ADHD Paralysis: Definition & How to Overcome

Licensed therapist, Kristen Souza, discusses ADHD Paralysis.

0:00 Intro by Licensed Therapist
0:08 What is ADHD Paralysis?
1:43 ADHD Paralysis vs. Procrastination
2:50 ADHD Paralysis symptoms in Adults
3:12 Types of ADHD Paralysis
4:08 9 tips for ADHD Paralysis

Everyone deserves to experience the benefits of improved mental health and emotional wellness. If you're ready to take the next step in your journey, here are some helpful resources from Choosing Therapy.

This video by: Kristen Souza, LMHC
From the article: ADHD Paralysis: Definition & How to Overcome
Written by: Erica Laub MS, LICSW
Reviewed by: Dr. Maria Simbra MD, MPD
Published: August 5, 2022

#adhd #adhdproblems #analysisparalysis

[joelvarghese]

The hardest thing is having both adhd paralysis and anxiety disorder at the same time.
Due to adhd paralysis we never starts a task and when it’s due, the stress and pressure builds leading to high levels of anxiety causing anxiety attacks that literally paralyses you not just your brain. It’s like having a really high fever, your body is completely weak due to anxiety but you feel so cold. Your head will be like its about to explode, you gut will be out of your control, you will be extremely tired but you can’t sleep because of the task in hand

[Termiic]

Haven't been diagnosed or anything, but this feels SOOO realteable at literally every bullet point. I mean - too many choices when shopping, eating out, etc. Writing tasks down helps, but only if they are visible.

[Yessicuhhh]

Watching this video while I’m avoiding working on a stressful report for work.

[marramedia]

I can spend my time having my brain scream at me about a task, be really stressing over it, but still unable to do that task. It creates a cycle that makes me depressed thus even more stuck and ashamed about it. It really is self destruction constantly. I hate myself because of it.

[xxbeccabrutalityxx]

I'm crying rn. How often are people with ADHD misdiagnosed as bipolar or depressed with anxiety? Hearing ADHD explained this way is like, you took all the overlapping thoughts about my mental health problem out of my head, and organized them. I am always diagnosed with either bipolar disorder or anxiety and depression. However, I'm not depressed. I have been depressed before, and even with treatment that worked well for it, the original problems linger. And they're starting to ruin my life, bc I'm 6 months pregnant but still haven't even figured out how to do my dishes regularly, or how to complete any goals that benefit my future for my baby. I just sit and stare, totally overwhelmed by the nonstop train of thoughts and ideas in my head. For hours and hours, every day for the last 10 or 15 years at least. I think trying to explain that is why i got DX'd bipolar, my doctor believes my thought train is mania and my lack of motivation is depression. Idk what to do, but i appreciate your video and description a lot.

[villarrealmarta]

This is what I was accused of my whole life growing up and the whole time I had ADHD. I couldn’t help what was happening in my life and I was alone.

[johnroekoek]

2. Break down tasks
Did the first part. Hopefully next part will happen next month

[nitenerd]

I am at work right now and I feel like I’ve just had a huge breakthru into my brain. I shit down when things get overwhelming for me. I won’t talk to anyone- I can’t. And I feel like this video just opened my eyes to my soul and … it’s just crazy

[lisaolave]

im not diagnosed . and this video made me reflect . in not lazy .
sometimes (every day) i look at a blank space completly dissosciated telling myself to do a simple task, that i know i have to do. but i dont do it, my body doesnt move. internally im screaming to myself ' do it' move your hand stand up ' but i just stay sited for half and hour looking at nothing. only do things in a rush with a thight dead line. is horrible. im so tired.

[Jackiecarlet]

Literally watching this because I’m hella anxious about telling my Psych professional I have adhd but my biggest red flag was that I procrastinated EVERYTHING I do because I didn’t feel “pressured enough” to get it done. It’s so mentally exhausting but I just can’t bring myself to get it done early or break it up so I’m not so stressed writing a 6 page paper 3 hours before it’s due, or completing any task at home until right before I have company because I just couldn’t do it at any other time. It’s like my brain said…NOPE. NOT NOW. NOT IMPORTANT. then the deadline comes and it’s like “NOW NOW NOW!”

[MissKateWalk]

Very useful, thank you. I only have 2 disagreements though.

