so I tend to be empathetic to most situations. I tried to talk to ADHD boyfriend candidly, and I think he truly believed that he was being candid with me. But I became hesitant to discuss anything of importance with him, because the fallout was always so exhausting. I won’t go into detail about his behaviors, because most of them have been described by other people in this comment thread. He is a former drug user, who has used a wide array of hard drugs, and is currently still self-medicating with daily marijuana and alcohol, and although I gave him several chances with the ‘dealbreaker’ boundaries I set forth from the beginning ( he was honest with me on the first date about SOME of his ‘former’ drug use, but I found out as time went on that it was MUCH more than what he had told me ). He has relapsed to using cocaine at least 3 or 4 times ( and other drugs several times ) since we have been together, and when I caught him on it ( by spying on his phone ), he suddenly became ‘honest’ about it, later reverting to a guilt-rage usually on the same day, accusing me of all sorts of false things. He thought that, since he told me about the drug use after he had been caught, that it counted as full disclosure. I do not feel that way, but I did remind him of the dealbreaker conversation, and said that I needed a timeline of when he could go to counseling, and whether or not he would consider taking medication, since his behavior has ruined most all of his relationships. I told him I would stick with it until I could take it no longer. He continued to lie to me, and the way he handled the situation with this woman ( who is a full-on drug user, AND the wife of his friend who is in jail ), I have just reached the conclusion that he has other undiagnosed mental problems that I cannot tolerate. BTW: this woman contacted him MULTIPLE times a day every day, and I know for a fact that he has given her drugs. This may sound horrible, but after this experience, I will more than likely avoid getting intimate with anyone with ADHD. I have never been so exhausted in all my life, and I have dealt with many caregiving tasks in my background ( and currently take care of my father with dementia ), and my heart and mind are at full capacity, with no more room for anything else. A 43 year old man who associates with people who encourage a low level lifestyle, and his refusal to consider medication or any treatment whatsoever, all while self medicating, just seems narcissistic to me. Being a positive person has its downside, and I have learned a great lesson from this relationship… I am going to restart therapy for myself, so that I can learn to love myself again after all of the things this man has said and done to me. I don’t care if it’s purposeful or not… there really is some degree of abusiveness that straddles the ADHD, so I am removing myself from it altogether. Thank you for giving me a safe space to talk about it, and thank you for advocating for BOTH partners in an ADHD relationship. I am so relieved to have found this site. I may anonymously send my ex your books, and just pray for him. That can be my swan song, so that my conscience can be clear moving forward.
Dear Anne,
I’m glad you found my site — and that you are taking your life back from what sounds like a hugely draining distraction. Or worse.
Here’s the thing: The Internet is mostly a hot mess when it comes to Adult ADHD information, especially regarding relationships.
I despair to see so many younger women, in particular, talked into “being more understanding and compassionate because he/she has ADHD.”
That means they put up with a lot of bad behavior, believing “he/she can’t help it.”
They might think they are strong enough, in the beginning. But over time, the risk is getting so worn out and hurt, they don’t know which way is up anymore.
To be clear: ADHD is never an excuse for bad behavior. It might explain some of it but the next step for that person should be addressing it, not ignoring it and inflicting it on others.
All that said: People with ADHD are not clones. Far from it. We take each person as they come, seeing that person and not a stereotype of ADHD.
The fact that your ex-boyfriend abuses cocaine, alcohol, and marijuana tells me he’s never been close to owning/managing his ADHD. ADHD can be quite enough on its own; there needn’t be “something more”. It all depends on that individual’s manifestation of this highly variable syndrome we call ADHD.
It seems that behavior you might not have tolerated in another person, you tolerated in this person, because he has ADHD and you wanted to be empathic? Rather than swear off any future romantic attachments to people with ADHD, it might be more practical to set clear boundaries with any romantic partner in the beginning. Regardless of whatever diagnosis they have/don’t have.
But you are smart to realize: Even people with ADHD who diligently pursue treatment and problem-solving can require more “accommodations” from their intimate partners. You are currently caring for your father with dementia; my heart goes out to you there. Remember that your interactions with him also tax the “coping” part of your brain. There might be little left to cope with a partner’s brain-based challenges, and that’s important to know.
Nothing about what you did sounds “horrible” to me. Including checking his phone. Given the behavior you describe, that seems warranted.
I encourage you never to apologize for taking care of yourself.
best,
g
Thank you so much for your article. I am doing more research than ever on AD/HD. I am studying psychology to go into professional counseling & then neuro psych.. but I still feel defeated.
I have never liked someone enough to be in a real relationship until this year.. We met end of December and it started great. Little things here & there bothered me, but I figured we could work them out. It was such a rollercoaster, though, that I ended it. Too many “red flags”: lack of communication (hours to days), uninterested in how I was (my day, my stories etc.), never asking to spend time together (though usually agreeing when I asked), moody and more.. I didn’t understand why he wanted to date me if he acted that way.
Fast forward to trying to be friends, then falling back into dating but not wanting to get messy again, and it just circled over and over through mid March. I was SO hurt. I never let myself get walked over- why was I allowing it now? Deep down I knew he had something going on, but I figured it was just anxiety like he mentioned he gets.
End of March we got into a fight, that ended up in me saying that this was hurting me more, so if he wanted a relationship I am willing to try but I can’t do this push & pull. He agreed & asked for more space to hermit, & I asked for a little more communication (like “I work today” etc.). It was weird the first few days but now we’re getting back to normal.. It feels good, & I see his improvement on communication, but everything is feeling the same. At the end of the day I’m questioning if he even cares about me.
I studied borderline & ad/hd in regards to this, but really think it is ad/hd. I know anxiety can be masked to look like ad/hd but I am almost certain it isn’t related. Anyways, I have created a list of how I can better support him & reminders for myself like “His symptoms are not a reflection of how he feels about me” & “Give him more time/space than you deem feasible”. It helps in the moment, but then again at the end of the day I haven’t heard from him since this morning, yet he’s online, I don’t even know if he wants to see me this weekend.. & I feel like my boyfriend wants nothing to do with me.
I don’t know how far I am supposed to tolerate & support before I up & leave.. Then I also feel like numbing my feelings (or setting them aside), because it’s not about me.. If I didn’t think it was mental health related I would have never gotten back with him.. And I don’t know if he has even considered it.. When am I overstepping to help? When am I being too supportive? I don’t want to be his therapist (no partner should be), but I don’t want to be passive and hurt.
Hi Lisa,
I encourage you to take with a ton of salt the various “advice” you find to the partners of adults with ADHD online and with books written by non-experts.
It is easier than easy to say, “Just be more understanding, patient, etc.” So easy. And so easy to shame the partners of adults with ADHD who aren’t.
This is your life, hon. And you have a right to be cautious about who you join up with in life.
ADHD is considered highly treatable — and that’s true for many. But it’s also very hard to make happen.
It takes effort and commitment, on both parts. His symptoms might not reflect how he feels or cares about you ….but what he DOES with those symptoms absolutely does.
I encourage you to read my first book and forget most of the SEO’d-to-death-with-keywords you read online about ADHD and relationships.
https://amzn.to/3dIpPln
g
Hi Gina,
I’m writing this as an adult with ADHD. I really don’t know what to do anymore.
I’m ruining my marriage, and tonight I thought I might’ve drawn the last straw. Everything you’ve described about your husband and his motivations/struggles sounds similar to my own.
Everytime I read stories about people with ADHD, it does little but to reaffirm that “yep, that’s me”.
But you said something very interesting that I’ve not seen anywhere else in an article. The idea that therapists and coaches have a tendency to protect their clients. I have seen a couple therapists, and I’m currently seeing a coach.
The feeling of being caught between the advice of my therapist and the feelings of my spouse is enough to drive me absolutely crazy. I fully understand what you mean when you say that they can gaslight my spouse. So I guess I have two questions.
1) How can I best handle the situation if I feel that my coach/therapist is becoming more of a protective friend than an objective councilor? It doesn’t help that I am naturally a friendly and charming person to most people.
2) How can I provide my spouse some comfort and stability when she has been through this cycle a hundred times throughout our marriage?
Apologies, commitments, moments of clarity, and calls to action no longer hold any water. They have failed far too many times to provide comfort.
I am seeing a psychiatrist in a couple months to talk about possibly starting medication for the first time, but as you said in your post, that is just part of the equation for treatment. I’m feeling pretty hopeless, ashamed, and increasingly detached from my wife as I continue to let her down, miscommunicate, fight with her, and lose her trust.
Thanks for any helpful thoughts you might have.
Dear William,
I am so very sorry to learn of your situation. My sympathies to your wife, too.
It comes as no surprise to me, unfortunately. As you noticed, I warn about trusting any random mental-health professional to understand evidence-based ADHD treatments.
Some people don’t understand my reasoning. One person said to me, “You’re just trying to protect your brand.”
After I stopped laughing (marketing has never been my forte; I’m all about content and service), I realized that’s how it might appear to more people.
The Internet has changed everything. Self-promotion is easy, cheap, and often effective — even when based on the slimmest of credentials. It confuses people who are stressed and confused. Then there’s this “Death of Expertise” trend.
As for the mental-health professionals who fail to recognize ADHD — or know what to do about it — I write about that in my first book (You Me ADD). Including a chapter called “When the Wrong Therapy Is Worse Than No Therapy”. Last I checked, there was ONE masters-degree program in mental health that covered ADHD. ONE.
To combat all this confusion and misdirection, my co-author and I spent five years developing and writing a couple-therapy model for ADHD. Endorsed by legitimate, preeminent clinical researchers.
https://adhdrollercoaster.org/adhd-and-relationships/qa-adult-adhd-focused-couple-therapy/
If I were you, I’d read that book together with my spouse. Especially the medication chapter. More about that in a second.
FINALLY, the fact that you are only just now starting to think about medication means you have either intentionally ignored good advice or never received it.
