Does your hyperfocus have moods?

[IgnoranceWasNotBliss]

If you’re really excited about something and fall into a hyperfocus over it, is it a very excited looking hyperfocus? If you are overly excited can it almost look a little manic it’s so charged?

Or if something scared you. There was an emergency and you fall into a hyperfocus over it because you need to complete a task for it, is it a scared and anxious hyperfocus? If the emotion is really strong, can it almost look manic?

If you have pretty bad anxiety over something specific and then slip into a hyperfocus over it, can it look like a very agitated hyperfocus? Almost manic?

Then once the goal is filled, you can relax. The feeling was so intense it can take a little time to subside but does subsided pretty quickly once the goal was attainted.

Most of my hyperfocus is pretty chill but when stakes are really high and/or my emotions are heightened and really invested when I start to hyperfocus, sometimes it looks a little manic. The feeling fades after goal completion and there’s no depressive episode that follows.

My newphew was recently diagnosed with adhd and he’s battling some anxiety and depression with it. I think once his meds are adjusted it will be better but for the first time I saw someone in a state that I know I’ve been in before. And it does look manic. But I didn’t think it was! I assume this is an adhd hyperfocus anxiety attack kind of thing. I’ve been there.

Have you?

Is this an adhd thing or have we been misdiagnosed ?

[Blackedout]

I personally get like this with a lot of stuff and I'm not on medication for adhd anymore . Havent been since I was in my teens. I get worked up without noticing just how worked up I get.

[IgnoranceWasNotBliss in reply to Blackedout]

Thank you so much for your reply. What’s happening with my nephew is very stressful for all of us right now because he tried to kill him self twice. The family has been in a mental health emergency for almost 2 years. Then I got my diagnoses. Everything started to make much more sense! But he only just started his medication and it’s still being adjusted. I personally experienced what I call The Jekyll and Hyde effect. I was good on the medication but when it wore off.... holly cow! I was kinda nuts. They put my meds up, and it was gone. I also noticed today that though I was anxious hyperfocused on solving this situation for my nephew, technically, my hyperfocus was different then it normally would have been without meds, likely because of the medication. I still managed to get some stuff done at my house even though normally I would be so focused on the obsession that I wouldn’t be able to complete other tasks. So that’s good.

So..... you don’t think you have bipolar right? That’s what I’m worried about.

Thanks again. Hope to hear from more people too!

[Blackedout in reply to IgnoranceWasNotBliss]

The thought of being bipolar has crossed my mind. However my sister has bipolar and I am far from it. Growing up in a household with mental health issues and disabilities isn't easy. It got to the point that my sister needed more one on one attention and had to move in with my grandparents in order for her to adjust better. Three other siblings around was too much and caused constant freak outs, meltdowns, her threatening to kill herself, weekly, screaming at the top of her lungs almost every day kind of episodes over something as simple as her accusing someone of moving her stuff. She chased us with knives, ran away from home on her bike, would rock back and forth on her hair and cry when she was upset, the list goes on and on. It does get frustrating when my emotions get out of control but from experience bipolar is on a whole different level than anything adhd is able to make me feel. It still sucks though not being able to control feeling this way. I hate it. It's one thing I wish I could change

[IgnoranceWasNotBliss in reply to Blackedout]

This is so useful! Thank you so much for sharing. He definitely doesn’t do anything like that. He doesn’t even raise his voice. It’s more like he’s either really elated and talks a lot and fast and is fidgety and excited or it can be more negative and be come across twitchy and anxious and talkative and fidgety. He could talk for 2-3 hours in a jumpy agitated way about things that have been bothering him. It’s so nice you guys had your grandparents to help out. That’s a big undertaking. It’s good your sister was able to get the quiet and attention she needed to get stabilized.

Thanks again for the help.

[Birdwatcher19]

How long did the episode last? An episode of mania must be at least one week for a diagnosis of Bipolar I; a hypomanic episode of at least 4 days is required for Bipolar II. It doesn’t necessarily need to be followed immediately by a depressive episode. That said, it’s possible to have both ADHD and Bipolar, and stimulants can induce manic symptoms (SSRIs can, too, in someone with Bipolar), so it’s important that he talk to his doctor. Good luck. Hope he’s able to figure out the medication and is feeling better soon.

[IgnoranceWasNotBliss in reply to Birdwatcher19]

Thank you so much. Yeah my sister is waiting for a call back from the dr. The “manic” type episodes that he has are usually only a few hours but this one has been had a pretty intense few hours and is still heightened by not as noticeable now about 20 hours later. He was on an SSRI but then tried to kill himself so my sister took him off it. I’ll ask her which came first. The episodes or the SSRI. Maybe his bipolar was mild and these drugs are making it worse. Thank you for the tip.

[dnz3311]

If I am excited about something, worried, afraid etc it all looks very crazy and is all consuming. I was promoted 4 months ago and was very excited to be back in a position I had experience in. I was very excited and intense and producing results. It quickly devolved into a very bad situation because I didn’t stop to pay attention to office politics and wound up angering a fellow manager, our boss and on and on. Now that things are difficult I’m having a hard time accomplishing the things and producing the results that my team celebrated. I’m paranoid that everyone is looking at me like I’m crazy and I don’t want to get out of bed most days.

The thing that sucks above all else about my adhd is how much it intensifies all the thought and feelings I have and scatters them. It also pairs very badly with PTSD. 😭

[IgnoranceWasNotBliss in reply to dnz3311]

Thank you so much. This makes me feel better. I know that my nephew is just like me but technically, I’m new to this too! Though I’m positive I have adhd I’ve never known anyone who has it! There’s still things that I don’t know. I worried for a moment that we might be missing something or maybe had a worse version??? His situation threw me into an anxious hyperfocus over trying to help him. I couldn’t sleep, eat, I was google crazy, calling people, trying to get answer, to get a plan and the minute I figured it out and we started the plan, my hyperfocus died off. But then the next day, today, I am exhausted. Emotionally, physically, mentally.... this usually happens to me after I’ve been charged up. My nephew too. Now I realize it’s a mixture of hyperfocus and overstimulation. We have a lot of sensory sensitivity in my family. And it shot my central nervous system. His too. It all makes sense now.

Thank you so much for your help. It’s comforting to know that this is likely part of our adhd struggle and not that we’re missing something.