1. Rewards should not be snacks or online shopping, cause usually ADHDers have problems with impulsivity too, so my advice: do NOT go down that rabbithole of rewarding yourself with snacks or online shopping (believe me, an ADHDer with an eating disorder, who has a boyfriend with ADHD and impulsive online shopping problems). Find something that actually supports your overall goals, like if you're writing a novel, get yourself a nice new notebook or pen.

2. Movement breaks: I don't know about other people, but for me it takes long to get into a task. Once I'm on it though, it's hyperfocus all the way. So if I'm hyperfocusing, that means I'm not getting up from that desk for HOURS. And if a timer goes off every 30 or 60 minutes, and I'm forced to take a break, even if I am in the middle of a really good workflow, that breaks the whole thing in half. Result: a. I'm not taking a 5 or 15 minute break, I'm gonna get distracted and take probably 3 hours if not the rest of the day off. b. There's no way I'm sitting back to that desk to continue my taks, cause it takes way too much mental energy to get back in doing a task over and over again. So my method is: I do not take scheduled breaks, cause my brain does not work like a clockwork, I take breaks when my brain says I need it, and I go back to the task when my brain says I'm ready to.

Other than that, it's really a useful video, so thank you for the tips ❤

[dino]

Task paralysis to me is knowing I need to get something done, but the business, distraction, and confusion in my head prevents me from moving on it. I found the best strategy for me when I feel paralyzed by a task is to write down the micro steps - no matter how small. In trying to do this, it quickly becomes apparent to me why I struggled with it. I try to write the steps in order to- only to have to rearrange them on the sheet, then I notice that I can’t do a certain step without something I hadn’t thought of, so I add more micro steps. I did this once for something I thought was a complicated task, and I realized after writing the micro steps that I didn’t actually have to do the task at all! Most times, the icing on the cake is finally being able to quickly check items off the list of micro tasks and to crumple up the paper and throw it away. Sometime, I’ll keep them until the end of the day just to prove to myself how much I accomplished in one day. That, and light jazz playing faintly in the background helps too.

[Splogan_]

I dont know what I have but it’s less of an overwhelming feeling of too much going on. It’s more of paralysis where you literally can’t move because you got distracted and then you notice and you have to build willpower to escape your own mind.

[naturalebeing]

I don’t like identifying with ADHD or any disorder, but I was diagnosed from an early age & it is really debilitating at times. I didn’t even know the term was ADHD paralysis but that’s how I thought to describe what I feel on a daily basis and this came up. I just get so overwhelmed with life that I shut down and do the least important stuff on my list or I distract myself with shopping or socializing. I feel like I hold myself back so much in life because of this. There’s so much I should be doing to further myself but I just don’t do it.

[joaquimneto]

Thank you, Kristen. This is the first video I came across with actual sound advice that works for me. From a relatively small channel too. Thank you algorithm gods. 🙏

[lisaschwegel]

Just learning all of this, it describes how my last couple of years have been lived. I'd get all my chores done and crash in my chair all day until I had to get dinner ready for hubby, and do it again the next day. It's all foggy, and I had no idea that I have ADHD and I'm bouncing on the spectrum too. I'm 61 and recently widowed, so I started focusing on me and trying to love myself. That led me on the ADHD and autism trails because both of my grown sons and their kids have ADHD, and they've been trying to tell me I have it too. It's like I have crawled out of the rabbit hole and I'm embracing my new reality. I don't think I'll go get a Dr diagnosis, I have a therapist who has ADHD and she agrees at my age it is not a big deal, I think I'd suffer more trauma dealing with the Dr's. Anyway, I have a peace of mind now and feel fortunate to have an answer to a life long question, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!

[greatamericancigars]

This was a very informative video with a lot of great tips thank you.

[johnroekoek]

Hi Kristen. I did cut a clip of a movie inwhere the main character took a pill and suddenly the fog average people have disappeared. He went home, opened the front door of his messy apartment.
He thinks: "This couldn't be my home, could it? Cleaning all this feels insane. But... saner heads prevailed". He starts by doing the dishes and suddenly another him appears, removing trash into the trashbag, another puts books in the bookcase, another one vacuums etc.
When I am really stuck, I watch this 30 seconds clip and get pumped up enough to start.

[TomSutherland]

Literally described my life - down to the nanosecond.

[tisme]

I'm 12, got diagnosed with ADHD at age 6, I've had a lot of trouble growing up with ADHD for obvious reasons, I've been recently like "I have this, I should do more research on it and other things"