Does everyone with ADHD HAVE TO take medication? Of course not. But when nothing else is working, it’s time to remember, ADHD is a diagnosis, and ADHD is potentially the most impairing outpatient mental-health condition.
I would not wait a couple of months. I would get on the horn NOW to a prescriber that you and your wife have vetted (after reading You Me ADD’s chapter on medication).
Don’t take a gamble that another mental-health professional who doesn’t understand ADHD will play fast and loose with your life.
Do I sound hyperbolic? I imagine so. I also speak of widespread reality. You can take my word for it —or not. 🙂
I wish you luck. You and your wife deserve better.
take care,
Gina
The medical issue is one of real concern to me.
I had surgery for cancer when I was 25, and while I was still in the hospital, my ADHD husband went to go play golf with his dad. Then, when I was 27, I had an ear infection that turned into meningitis. It’s a much more dangerous situation when you’re hallucinating and completely incapable of expressing your medical needs.
He knew I was out of my mind when I told him I thought we were in Denver (we lived in Memphis). So rather than calling our regular doctor’s office, he called his ADHD brother, who was a general practice medical doctor at the time (he’s since left the medical profession to become a blueberry farmer – something much better suited to his ADHD).
It was Friday, and his brother came over and said it would be fine to just take me to my regular doctor on Monday morning. After a feverish weekend of sleeping, throwing up and hallucinating, he took me to my doctor on Monday morning, who told him to take me directly to the hospital. I spent 5 days in the hospital.
It just never occurred to him (or his brother) that I could be having a serious problem that needed immediate attention. That would require stepping into the adult role. Considering that he dismisses half the things I say when I’m fully in control of myself, it’s not surprising that he would dismiss my needs when I’m not.
Oh Erin. That is exactly the fear….the nightmare.
Your dh and a blueberry farmer (medical doctor or not, it seems that didn’t work out so well for him), deciding if you should live or die.
Horrifying.
I’m glad you got help when you needed it.
Gina
It’s actually hard to believe, even while it’s happening, isn’t it?
I get it. Most of the time when I am sick, I am in my room the entire day, [days]. He never checks on me. I have no food or water even, unless I call my 20-year-old son.
I was very sick a few years ago, thought it was the flu until I was bedbound, shaking uncontrollably. My 16-year-old son came in and put his sleeping bag on me and laid across me to get me to stop. Never saw my husband until I collapsed on the floor. He took me to urgent care and they could not get my blood pressure. They insisted on an ambulance, but my husband said, “no, that’s no problem, I’ll take her”, and walked me to the car.
I got to the hospital and came to. I heard a doctor say he was from the CDC. He said, “You are a very lucky lady”. I didn’t realize until later that I had a life-threatening bacterial infection, and had almost died. My husband never really mentioned it, he just moves along. He never told me if the doctor or nurses told him anything! I have to be the one to tell my 5 kid’s, that I am sick and cannot help them. My husband doesn’t advocate for me in any way. You feel crazy, like your all alone in this bizarre vortex, of whys.
Right now I am recovering from Covid. My husband doesn’t ask me how I’m doing and then I feel stupid when I have to pipe up and tell him, “I’m too weak to do this or that or that I cannot walk as fast as him. I’ve told him some of the pretty bad ongoing symptoms I have, [I don’t think I complain too much] , and his response is usually NO WORDS! How can someone just say….nothing? Or, the big “Oh”. “I just don’t think” is the answer. “Oh”, I respond, What can you say?
Lastly, My Mother died.. I was in shock and panic. I needed to get out of the hospital. We had brought separate cars. I rushed to the parking lot, [apparently], not realizing I hadn’t fully explained what I was doing and HE was so upset, frightened, or whatever that he yelled at me across the parking lot, in front of estranged family, [thank you]. “What are you doing?” Furthering the, I’m crazy scenario. I don’t remember what I said to him, got in my car, and started driving. He called while I drove and yelled at me some more, “where are you going? What are you doing….. I could barely speak and he hangs up on me. I go to my Mothers house, to be close to her, he followed me and yelled at me some more in her driveway.
Later, I told him, something like. I was in shock, you idiot. The worst time in my life and he can’t figure something out! I cannot and will not trust him again. I have spoken to my 24-year-old, very responsible daughter about who to contact and what to do if I am incapacitated. It’s my only hope.
It’s been 40 long years.
I am either very strong or very foolish.
Probably both.
Dear Hope,
I find your story heartbreaking. You have all my sympathies.
Are you strong or foolish? Yes, maybe both. Or maybe, as with many other people in similar situations, you are the “frog in the pot.”
The water wasn’t so hot when you climbed in. It might even have been comfortable.
But over time, as it heated up, your ability to get out of the pot diminished.
Maybe you also stayed together for your children. Some do that, fearing shared-custody situation that would be truly dangerous for their children (e.g. forgetting to put on their seat belts, leaving dangerous medication out, driving dangerously, etc.).
I hope that you can find some peace and comfort now in life. You deserve it.
take care,
g
Thank you so much for this article! I look forward to reading your materials.
My husband has had ADHD since he was young and has not been medicated since his dad took him off meds in high school.
We are at a near breaking point in our relationship, to the point we have temporarily separated in order to 1: cool off and 2: allow me to organize the house so that we can both tolerate living here.
We’ve been married for 8.5yrs and we both have other issues as well. It was so assuring for me to read your story bc I’ve been feeling like there’s no way to make it work. I definitely understand how hurtful it can be when they respond as if you’re a pest.
So a little on my story bc it helps to explain the complexity of my situation. I was raised predominately by my narcissistic mother with a younger and very troubled sister. For a portion of my younger years my mom was married to my sisters dad who was also physically and emotionally abusive. There were no stable adults that were reliable (my dad was stable, but I didn’t see him very much due to his living situation) and life was traumatic.
In my early teenage years my mom did a role reversal on me where she (after finally choosing to leave her 2nd marriage) put all her weight and responsibility on me including my younger sister. She put her emotions on me and expected me to carry her, her job was to earn a paycheck and pay bills and that’s all she was interested in doing.
Then once I was old enough to work, I got a job and she handed me a bunch of bills too, more than I could pay and she was intermittently working, but not enough to make it. I was the peacemaker type of kid so I took it on without complaint and the more I did the more she gave up.
When I met my husband my mom got insecure and started doing a bunch of really mean and unreasonable things so I had to move out and in with him fairly early in our relationship. I went into my new relationship still accustomed to being a caretaker so when my husband didn’t act responsibly I’d just take care of it.
It set up a bad habit first thing and it worked until I just got too tired to do it anymore. When we moved into our house we didn’t take the time to set it up properly in the beginning bc he had convinced me to allow us to move in with my mom (he thought she’d changed bc she started going to church and was behaving a little better) to help her not lose her house while we saved money on rent to buy our own. Well, that turned into a situation where we needed to leave in a hurry and so we didn’t set up our house at the beginning.
He also has a tendency to hoard things (materials for projects he never starts etc) so we’ve been living in near complete chaos for 7 years with my ocd tendencies making it more like hell. I’ve spent the last 7 years trying to get him to be an equal partner with me, sharing responsibilities and working as a team, but I’ve been progressively destabilizing the whole time trying to combat the anxiety from the mess and all the things that were never done.
As a result he has created a lot of distance between us and has become even more irresponsible to the point that we are in a financial crisis over missed work and unpaid bills. He would hide in a room and play video games all day or watch anime. I couldn’t get him to help me with anything, he wouldn’t even take his trash and dishes to the kitchen, I’d have to go hunt for them. I was truly starting to wonder if he was doing it on purpose just to tick me off and I was just so angry and frustrated all the time.
It was hard for me to validate those feelings even though I clearly knew that a measure of it was unacceptable. So now we are doing a trial separation where he’s living with his mom (who won’t take care of him like I did bc she doesn’t do it for herself, idk if that’s better or worse) and I’m at the house alone.
We are trying to get into counciling, each to deal with our own issues first and then as a couple once we make some individual progress. The financial part of that is hard at the moment, but since he’s left he has been forced to actually see the disaster we are in and he’s starting to address it at least a little bit. It took getting him out to address his escapism.
He has the capacity to be a very loving, kind and generous person, that why I fell in love with him, but I’ve seen none of that for years now so I just have to trust that somehow we can bring that side of him back.
He sees me as overly negative and if his utterances are any indication, a pest. I have battled with the question, when he tells me that he can’t do something or isn’t able to motivate himself, whether it’s true or an excuse.
I’m still not entirely sure, but I will learn more especially now that I’ve found your page and have some confidence that I’m not the only person facing these challenges and that they truly are hard and it’s not just me being over sensitive. Thank you again so much, and if you have any insight into my situation that you think will help please share.
Dear Amanda,
I’m glad you found my blog, too. You might want to check out my first book.
It will give you a deep and broad education as to what ADHD is and isn’t, how living a few decades without diagnosis and treatment can result in very unhealthy patterns, and how living with another person’s ADHD can affect you.
Your background sounds so difficult. I’m sorry you had to endure that…and now this.
It’s true that some people with ADHD can be “loving, kind, and generous,” as you write. Especially in the beginning of the relationship.
But as time goes on, many things can happen: “loving, kind, and generous” turns out to be an act (or at least short-lived), ADHD-related challenges and fallout interfere with expressions of these qualities, and — lacking insight as to their challenges — the pattern might be to blame others who are in their vicinity. That is, you.
I urge you to take care of yourself. That might be more easily done if you find a partner who can act as a partner in a more equitable way.
g
Maybe counseling would help. But too often, it does not. Counseling is not typically the treatment for ADHD symptoms and problematic behaviors as you describe here. Medication typically is the most effective strategy. Once that’s on board and optimized, the other issues can be addressed one by one.
I’m 6yrs into the chaos & I am at my breaking point.
I’ve been telling him I am lonely for the last year and a half.
We have two small children both with special needs one with asd & adhd. My ringtone for him is literally the Peter pants song and I just referred to him as Peter Pan because it seems like he wants to live in never Neverland and just do whatever he wants to and never come home and help me with the kids or anything.
