Why do my feelings go 0 to 100?

You are not dramatic. Your feelings just arrive at full volume.

The short version.

There is no dimmer, only on and off

Annoyed turns to furious. Excited turns to giddy. The feeling fits the moment. It just skips the middle settings everyone else seems to have.

It hits fast, before thinking can catch up

The reaction is out of your mouth before the pause arrives. By the time you have thought it through, you are already apologising for it.

Then comes the second wave

The shame afterwards often lasts longer than the feeling did. "Why am I like this?" weighs more than the snapped reply ever did.

It builds up quietly first

Most blow-ups are not about the last thing. They are about the hunger, the noise, the ten small things since morning. The last straw just gets the blame.

Name it, and it shrinks a little

"I am overwhelmed" said out loud slows things down. Naming the feeling moves you from being inside it to looking at it.

Leave the room, not the conversation

"Give me ten minutes, I want to come back to this." A short break with a promise to return is not running away. It keeps your words kind.

Check the basics first

Before deciding the whole day is ruined, ask the dull questions. Have I eaten? Slept? Had water? Big feelings get bigger on an empty tank.

Your feelings are not too much. They just need more room to land. Dump everything into my.adhd and get one small thing back to steady you.

How my.adhd helps

Adapted from our carousel series. A starting point, not medical advice — for that, talk to a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist.