control

Sometimes it feels like you're in a bind – you want to communicate that something is bothering you, but you're trying hard not to nag or parent your ADHD partner.  If you don’t say anything, chances are good that not much will change.  But if you suggest something got forgotten again, it sounds like a critique.  What do you do?

Anger often invades ADHD relationships, and couples may compound their pain and feed that anger by falling victim to these common myths.

All of us have bad days sometimes…even bad months or longer.  I’m having one right now that has to do with my negative feelings about the impact of my husband’s job in our lives.  The problem is, my responses are making things worse.  As always, you can learn from my mistakes - in this case about how NOT to approach your partner.

A woman with ADHD talks about the shame and remorse she feels about her childhood ADHD.

Do you, like many other couples, find yourselves arguing over whether or not something happened a certain way in the past?  Whether or not you’ve discussed a specific subject?  Wondering whether your partner was actually THERE when you were talking about something with him or her?  If so, you’ve probably experienced the “he said/she said” argument – the one that goes like this:

Control issues create one of the most common Catch-22s of ADHD-impacted marriages. So how do you stop trying to control your partner, get his or her buy-in, and get out of this lose/lose situation?

When you're trying repeatedly to get an ADHD spouse to "respond" to your requests it's hard not to get into nagging mode.  But non-ADHD spouses need to avoid chronic nagging patterns if they are to be successful, happy partners.  This is much harder than it sounds. 

It is with some humor that I say that a very sensitive area of conflict for many couples is driving.  Most commonly, the conflict centers around the poor driving habits of an ADHD spouse (and why they can't/won't change them) and who is going to drive when.  There is more here than meets the eye, though, so I thought I would explore it a bit.  If you have conflicts over driving, read on!

I know what it’s like to be a non-ADD spouse and discover that you no longer like yourself.  Many here have the same problem – they have struggled so long, and are so exhausted, that they can no longer find the core of who they are. I would like to share with you my own story of how I moved from disliking myself back to “being me” as well as provide some ideas for change that may help you.

It has been my observation that people with in ADD marriages violate each other’s personal boundaries quite frequently, and in both directions.  This becomes a huge issue for the relationship, as both partners become locked in an unwitting struggle for control, lose respect for each other, and often lose a sense of themselves as unique individuals in a way that diminishes them individually and as a couple.