I now have to carry the load for three people + myself I feel like I’m raising three special needs children. I’m sick of being the only adult I need a partner not a problem maker.
I was very ill and had surgery if I ask him to feed the children but also means clear plates they used to eat & and putting them in the sink not leaving the food to on the table to rot and help me clean up later leaving soda cans everywhere trash goes in the trash cans it makes me feel like he disrespects me like I’m his slave.
He has the complete inability to recognize and understand the needs of others literally if I was on fire I would have to tell him to get a bucket and fill it with water and then pour it on me! I have to handle 100% of the finances or everything will be paid late or I have to nag him constantly easier to just do myself. I cannot rely on him I cannot trust him with anything!
This is not a partnership I feel like I’m his mother. We have lived in our house for two years and despite making a place for everything in this house he won’t put his stuff there! Despite having a garage full of tools I bought my own small toolbox so I can find them he stole them when I need them well he stole & lost them all because he couldn’t find his.
In six years I have probably bought 50 phones that’s how many times he has broken and lost his phone lost his wallet at least 20-30times. He has been ADHD since a child that refuses to take any medication got him to go to a counselor for about a year who also suggested he take medication but he won’t do it!
I have my own emotional issues and I have needs and not one of them are met. Complains he doesn’t get enough sex but I am not attracted to someone I have to mother and if you spend your whole night out in the garage playing with your cars and no attention to me then you will not get any. Not to mention the amount of resentment that has built up has completely turned me off from him
Then he throws a tantrum like a little child Breaks thing On purpose and breaks everything else by being irresponsible.
I have done tons of research I am trying to be very understanding but I can only express my needs so many times that this family needs him to be here and his attention on us, Not helping his buddy out not starting projects.
Clean clothes are hung or folded and put in the closet or drawer not just dumped on the floor in the corner of the room. It’s just insanity!!!! Chaos in my house is chaos in my mind and I’m about to lose my mind.
How can I get him to hear me??? I have feel like I’m invisible I have no voice I’m not being heard, At this point I feel like he will never get it until he comes home and one day me and the kids are gone.
Why the hell does he get to keep living life like a free spirited child while I shoulder the immense amount of responsibility of running a household caring for two special needs children 99% alone …and he also insists I make his lunch otherwise he will spend $20 a day on food what?
I am not his mother! But he can’t even identify what he would want me to make him? Just seems like everything he does is some way to make my life more difficult! And it feels malicious I know it’s not but the fact that he won’t get help makes me feel like this is his choice To make my life as difficult as possible…..And I have spent so much time and effort trying to understand and help him and I feel like this man understands nothing about me and doesn’t even know me And isn’t even interested in doing so
Dear Julie,
I hear you, and I’m so sorry you’ve found yourself in this situation.
I guess you really know that it doesn’t matter how many times you tell him or ask him for something. It’s not going to register.
It’s up to you now. You have the power to take control of your life. You are obviously strong and have been taking care of so much. Imagine what life would be without the constant sabotage, however unintentional.
Medication can be very helpful. But with the habits and attitude that you describe him as having, medication will likely only go so far. Having all that freedom to do what he wants — while you pick up the pieces — isn’t something he’ll give up easily, I imagine.
Perhaps that’s even why he rejects medication. He knows/fears that it means then he’ll have to become more responsible.
Sometimes when you’re in the middle of the vortex, it’s hard to see straight.
You’ve made a strong first step, in voicing your feelings here. I wonder if there’s any way you can get some time to yourself, even for a weekend.
COVID-19 probably makes that impossible. But if you could just start detaching in your mind a bit and focusing on what you’d rather see in your life, it might help you to feel less dependent upon him “doing something” that it seems he is not inclined toward doing.
I wish you peace and self-care.
Gina
Gina,
Thank you for a great article. I was diagnosed last year and my wife and I have been married a bit over ten years. She is the complete opposite of ADHD, as sharp as they come, and a Clinical Social Worker as well.
I just happened on your site because we’re struggling greatly; it’s difficult to find resources for the spouse with ADHD to work on how to improve themselves in the marriage; how to understand and respond positively to the non-ADHD spouse. Too many times I think it’s one thing, go all out on that, but completely miss the boat on what she really needs.
I look forward to learning more of your experiences as the non-ADHD spouse.
Marc
Hi Marc,
COVID is hitting many ADHD-challenged adults and couples very hard, and it’s easy to imagine why.
I encourage you to read my first book: https://amzn.to/3oNiRz6
You’ll find the range of degrees and ways in which ADHD can affect the adults who have it and their loved ones. Moreover, it details treatment strategies.
Truly, optimizing ADHD treatment can improve all of life, including relationships, health, happiness, and more.
Thanks for your comment,
g
I am sorry but your article is full of shit. It is hard enough to find someone to spend time with.. Don’t make a mountain out of a mole Hill and get on with your life.
Hi Brad,
Thanks for providing an example of bullying and gaslighting.
g
Gina,
Aptly spoken!
Hi
This is so helpful as my marriage is quickly unraveling. I’ve only recently considered that a good portion of our challenges are caused by undiagnosed ADHD. Unfortunately while these scenarios are exactly what we experience he’s uninterested in considering that this could be a basis for our problems.
He remains angry at me (almost always), spins scenarios and words often and rarely owns up to his part of a situation. I often feel like I’m crazy with so many inconsistencies and constant navigating of either the mine field of his emotions or the newest version of a scenario. He’s largely not interested in counseling or any consistent help.
I feel lost. I love him but our relationship is largely unhealthy. He’s in the church circles and does well managing all of this outwardly.. only within the home does this often come into play .. making it hard to seek support as everyone knows him as the funny godly guy.
Would love to hear your thoughts..
Hi MF,
I appreciate your situation — he’s the “funny Godly guy” while you are the little bag of frowns. 🙂
You are not alone. This is all too common a phenomenon.
Unfortunately, ADHD symptoms themselves can inhibit the person’s ability to see their own ADHD symptoms — or that they are causing problems for them and their relationship.
So, it is rare for the spouse to say, “Hey, I figured it out — ADHD!” and the potential-ADHD spouse to say, “Great! Where do I sign up?”
It’s not fair. But many times it is up to the “partner of” to be the first to self-educate. The more you become educated and the more you validate your perceptions, the more clear you will be about the extent to which ADHD is interfering with your marriage and your husband’s life.
I wrote my book for people like you….who need a comprehensive course in Adult ADHD, including its potential effects on the partners and the range of evidence-based strategies. Including “getting through denial.”
I encourage you to read or listen to it. Getting validation for your perception might help you to care less what “everybody else” thinks — and to know that being in this “largely unhealthy” relationship” is not how you want to spend the rest of your life.
Please take care of yourself and invite the “church circle” people to spend a week at your house, with your husband in charge of everything. See what happens. 🙂
g
Hi MF,
I have been married to a man with ADHD for 44 years. All along he has and still tries to make everything harmful that he does, my or someone else’s fault. He seems mortified by accountability. We did lots of therapy. He gave constant promises and lip service but in the end he said he felt phoney if he had to try and work on some of his behaviour issues and find new ways of communicating or working with his problems. He said he is who he is and should just accept it. (Lying repeatedly, drinking too much, cheating while travelling, being clued out and “not bothering” (his words) when he needed to care in important situations, gaslighting, back stabbing, coming on to my women friends and trying to gossip about me, being an unengaged parent so I needed to do it all.) I could go on and I have left out the worst of it.
Has it been worth it? I can’t believe I believed for so long that it could have been worth it, if he had truly wanted to work on his issues, perhaps get meds, but he didn’t and doesn’t . He is an expert at eliciting sympathy from those who don’t know what he is like at home and this seems to be enough for him. If I was giving advice to my younger self, I would say “Go! and don’t look back.”
I have accomplished things in my life in spite of the sabotage and chaos from his mind, actions and inaction, but I feel I have wasted at least half of my adult life dealing with his dysfunctional issues. If the person with ADHD does not do the work and realize the harm they cause, it will only get worse. Sorry to say this, but after all these years of patience, responsibility taking, loving and proactive work on myself, nothing has changed because he doesn’t want to and that has made it impossible. We now live in separate parts of the house and if I can figure out how to leave financially I will, ( I’m 67) to have a decade or two of peace would be great.
Thank you, Nona.
g
Hi Gina, thank you so much for your book. It’s definitely in my library. My husband and I have been coping poorly with his ADHD and addiction(s) for 7 years; and just finally found respectable help for the past year.
Through my research, I realized I was coping by trying to “control” him – aka co-dependent behaviors – in a misguided attempt to feel safe. When in reality self-care made me feel safer. Further learning taught me to stay in my own “hula hoop” (S.M.A.R.T) – his decisions, behaviors, etc are his responsibility; and my decisions, behaviors, etc are mine – and get out, and stay out, of his hula hoop. (e.g. am I doing something for him that he CAN & SHOULD be doing for himself?) Which I do all right with for the most part.
However, the times where I start to lose it is,
1) we are caregivers for my parents, and he occasionally makes decisions that put my family’s safety at risk.
Take last night as an example: he stays up late in their house to watch TV and when he comes back to our fifth wheel to sleep, he forgets to close the garage.
As he comes in, and in my half asleep state, I’m thinking “get up and check the garage.” I fell back asleep and woke up around 1:00am to find the garage open. I’ve used the “I feel” statements to handle that in the past. But the high alert I feel I need to be in to protect my family is exhausting.
2) I finally moved back into my parents’ office instead of their kitchen – I was keeping an eye on my mom; but couldn’t get any work done in there. I just set it up Tuesday, my husband is in there last night and uses up the toner printing an inordinate amount and then says “That’s not even what I wanted.” (Ummm… Couldn’t you look at the screen to determine that BEFORE you hit print? )
So before I can work, I now need toner (probably paper, too) and for him to clean up his mess. I plan on asking him to do both. Which should be fun, because he hasn’t been working (unless you call building forts and training dinosaurs, work ), and has maxed out his credit cards.
But just like he finds a way to buy two brand new pairs of British Knights, I know he will find a way to buy me toner.
Why am I telling you all this? Venting, maybe? I can usually sit back and not let his maxing out credit cards, for example, affect me cuz it doesn’t impact me as much – cuz I’m not going to pay that balance for him; that’s his responsibility.
But when his decisions impact me, like my job, and disrespect my space & belongings, and doesn’t protect my family, the hairs go up. I guess I just need to set boundaries…
Again. If after reading this, you see anything I can work on or try differently, please let me know. Thank you, Gina!
Hi Danielle,
I understand the inclination to address our own “codependent” behaviors rather than trying to change our ADHD partner’s problematic behaviors. Especially when ADHD is neither diagnosed or properly treated.
This inclination is reinforced by many in the mental-health field. But it’s a problem, and I made sure to address the problem in my book. So, definitely look for the pages about Codependence.
The thing is, trying to mind your own responsibilities and let him manage is…..typically catches up with us. It’s a very tenuous partnership, never knowing when you will really need your ADHD partner to cooperate.
So, I never advise that as a long-term solution.
Also, check the passage in my book about “setting boundaries.” It’s one thing to set boundaries. It’s another thing for our ADHD partners to remember and be able to respect those boundaries.
It’s another “therapy trope” that typically works against us when it comes to dealing with ADHD.
Venting is important. Keep reading and learning!
Thanks for writing.
g
Hi Danielle,
Please read my reply to MH. I spent 30 years working on myself, learning to accept, staying in my own lane etc. but as you said, if your loved ones are at risk, your credit score, your belongings are not respected, you can’t always stay in your lane when he is ripping into yours. If he hasn’t made any progress within a couple of years of diagnosis and uses adhd as an excuse, I would say maybe cut your losses. I feel I wasted so much of my adult life dealing with someone who refused to face their problems and tried repeatedly to make their problems mine. No more.
Any advice for severe RSD? I can generally handle my husband’s ADD symptoms (he’s an inattentive type), but where I am really struggling is the RSD symptoms. He gets so “in his feelings” as I categorize it, that he becomes immobile for hours on end. This morning what set him off was “would you mind cleaning the bathroom today?” To him this was a personal attack of me asserting he should have both known it needed to be done and me criticizing him for it. I, obviously, didn’t intend it that way. But now, the bathroom isn’t cleaned and while I’m trying to work full time and manage our kids, he is laying in bed all day furiously scribbling notes likely about how overbearing I am to discuss with his therapist. I just don’t know how to even talk to him at this point without getting yelled at and then without consenting, getting stuck with all our shared responsibilities until he can self soothe enough to participate in our life. It is starting to interfere with me doing my job, which I am the only one employed right now. I am exhausted!
Hi Leah,
Unfortunately, a for-profit magazine has acted very irresponsibly in its highly circulated information on “RSD.”
The phenomenon is more complicated, and it bears almost no relation to the parameters that the MD writing about it claims—much less the treatments.
You say that you can “generally handle” your husband’s ADHD symptoms, but what you are describing ARE ADHD symptoms. (By the way, there is no ADD anymore. There is only ADHD with three presentations: hyperactive, inattentive, and combined. Most adults are combined and often misdiagnosed as inattentive.)
Please read my first book to learn more about emotional dysregulation and other ADHD symptoms — along with the evidence-based treatment strategies.
His therapist seems to know nothing about ADHD.
This probably isn’t about you. It’s about his untreated ADHD symptoms.
I’m thinking no one needs this especially now during these stressful COVID times. Everyone needs to be operating on all eight cylinders!
Please take care of yourself and know that this isn’t something that either of you have to live with.
best,
g
We really couldn’t get anyone with ADHD treated if they themselves won’t let us help them. Hard thing to do I guess even if how much we wanted them to cope up.
Hi Amber,
Unfortunately, that is too often true.
Yet, the loved ones of these “in denial” adults with ADHD often have more influence than they think they do.
But the approach must be strategic. I write about “getting through denial” extensively in my first book.
https://amzn.to/2RUOQR3
best,
g
I am married to my love 20 years, 4 children
Career 15 years law enforcement, 25 years military and currently LCSW rural Nevada
diagnosed 4 time ADHD, have pre-occupied/disorganized attachment; my wife is more dismissive/disorganized
She has said recently, she knows I am an emotional abuser, she is done with me, because I will never change. I have effectively destroyed all trust she has. She is unwilling to read ANY resource I present. She believes she is well regulated and I am the one to change.
Being a therapist I have much information to show WHAT we could do different/better, yet she is unwilling to pursue.
She is committed to staying married and raising our children together, basically roommate. She wont even let me see her (4weeks and counting) she changes in the other room. Affection is tolerated when I touch, but only allowed to a very small way.
She feels that we individually work and
we don’t need “them”
I feel like I’m floundering.
My bride doesn’t see the importance of making our marriage priority.
She tells me most of everything is me and the ADHD. I try to explain that either way me or her we are in the proverbial Fox Hole together and we need to work together… My wife expressed I need to make the changes
How? Especially when I get “punished” from long history of things “I have no hope it will be different….”
She feels no need for affection or intimacies until friendship, yet expects the friendship to be like she had with friends outside of our relationship…. girlfriends or affiliates in church callings etc
I know a bit long but felt to give a bit of set up
I adore my lady, and recognize I have beyond fare share of flaws. I would like my life learning companion to turn toward and do US/WE together
I feel she is avoidant tendencies or disorganized and I preoccupied
ANY guidance would be GREATLY appreciated.
Curious about RSD/post sex irritability
OMG Gina, thank you, thank you so much. Even for the sound effects…lol. Describes my life with my spouse to a T!!!! I am so glad I found your online articles. I pray my spouse gets the tests done and gets treatment.
Cheristina
Hi Christina,
I’m happy that this post resonated for you. Even the sound effects. haha.
I’d never knock prayer, but there are active things you can do to help your husband leaves behind “denial” and starts taking his ADHD (if that’s what he has!) seriously.
Read my book’s three chapters on ADHD & Denial. https://amzn.to/2MqWk7p
cheers,
g
This information is so so helpful! My husband is not “hyper ” but must have ADD…. I discovered your book on adult ADD in trying to help my 12 yo son. I am worn out from 25 years of marriage and 6 kids, one w ADHD and one w Downs. My husband is recovering from years of bad sex addiction. He is doing well and happier than he ever was. But my being “invisible ” for so many years and being neglected, has taken its toll. How do I really forgive and live a good life now that he is doing better?
Dear Lori,
As the youngest of seven children, I know full well the kind of work you have been doing. And with one child having ADHD and the other Downs, with all the special assistance both conditions require…I can’t imagine.
If your husband is doing better now, it’s time for him to step up and do all he can do make your life easier and happier. Unfortunately, this might not come about unless you take the lead.
The last chapter in my first book (Is It You….) details some couple strategies. And my latest book, with psychologist Arthur Robin, details more elaborate strategies for ADHD-challenged couples. The book is targeted to couple therapists, so they can learn how to help these clients, but it is written so that the clients themselves can benefit.
http://amzn.to/2AexrsT
Good luck to you!
g
Hi Duff,
Thanks, I am very familiar with narcissism.
I would not call it, however, a “heavy pathology from childhood.”
I would call narcissism a “bucket diagnosis” that until recent times has described a wide variety of behaviors but hasn’t explained their genesis, other than the usual speculation about “childhood” and “blame the mother.” 🙂
As we learn more about the various types of empathy and their underpinnings in the brain, we learn that this is a very complex subject. There are no one-size fits-all answers.
I’ve written a few posts on empathy and dopamine-transmission — and one post in particular about a friend who feared she was “raising a narcissist” until her child was finally diagnosed and treated for ADHD.
https://adhdrollercoaster.org/tag/adhd-and-empathy/
Thanks for your comment,
Gina
This is a great story with a ending that is unfortunately uncommon from my experience. It is very true about counselors gaslighting. In my experience, I truly was convinced that my spouse did love me but didn’t know how to show it. I felt that she was self centered and icy at times, but I continued to feel frustrated in our loveless marriage. After 7 1/2 years, and opening a business together, my spouse left town to care for her mother and refused to return. She abandoned our business, left all the household bills for me, and started a new life without a single explanation. I have been blamed for every problem we had in our marriage, and for the duration of separation she has threatened me, verbally abused me, and still denies that she ever left in the first place. I feel like I’ve stepped into a universe where reality has no baring. She detached from our friends, our neighbors, all responsibilities, and refuses to acknowledge any of these actions. I have been existing in great distress and trauma. Even as I try to file for divorce, it is difficult to accept that my spouse is someone I really never knew.
Hi Chris,
Yes, this story’s ending is uncommon.
Your story can have whatever ending you like. Perhaps your wife did you a favor by leaving. She made it very clear.
I definitely appreciate the bewilderment you must be feeling.
We somehow don’t imagine that “normal” people can behave in such aberrant ways. We expect that the signs would be more clear, and if we didn’t see the signs, something is wrong with us.
But now you understand more about the vagaries of the human brain, how there can be a mish-mash of impulses, and sometimes the incredibly selfish ones win out. You probably did know a part of your wife, but another part won out in the end. Perhaps as responsibilities overwhelmed her and life wasn’t as “fun” anymore.
I wish you luck going forward. If it’s any consolation, I hear from many folks like you who have gone on to have very happy relationships. They say, “I didn’t know it could be this easy.”
best,
g
Pingback: ADHD and Relationships: 3 Simple Strategies - ADHD Roller Coaster with Gina Pera
Gina, In reference to this….
..Postscript: This morning I went to load the clothes into the washer. What did I find? An absolutely clear and wide path, free of bicycle, humidifier, and other flotsam and jetsam…..”
I never understood on any level why ADHD hubby would put things right in the way of where people walk!! I’ve tripped and bashed my toes many times on crap laying around or had to move something out of the way to squeeze through.
The answer is….they need their OWN large room!!!
(as one poster said).
And be hyper vigilant about
“Crap Creeping” into the rest of the house!
Yes…. I peek in there once in a while to see him happy in a tangle of computers, instruments, amplifiers and WIRES strung everywhere like Spider on LSD.
I chuckle and close the door, ahhhh the peace of an orderly home!
Save your sanity and beware of the
Crap Creep!
Joy
Hi Joy,
Crap creep! 🙂
I’m afraid I’m the one more likely to be guilty of that in our house.
I’m a bit of a pack rat, with regular purges.
My husband calls me a bi-phasic pack rat. 😉
g
Sigh – I started a reply, found I’m in another site that doesn’t have a draft/cache feature, so I lost it. I had a couple of insights/points to make, but they can wait for now. Mostly I wanted to thank you for compassionate response. Everyone needs to be heard, especially the disenfranchised, so thank you for listening and responding.
Now I need to call an ADHD program to ask about a dozen questions . . .
Jeannine
Hi Jeannine,
How frustrating! That’s happened to me before—losing a carefully crafted post. I didn’t know that blogs could have a draft/cache feature. I’ll ask my consultant about it.
Meanwhile, I don’t publicize this because I’m pretty busy right now, but I do offer limited phone consultations.
http://adhdrollercoaster.com/private-consultations-with-gina/
I’m grateful that my work is helpful to you.
g
Gina, reading your story in this post really resonated with me, powerfully, painfully.
I don’t have the energy to tell the story of how much I can relate to this experience. Except to say that seven years ago, I had an epiphany about how I could – or couldn’t – depend on my husband, and I made a decision about my plans in the event of terminal or serious chronic illness. Many, many things have happened in the time since then to only reinforce my decision.
I have been reading this blog, some of the posts on the ADHD partner group, books, online articles, forum comments, etc. That is, when I’m not working on everyday life tasks and continuing to rebuild the energy/functioning that I lost three years ago in my breakdown.
learned early in the research that living with/managing ADHD would be a lifelong proposition – for my husband AND for me. That was a daunting discovery, but I was cautiously hopeful that the chaos and destruction that has permeated every area of our lives could be turned around, that there was enough left of what used to be good that could be rediscovered and redeemed.
Now, after digesting the details of many other people’s stories, and reading how powerfully this disorder continues to invade, even control, marriages, I feel more overwhelmed and in more despair than ever. I have a long list of prior loss and trauma, and I know that factors somewhat into my perspective. But one can go on fighting battles, one after another, without sufficient recovery time, only so long.
I observed years ago that I didn’t have any more fight left in me, and the best I could manage was to rebuild from past setbacks, not unearth myself from the rubble of a new one. And from the beginning of my exploration of ADHD, this feels more and more like a Big One on the Richter Scale. One that I don’t have the resources for.
Jeannine
Kidlet who weeps
Dear Jeannine,
My heart aches for you, to find yourself in this position. If we only knew, when we first step into the quicksand, what we would be up against.
By the time we learn, however, we are often so exhausted and depleted, with our own motivation, initiation, and cognition decimated, it can feel like a paralysis.
As the youngest of seven much-older children, born when my parents were 46, I’ve always been aware that life is short. We really must take responsibility for our own health and happiness, because no one is going to do it for us.
For my husband and I, we are at a much better place now. It took a while, and lots of immense, IMMENSE perseveration on my part. (I am gobsmacked mentally when I look back on it sometimes). I try to help people quick their learning curve, so they don’t suffer what we did.
But every person is different, including every person with ADHD.
It might be that, when you and your husband are a bit further on your ADHD education and treatment journey, you’ll start feeling better. Or, if your husband is not on board with seeking to improve life for the both of you, maybe you will feel worse. And what you will have to do is take care of yourself.
Good luck to you,
g
Hello Gina, thank you for this post. It takes me back two years ago, during the week of our wedding. Four days before our special day I had a VERY serious food poisoning episode. We are both from Panama and the wedding was there.
After 4 years, this was his first time home and visiting his friends (he just LOVES the all). The day I got sick he was out with his friends. My dad and sister had to take me to the hospital and I remember calling him (this was around 12 am) in a very bad condition to let him know what was happening. HE WOULDN’T BELIEVE ME! He was too focused in his friends while I was feeling like crap, pale, almost green, vomiting my life out… After a while, my sister calls him, and says “Hey, this is serious, you should go to the hospital”. He finally went and when he saw me then he actually realized I was very very sick.
He stayed with my dad in the ER until around 5 am and then we went home. Just after actually seeing me he reacted accordingly.
Many many times, when I have had a cold or 3 years ago when I was diagnosed with a neck/back condition as a result of an accident, he behaves as I am exaggerating and does not show “interest”, just until he sees me feeling really bad.
I have had connected this with ADHD way before he was diagnosed, not because I knew about this sort of things, but because I knew it was not normal. Now I know.
What I have done is also wait and not paying a lot of attention to the initial reaction as “you saying you are sick is a problem for me” and then he would slowly land into reality.
So this was my way to cope. Now that he is taking medications (since the day before yesterday) I have to see if something will improve in that respect. I am trying not to expect much, just to see what happens day by day.
Thanks for sharing this!
Hi Gina,
I am sorry that happened to you.
Medication might not create improvement in this area right away. But over time, things should improve, if the medication is properly prescribed and taken. And it won’t have to take you being green and laid out in a hospital bed for him to know you really feel badly. 🙂
Good luck!
You might also want to read my other blog: http://www.YouMeADD.org
g
I met my husband through an online dating site, and right on his profile he stated amidst all the cute wit that he “probably had ADHD or some such condition” that rendered him a “man-child”. Yet he came across incredibly self-aware and compassionate, as well as brilliant and adventurous, so this didn’t scare me off. We dated for a year and had lived together for two more years without any significant trouble. Those three years were spectacular: we fell deeply in love, we had great communication and intimacy, and we had a lot of fun together. I’d never experienced such an intense connection that also seemed to come with natural compatibility: conflict was rare and easy to resolve. Prior to this I’d always bought into the idea that relationships were either peaceful and boring, or passionate and riddled with drama (I certainly have my own issues, formerly diagnosed BPD but was no longer fitting the criteria after years of hard work prior to meeting him). Somehow I’d scored this jackpot of both passion and peace.
One of the very things that powerfully bonded me to him was his ability to handle crisis and show care when I (and others) were in need. I’m a very nurturing person myself, and I had found my match in this. I certainly saw his ADHD traits, particularly after living together, but his compassion and caring nature smoothed out the rough spots. His socks could never quite make it into the hamper. He’s not an impulsive spender, but he won’t look at his finances, so winds up setting up everything on autopay and just blindly wanders about with his debit card, often overdrafting by small amounts. He can ramble on in conversation and get off track. He gets lost in rabbit-holes when working on a task. None of this was a big deal because he checked in with me constantly, listened to feedback, took steps to try to solve these issues, asked for help, apologized easily, expressed regular gratitude for my understanding, and found any annoyance I displayed understandable. I found this all to be workable, even if it never got any better than that.
He demonstrated compassion and caring, as well as an ability to nurture, through the time I had swine flu, and again through my cervical cancer. His caretaker ability was the stuff dreams are made of. I watched him nurse his sick pets, and I’ve seen him be a damn good shoulder to friends & family in need.
In year 3 the compassion & nurturing that I had come to count on as the salve for the rest of the ADHD hardships failed spectacularly. No slow creeping loss, either, it was a big BANG!
I had decided to visit family that had abused me as a child and I hadn’t seen for 15 years. As other family members aged, I didn’t want to have to confront this at a funeral some day, so I aimed to just make it to where I could share a space with them. My husband was fully on board with his support, we had a plan, we discussed what I needed from him, we had exit strategies, and we planned to spend the first half of the trip tackling the heavy visit while the second half of the trip we would decompress together, just the two of us, at a bed and breakfast in the woods with our own private hot tub.
The rough portion of the visit went as well as these things can go, no major incident or upset with my family. My husband received a text from a friend to confirm plans they had made while we were sitting in heavy conversation with the very people who had abused and neglected me, and he was worried about having put off this friend too long. So right in the middle of this tense scene, he texts me while sitting right next to me and asks if we’ll be back in time for him to go to this event with this friend he felt guilt about having cancelled on.
I was a little shocked by this bizarre action, obviously feeling particularly vulnerable at the moment, and hurt that he wasn’t fully engaged with what was happening in the room. Later when I talked to him about it privately, it was like we were in two different realities. He was still just super concerned about seeing this friend, and couldn’t seem to understand why I was upset. He made some comment about how I wasn’t showing gratitude for all the support he’d shown thus far on the trip, and how he just wanted to confirm plans with this friend for when we got back, and how that was reasonable for him to expect. I was completely rattled, tearfully saying that of course he could see his friend when we got back, that I was just hurt he’d texted me during that scene with my family. He sort of grudgingly apologized that I’d been hurt by that, but could I at least acknowledge that he couldn’t be expected to have predicted that would set me off? Just….what??
We wound up dropping it by my stepping in and saying we were both fatigued from the intense situation we were dealing with and not thinking clearly. He eagerly seized on that and we dropped it. But I went to sleep feeling hollow and unsafe.
Once we got to the decompression portion of the trip at the bed and breakfast, things had warmed between us again and I did lots of talking and crying about my family while he held me. One night over dinner, he discovered to his sheer horror that he had, in fact, gotten the dates wrong on the plans with his friend. The event they planned to attend was happening on the last night of our reservation at the B&B. I knew how worried and guilty he felt about this, so I expressed a lot of compassion, and tried to reassure him that his friend would understand. That I had no trouble if he shared the reason for this trip to explain why he needed to reschedule yet again. My husband got silent and I could tell he was angry. Then I got hit with a tirade about how everything wasn’t about me, and he wanted to cut the trip short in order to see his friend, that his needs and his life was important too, that he was exhausted and needed to get away from me, that he was afraid I was using the abuse I went through just to have my way.
It hurt like fire, but it also made not a lick of sense. We’d planned this trip and discussed it at length, and he’d been fully engaged and supportive. Now he was acting like I’d dragged him out here and I was forcing him to cancel on his friend…I tried to explain this. Can’t he see that we had made these plans together first, and that in fact he was cutting our plans short to see this friend, that this was really important and I needed him to be there for me? How on earth could it make sense to prioritize not seeing a friend for over six months he wasn’t terribly close to as opposed to taking a trip with your wife to confront her childhood abusers?
We never fully recovered from that fight. Every time we tried to talk about it we’d just fight again. Within a month we were sleeping in separate rooms. It took a year of marriage counseling to make sense of it, but only since he got officially evaluated for ADHD and on medication were we able to begin untangling the resentments that stemmed out of both that original incident and the subsequent patterns we slipped into. I’d felt lost and abandoned. Where did my compassionate nurturing partner go?
After he got on medication, I asked him to read a book about Borderline Personality Disorder (Loving Someone with Borderline Personality Disorder by Shari Manning). While I had recovered to the point that I was no longer in treatment in the beginning half of our relationship, this sour turn in our marriage had torn me up so much that I was back in treatment for returning BPD traits, and I wanted him to understand BPD the way I had come to understand ADHD. Part of that book covers the concept of validation in depth, and he finally understood what I had been trying to ask him for all along: that whatever happens, if he can just listen and show empathy I can feel safe enough to work through nearly anything. On the flip side, being invalidated is my kryptonite. So if he does something that hurts me, even if it doesn’t make sense to him, nothing triggers me worse than not being listened to and told that my feelings are invalid somehow…the way he told me that I was being selfish and ungrateful for being hurt and disappointed with his behavior on that difficult trip.
So he’s on medication now and things are so much better, but he still has ADHD and it still trips us up in hurtful ways. However, these events are much more manageable for me because he’s really grasped this tactic of validating me even if he can’t see how his behavior was a problem. We’ve still had incidents where he struggled to understand why something hurt, but he’s let go of judging if my feelings are “fair” and embraces the idea that feelings always matter. It is possible to express empathy and communicate what he doesn’t understand at the same time, and it works.
One demonstration of this change in our patterns involves a recent nasty incident when I had the flu again about 3 months ago. I woke from a nap feeling like death, and hadn’t been able to keep any medicine or much water down. He was at work only half a mile away, and I suspected my fever was too high and our thermometer had dead batteries. I could hardly move and I only had tunnel vision. I texted him that I needed him to come home and that I might need to go to a hospital. If he hadn’t answered, yes, I would have called him or someone else or 911…but he texted back immediately with concern and the claim that he was on his way out the door. In the meantime I went about trying to crawl to the bathroom to get a cold wet rag or something, but collapsed and passed out in the hall.
By the time he arrived, I was still passed out in the hall on the floor but my fever had broke and I was drenched in sweat. He was all nurture and got me back into bed, with ice to suck on, and he magically produced a new thermometer. I felt frustrated…he had clearly stopped at the store first. I expressed this, that I couldn’t believe he didn’t come straight to me. He started apologizing, really genuinely, full of remorse, about how he was just trying to finish up and he couldn’t believe the time got away from him like that. That in some ways the medication made his hyperfocus worse. I was confused…I was just talking about the stop at the store… I looked at a clock and it hit me that he worked FOUR MORE HOURS AFTER HE SAID HE WAS ON HIS WAY. I had been passed out on the floor for that long.
I couldn’t address it for several days, being too weak.
He wasn’t defensive, but he still didn’t get the gravity of the situation. After all…I had said I “think” I “might” need to go to the hospital. He figured if it was serious I’d poke him again to hurry up, but I never texted back. Because I was passed out on the @#$%ing floor.
I was a wreck. I was so horrified and in despair. I felt so abandoned, again, even more so. I cried and I went off on him, but I kept it controlled. I didn’t call him names and I owned my feelings. I said a lot of stuff about how I could have died, about how I knew it was the ADHD, and I know he loves me but it’s just so scary and painful, that I grew up being neglected and this was also neglect and how that rips me to the core, that this would freak anybody but it really really freaks me, that I didn’t know how I’d feel safe again. And he held me and listened and validated me. And when he broke down from the shame I held him and listened to him and validated him right back.
These things are still just awful, but the ability to maintain closeness throughout makes all the difference in the world. He’s working on so many things, like his bad habits, procrastination, organization, punctuality, etc., but when it comes to our relationship he’s got this one thing he can do in any situation: validate. The simplicity of it has been a great help to him. Instead of juggling a million balls (how everything feels to him) whatever happens between us he’s got this one response. It’s something he did naturally in the early part of the relationship, and now without the “new love” hyperfocus he has to do it consciously, but it clicked for him and he finds it easy because he knows it will take the sting out. Then he in turn will be comforted as well, which he needs since these things make him feel ashamed (which he used to cover up with defensiveness).
So this pattern change has locked in well for both of us, since the benefits have been so rewarding. I do still have surges of anger when I see socks on the floor sometimes and find myself returning to the mindset of that dark period where I began to believe he had stopped truly caring about me, but I can take a breath and remember that if I expressed those feelings to him, he will do his best to understand and even if he can’t completely relate, he will give me the benefit of the doubt and tell me that he cares about how hard things can be for me. The feeling then often passes without even needing this, just knowing I can have that if I need it. I used to feel tender when I saw those socks on the floor, and now I’m starting to feel that again.
Hi Chloe,
Thank you for detailing your experience, so eloquently.
It can be extremely challenging for some people with ADHD to manage their own emotions, much less meet a partner’s emotional needs, especially in the intensive ways you describe. Kudos to your guy for all that you describe. (Well, except for the text, I guess. 🙂 But even that, I was sort of empathizing with him….how could he maintain such intense, emotional focus for so long? It might not have been the importance of seeing this friend so much as just needing a break, and maybe he couldn’t articulate that.)
You two obviously have a deep bond of love, and practice great intentionality. I wish you both all the best.
g
Chloe wrote: “and he finally understood what I had been trying to ask him for all along: that whatever happens, if he can just listen and show empathy I can feel safe enough to work through nearly anything. On the flip side, being invalidated is my kryptonite. So if he does something that hurts me, even if it doesn’t make sense to him, nothing triggers me worse than not being listened to and told that my feelings are invalid somehow…”
Wow that part really hit me hard. And probably the reason BPD is one of the misdiagnoses I went through – it’s the trait of it I have very strongly (I don’t come anywhere near the criteria dating 2 people in a year and not getting super serious while separated from my to-be husband with no intent on either side of getting back together was “overly promiscuous” according to the person who diagnosed me, as an example) and overlaps with PTSD. PTSD is the right diagnosis for me and when you put someone with PTSD through DBT the results can be ugly…
Bullying is a part of my PTSD and invalidation, especially when there is a power imbalance (as is the case in abuse), is my single biggest trigger. Yeah sometimes I have to close my eyes in the car to avoid jumping out of my seat and grabbing the wheel or dive behind (almost under) a parked car in a parking lot (parking lots alone are triggers) when someone decides to set off an M80 in said parking lot because it’s early July but when those happen they’re over when they’re over.
But have a cop lie to me and I know it not just because I know more than the below average little kid he made me out to be but because it was so obviously a lie anyone would know? The story gets long with this same cop repeatedly intimidating me and telling more lies. Until the day he pushed a little too far, ok, a lot too far. It was in shared jurisdiction and the cop was not NYPD.
MONTHS later I couldn’t hide my difficulty crossing that jurisdiction line OUT OF primarily NYPD jurisdiction and usually I can hide it from anyone, even the police, but that day I couldn’t and was approached carefully by an officer. I was completely honest about what was up. After we just stood there talking for a bit, his (lieutenant or captain) came over and I mentioned I felt safer with them standing near me (yeah unusual to hear I know), that got me an NYPD escort for 20 minutes while I had to be in that shared jurisdiction to get from where I was to home and there was no going around it, period. To be honest, I’ve never felt safer in my life than next to that particular officer… I knew from his demeanor and our conversation (and his size!) he wasn’t going to let ANYTHING hurt me that day, especially that cop if I had even SEEN him. It’s kind of ironic when you think about the fact that their job is actually the same – just one abused his power and that led to the other one going above and beyond his duty to REALLY make me feel safe.
You are so not alone in this and you may have BPD and revert to BPD behaviors and I have PTSD and revert to a different set of behaviors, but the sting of invalidation is more like the sting of a scorpion for us both than the sting of being slapped and it’s hard for others to understand we just can’t shake it off like they might be able to.
I’m sorry you had to go through what you did and I’m glad you shared your story. There are others who can relate with and without BPD and I want you to know that sharing your story helped at least one person. I’m sure many more as well. I’m happy that things have improved and that you’re both working on your own issues and your issues as a couple. I hope things continue to improve for the both of you. It sounds like you guys are doing the right things. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks for that honest description of a relationship between people with BPD and ADHD. I too have BPD and am beginning to suspect my husband has ADHD – he has an appointment in a couple of weeks with a psychiatrist to find out. This post gave me a lot of insight into our dynamic. For me too, when he doesn’t validate my emotional needs it feels like teeth being pulled. It’s taken a lot of years, a lot of insight on my part and a lot of explaining to him that getting validation, even when he doesn’t agree with me, is very important. Feelings are very important.
We had a disagreement a while back about whether the holes in the backyard fence were big enough to see through or not. I want absolute privacy in the backyard but he felt that the knotholes were too miniscule and that no one would look through anyway. I just didn’t feel safe in the backyard with that many knotholes in the fence. It may not have been logical, but I needed to feel safe and I needed his help in covering up the knotholes with boards. It took several months for me to realize, and for him to understand, that he was being a jerk by refusing to help me with the boards. That even though to him, there was zero chance someone would see through the holes, it was important to ME that they get covered up, and I needed his help. I finally got the clarity that MY emotional needs were important even in the face of his logic.
Anyway, thanks again for your post.
Dear Carol,
Thanks so much for your comment. I am glad that my post was helpful to you.
I suspect that couples in which one person has ADHD and the other has BPD can be very difficult indeed.
What I am describing in this post are some of the common dynamics in a relationship when one partner has poorly managed ADHD and, as part of that for some people with ADHD, a difficulty expressing or feeling empathy.
You might be interested in these blog posts on ADHD and empathy: https://adhdrollercoaster.org/adhd-and-relationships/adhd-impaired-empathy-and-dopamine/
Were you diagnosed with BPD prior this relationship, or is this something that developed after entering this relationship?
Many times, ADHD in women is misdiagnosed as BPD. But BPD also commonly has an underlying component of ADHD. It’s a very tricky diagnosis.
At any rate, I’m glad you could convince your husband that filling the holes was important to you.
best,
Gina
Oh my gosh! Hope you’re feeling better!!
I love this: “There’s only one thing, truly, that millions of adults with ADHD have in common: variable aspects of this highly variable syndrome. ”
So true! I’m afraid my partners in the past would probably say I can be “cold.” I know it. My focus is either 10% or 200%, and so I’m either wooing them or forgetting to call for a week at a time. Working on it!
Take care of that ankle!
Thanks, Carolyn. I’m good. Fortunately, I had enough physical padding to break my fall!
One of my best friends is an ICU nurse. She is the soul of compassion with her patients, and harangues the MDs and other nurses to focus on patient comfort.
If her husband is sick…..”Oh God, he’s being a big baby,” she’ll say, rolling her eyes.
It’s true. He gets little of the Nurse Nightengale treatment.
She loves him, of course, and is lovely to him in many ways. I guess that, compared to her ICU patients, his discomfort doesn’t ring her bell.
And yes, there’s lot of ADHD in her family. 🙂
g
Oh my, yes. Often, though, he doesn’t seem put upon by my latest malady, but more like he doesn’t know what to do about it. He’s never really been around someone that was ill or had just had surgery. He didn’t know that I expected him to come to the hospital and sit with me. He doesn’t drive and had no way to get to me without help, but I still wanted him there.
I’ve had recovery periods where he’s handed me a bell to ring when I need him that he can’t hear from across the house….or in the next room. The heater is right next to his computer desk and so when it is on, he really can’t hear much. I can’t really blame him, but does he think to come check on me? Of course not because he hyper-focuses on his computer game or writing or whatever the magic screen has on it. I’ve often wished for some kind of joy buzzer to give him a good zap when I need him.
It took me a really long time to break him of wanting to have sex when I was sick or recovering from surgery. Sex makes *him* feel good. He wants to make me feel good too — when the absolute last thing I want to do with 16 staples in my abdomen is move….at all. No, an orgasm would not help. Really. Trust me.
As the years have gone by, things have gotten better. He’s learned. Now he tries to remember to keep one earphone off in case I need him. I make him go to all my doctor appointments with me so he not only sees what happens, but listens to what the doctors say. It helps. He has short term memory and is more impressed when a doctor says it than when I do since he has also developed “husband’s ear”, which is not limited to ADHD husbands, where what I say goes in one side and out the other without pausing.
Still, I couldn’t have made it without his help, no matter how I have to get it and he does love me and I do love him so we do the best we can for each other. And that’s good enough for now.
Hi Penny,
Thank you so much for taking the time to relate your experience.
You offer a great example of a “good heart” that gets lost in the symptoms of short-term memory and distractibility.
The “joy zapper.” Sounds like a great invention. Get on it! 🙂
tx
g
My comments describe situation that I believe is widely shared among ADD people who have spouses that are not as afflicted, or afflicted less severely.
I have ADD, but I can “hyperfocus” and get specific tasks accomplished (usually) and am fortunate enough to have a level of intellectual acuity that tends to make my symptoms less obvious to casual observers, particularly at the beginning of a relationship.
ADD figured prominently in the loss of a relationship that I valued so highly that even eights years later, I still have not completely recovered. But the aspect of my ADD that most negatively impacted the relationship was the fact that I live almost entirely in my head (an occupational hazard for a scientist like myself even without ADD) and pay little attention to the physical environment around me or many of the people in it.
The most obvious sign of this was (and still is) that I am highly clutter-prone. I evince a behavior pattern that I call “furniturization.” If I don’t put an object away immediately after I use it, or don’t clean up the mess after some activity (cooking, home repairs, container gardening) the objects become “furniture,” —parts of my environment that I accept as “permanent” and simply work or move around them with little or no further concern.
My new wife was not a “neat freak,” but was an orderly person who needed a much more organized environment than I did. So, SHE did the cleaning up, while I went along happily making messes, unaware that my behaviors eventually generated serious resentment. My wife interpreted this as inconsideration, self-centeredness and/or co-dependence. I was having career issues at the time as well, but instead of dealing directly and effectively with them I simply stayed in my old pattern of working with my own, well-internalized priorities, (unconsciously supposing, I think, that excellence in my chosen areas would compensate for mediocrity in the areas important to others) and my spouse interpreted this behavior also as a manifestation of extreme self-centeredness.
Counseling was of only minimal help, for my behaviors were so internalized (a biologist would even say “canalized”) that I lacked the ability to recognize and change them effectively. I began taking Concerta at that time,and it did help, but major damage had already been done, and it was not reversible. In 2009 I lost both my marriage and my career, and have been trying to pick up the pieces ever since. My ex-wife was not concerned that I would or could not care for her in an emergency (I can hyperfocus enough to do that), but was frightened by a pattern of what she saw as self-willed inattention, laziness and failure. She was concerned that she would be picking up after me, physically and financially, for the rest of our lives together.
Dear Bruce,
Thanks so much for your comment.
As you can imagine, with my husband also being a scientist, this hits close to home for us. The public largely cannot imagine how an intelligent scientist can experience such problems in the rest of life.
I am so sorry to learn of your job and marriage. My husband and I both extend encouragement in getting your life back where you’d like it to be.
best,
g
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I so needed to hear this. I’m glad i’m not the only one who’s gone thru the same thing.
Hi Lucy,
You are definitely not alone. 🙂
g
Sometimes I wonder if maybe my own husband has ADHD. I lost my ability to organize my environment around me due to an injury. The nature of this is that I need a well-organized environment with as few visual distractions as possible. When I FINALLY figured out if giving him the master bedroom in a huge house as his office and he could make as much of a mess as he wants in there but keep it to his room left us with a hole he cut in the floor in another bedroom with the promise to make a hatch within 2 weeks and that room empty the entire time we owned that house (a friend fixed the subfloor for us lol) and in the end, his clutter gradually spread until I was begging him to JUST KEEP HIS CRAP OFF THE COUCH. So our next house, with much much higher real estate prices and less income, I gave us both our own rooms, his being the bigger one because sometimes he had to work from home. I wish he told me all he really needed was a walk-in closet but before this injury, I’m impressed by how much crap I crammed into this tiny room and it was neat and everything was in a place that made sense and no one was allowed in without permission. I even had room for a small mat for the dog in there!
So, when I started having issues with an undiagnosed lifelong problem, his parents blamed me for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and I had serious DIAGNOSED injuries, while he had seemed to have been growing more and more distant, letting me sit on the couch and cry alone while he sat across the room the day before I got hurt when my uncle died. But he wasn’t always THIS bad… And THEN he caught his parents disease.
I was starting to finally find myself right before this happened and got into Hip Hop and longboarding. These aren’t things he’s anywhere near being into. I was exploring art including photography, the thing I have a degree in and when we first met, he liked that I wasn’t “just another computer person” and that I was different from the engineers he was with all day but I became an imaging engineer when I graduated. NOW he doesn’t understand all this artsy stuff. I showed up to my freshman dormroom with skateboard in hand… He’s never been critical about my skating, a bit concerned when I started using my longboard to get to the train when he was uncomfortable with me having a bike because it’s dangerous here. Until I um the first official diagnosis was “you jacked up your knee” and when I asked how I’d get myself to the train station, the doc asked if I have a bike. Nope. Could I sit on my ass all weekend and keep all weight off it? Must’ve been about a year ago cuz I was like it’s playoff season and 3 of my teams are still in ummmm yeah. I got waited on hand and foot and hockey was a constant. I made it just fine with the right knee brace and my longboard.
I’d already had a close call where I had the signal at a dangerous intersection and after finally getting used to pushing a button again, as I’ve had to do most of my life, I knew this one car was going to be a problem no matter what I did. I just knew. I happened to be using my iPhone to film my first trip to the train station on a new board for the person who built it. I learned about using a camera as a weapon for self defense that day, putting myself in an awkward position turning away from the car and looking at the screen as I captured the countdown timer and then attempted to point my iPhone at the car, since staring the driver down was NOT working and lo and behold the driver didn’t care about running me over but did care about the event being captured on video and as I prepared to dive into the grass and let him run over my new board, he decided to use the very very empty lane for oncoming traffic. I chose to skate because I couldn’t have moved that fast on foot due to a lifetime of injuries. I stepped up my efforts to learn the opposite stance so I could always face traffic and experimented with just holding my phone like I was filming. Eventually I invested in a GoPro so I could just record what I was looking at.
I guess after a doc suggested a bike and I demonstrated it’s dangerous no matter what and I could take care of myself on the street, a bike he didn’t want me to buy with my spending money sounded better than skating (I had more injuries walking than skating too), and he bought me a bike, which I didn’t get to use much, unfortunately. I can’t deal with fluorescent lights so skating naturally became my life.
A friend who I didn’t know very long really pulled me into the skating community and made sure I got introduced to everyone I needed to meet. He saw my passion for skating before anyone else (I was likely the last to see it). He brought me out of my shell and gave my life purpose. He gave me something made me fight the idiot who thought skating was dangerous and my board was a toy that could be taken away. I was already being cautious and really using it as a mobility aid and between the injury and diagnosis, and during that time I built up a solid track record that was indisputable. I had the support of my doctor. I gave up the bicycle because it made sense but never the board never for good I know when I can’t skate and I don’t and I WON. With a lot of help like someone who had seen me make good on “I’ll walk away before I give it up or lie about it” and seen what I skate on… I went to every event I could go to, whether I was capable of skating or not. These days I show up with a cane….
Someone in my life for such a short time made such a difference and he passed away from CO poisoning due to a gas leak last December. And my husband didn’t know much about this guy, but he hugged me. I had to ask for what I needed and that happened earlier when I was able to tell him I couldn’t understand why he just let me cry when my uncle died. He didn’t know what to do..
When I couldn’t design a desk and shelving system and asked for help organizing things in the place he’s renting for me so I can get treatment more easily, he replied “I don’t know anything about organizing things.” I was shocked. My reply: “you’re a software engineer. You do high level design work! How is that not organization?”
And he hasn’t showed much “support” for my art and musical interests. But looking back, I ALWAYS have had what I needed to pursue those interests. He’s made sure I have had everything I need, no matter what. He’s not good at showing affection but I can see through his actions and providing me with whatever I needed even if he had no interest and no interest in faking interest..
This wasn’t supposed to be how my life turned out. Sometimes I have a hard time with it myself. He’s likely still in denial and we’re both too stressed. We deal in different ways. ADHD has been a hurdle but this on top of it is a mountain. I’m still figuring out the things I’ve lost and gained. This, once again is forever.
My husband has a lot of traits of ADHD. He has a hard enough time accepting my reality. I don’t think he could accept that he might have a himself. Maybe someday there will be a time when I can plant the seed in his head and we can find out.
Yes, he cares very much. He just doesn’t show it the way I’d like and I can’t expect him to. It often seems like he doesn’t care. But really, he just doesn’t show it the way others do. He rented an apartment so I could have better access to treatment. He’s stuck with me through everything including changing psych diagnoses ending with a set including ADHD that finally seem right. He makes sure I eat. I now have something that’s like ADHD on steroids and more. And he’s been cured of his parents illness… He is protective of me on the sidewalks and I see HIM doing things he said were “out of control” when I’ve done a little less in the past. He’s starting to get it, and when he sees some of the things I deal with, he becomes very protective. He isn’t accepting things as fast as I am but he will go at his own pace and I have to accept him as HE is too. He may have undiagnosed ADHD and it may never be diagnosed.
But he shows he cares and if we can learn to communicate with each other and accept reality and appreciate each other for who we really are, I think things will be just fine.
Hi Danielle,
A hole to make a hatch in the floor!? 🙂
I’m glad your husband shows that he cares.
best,
g
LOL the entrance to the crawl space was at one end of a long one-story house. There’s just dirt down there, no floor (Radon isn’t a problem there), and the people before us tried to do some things themselves. When we had cable installed, the guy wasn’t fat but he wasn’t tiny either and the mess of pipes you had to crawl through to get in the entrance from the garage wasn’t pretty. He accidentally broke a water pipe.
One thing about where we lived in Idaho – HOLY CRAP AWESOME NEIGHBORS! I didn’t know anything about well water and there IS no shutoff valve that’s why the guy couldn’t find it lol. A call to my husband told me there’s a circuit breaker for the pump (of course they were improperly labeled). The guy was going to get the cable company to take care of everything and get a plumber in there etc. etc. but these people I was meeting for the first time ABSOLUTELY INSISTED on fixing everything and they did it mighty fast too! We found some wiring and a switch box or little breaker box just laying on the mud when the water was pumped out. The cable guy was kind of lucky he didn’t get zapped too. These guys even attached that stuff to the floor beams so there would be no more risk of that happening (I think it was them or if not they recommended it and figured out which of the main breakers THAT was attached to – it may have been too wet to fix right then).
My husband wanted access to the other end of the crawl space AND a bigger access point. I was mildly opposed to the hole, KNOWING his habits lol. I wouldn’t agree to it unless he properly covered hole (and making a hatch for it so he could use it again was fine) AND GAVE HIM A REASONABLE DEADLINE. If he had the tools to CUT A HOLE IN THE FLOOR, he had the tools to cover it up or could get them. I was actually all for better crawl space access but um yeah I kinda knew what was gonna happen and made him PROMISE to meet that deadline before I was ok with it. Well that came and went, the flooring he was gonna put down in the whole house and the colors I selected for the walls got applied to HIS ROOM ONLY until my back surgery when my dad decided to paint the room with the hole in the floor and my dad never worked for a painter before but is kind of a perfectionist so he TRIED to do a really good job but compared to professional work, well you could tell the difference. And the rest of the house was the old paint and just the subfloor with Kilz primer applied because between the walkthrough and us moving in, they let their dog pee all over and we had to rip up the new carpet they had installed. Eventually I was able to get my husband to agree to some office-grade carpet for the living room, which I had tried to claim as mine but um yeah… And that was just laid down like a rug lol… That was the second house in a row that needed some work and said work got done when we moved out so when we bought the yard for the dog, I insisted we NOT DO THAT AGAIN. And the whole deal with buying this house was weird but it was really good for the price and didn’t have to be fixed up we didn’t think so we had money to renovate it… Kinda good thing a lesson was learned about doing business with friends (who have been brainwashed I swear after looking at this thing he said changed his life and he wanted me to do it) before we got too far along but um half the house has REALLY NICE HEAT and the other half has none … well the master bedroom has some heat now, in combo with the A/C but the kitchen still has nothing. But the basement is now free of the black mold the contractors we hired to take care of the water problem (it literally rained in the basement whenever the central A/C came on lol that one took some time to figure out) unwittingly let into the rest of the house when they took down some walls and at least recognized it and we went in debt to get that stuff fixed and all the ductwork ripped out and a completely different kind of heating system installed but not in the part of the house that was going to get ripped apart for renovations that never happened because well the family friend wasn’t a partner he was a pion allowed to think he was a partner and the guy who ran the company for real was a um the words that come to mind aren’t even PG-13 rated and the planned work never got done… Turns out neither of us really like living there and we’re probably going to have to sell the dog’s retirement yard because I can’t even take the train anymore. My dog went on and on and on about “his yard” on his facebook page. I’m glad I insisted we break the lease (knowing we’d just hear “don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out” and lose a month’s rent security deposit – turnover is good for that landlord) because I was afraid Kenny wouldn’t make it to the end of the lease to enjoy his yard but I thought he would and he didn’t. He missed it by a exactly a week. And the renovations we would’ve done first weren’t going to be done anyway in the end because we were quoted half the price at first and thought we could trust the guy (well my husband was the one who knew people) and I thought he knew the area he insisted we move into considering THAT’S RIGHT WHERE HE GREW UP but he didn’t really… So my deceased dog’s facebook page nailed it. He GOT HIS YARD AND LOVED IT and I have to say as much as I bash FB they were very considerate when I requested his account be memorialized and recognized the size of that loss and when Kenny signed up he wasn’t 13 yet so he lied about his age and “proof of death such as a link to a news article or online obituary” was first and foremost his timeline lol he’s a DOG and a couple other places online where people had responded and some of them had when he was born and not only did I receive a very nice email from them and NO CRAP WHATSOEVER, they even fixed his age… I have to say I was shocked. It was a nice surprise that they were so sensitive when there ARE NO HUMANS when it comes to my tech support request that’s been there for like 5 years…
Sooooo yeah that’s the story about the hole and I am quite sure I did not take my Concerta like I was supposed to a couple hours ago cuz just lol look where I ended up….
lol! Cracking me up, Danielle. I think the Concerta pooped out right after the second paragraph.
You’re never boring, though. 🙂
g
Haha ya think, Gina? I was scrolling up looking for the second paragraph and yeah I didn’t take my meds…
Worst part is I’m supposed to be working on something else and putting off the next set of meds now because I did everything BUT that. Hopefully I can do that now that I’ve given my meds time to work. And I’ve asked my husband to YES go to the gym and if I’m not done when he gets home, please help me just DO it… He made sure to put food next to me before he left 🙂 I’m learning to appreciate those things.
I am incapable of being concise. Hearing my husband say that to someone else made me know he understands this and oh crap he’s home… better stop HERE lol… I’m glad I’m not boring at least!
Haha!
Hi Gina,
This is a great post and one that I can really relate in both ways ; as someone with ADD and having a partner with ADHD.
I really appreciate your candor and I imagine that being this transparent as well as trying to sort out your feelings about your partners responses have been eye opening and really difficult.
I recall watching my soon to be partner as one of his coworkers was falling through a roof at his garage! It was really hard to make B pay attention to the emergency as B was so focused on showing me around his shop! This scared me and yet I knew and know B to be a loving caring man who once you get his attention it’s like being under a warm light.
There were many many incidents like this where I would get hurt and need his help, or a friend of his or one of his animals would be suffering and B seemed to see it as a major inconvenience…similarly to how you describe your partner at times…
I also know that B is as bad or worse at tending to his own health and welfare. The work that he does or the things he is thinking or talking about seem far more important to him than say the deep laceration on his leg ..,
As for me I think with B I felt I had to be hyper vigilant and careful especially with our animals..
Yet I do recall times previous to B where I too was uncaring and unsympathetic or at least once anyway !
Hi Lara,
Oh, that makes so much sense. His attention was focused on showing you around the shop, and he couldn’t “transition” to the guy falling through the roof.
In my book, I talk about stimulant medication in some ways being a “WD-40” for the brain; it can help lubricate the “gears” for making transitions more easily. 🙂
And yes, exactly to this: “I also know that B is as bad or worse at tending to his own health and welfare.” Which is a whole other can of worms. But at least indicates something other than “selfishness” or “lack of caring” can be in play.
Thanks for your comment, and good luck to the both of you! 🙂
g