Learn how to repurpose negative emotions with ADHD, exploring the significance of emotions, the frustration faced by individuals with ADHD, and the importance of basic functioning. The episode concludes with a promise to continue the conversation in the next part, delving into repurposing negative emotions further.
Repurposing negative emotions involves using them as resources to figure out what matters to someone with ADHD.
Repurposing negative emotions requires acknowledging them, understanding underlying values, and evaluating their significance in the grand scheme of things.
Deep dives
Repurposing Negative Emotions
In this podcast episode, the hosts discuss the concept of repurposing negative emotions. They explore the idea that instead of simply trying to regulate or manage emotions, individuals can find more creative ways to use these emotions to inform what matters to them. The hosts give examples of situations that provoke negative emotions, such as non-functioning hoopy bags or a cooking class where participants are only spectators. They highlight the importance of awareness and recognizing the impact of negative emotions. Repurposing negative emotions involves acknowledging the emotion, understanding the underlying values or principles, and evaluating whether the emotion really matters in the grand scheme of things.
Personal Context and Emotions
The hosts emphasize the significance of personal context when it comes to negative emotions. They illustrate how different individuals may respond differently to similar situations based on their own unique perspectives and principles. The example of the cooking class, which touched on one host's core principle of experiential education, shows that emotions are not solely about a failure to perform basic functions. The hosts highlight the value of awareness in coaching sessions and how it can help uncover the underlying causes and interpretations of negative emotions.
The Power of Repurposing Emotions
The podcast explores the concept of repurposing negative emotions as a way to channel them into more beneficial outcomes. The hosts discuss the process of repurposing emotions, which involves recognizing the emotion, identifying the impact on one's values, and evaluating its significance in the broader context. Repurposing negative emotions allows individuals to move beyond emotional dysregulation and find more meaningful ways to utilize their emotions. It is a practice that requires ongoing self-awareness, but has the potential to transform negative emotions into positive actions.
In this part one of two episodes, Ash and Cam discuss the idea of repurposing negative emotions. People with ADHD are often told that they don’t manage their emotions and they need to learn to regulate their emotions. That’s like trying to hold back a rising tide with a sand castle wall! We can do more than just manage emotions. Emotions are responses to our environment, and when redirected or repurposed they can be amazing resources, especially when it comes to figuring out what matters to someone.
Cam shares a recent personal experience to illustrate repurposing negative emotions - how his aggravation from, of all things, a split poopy bag, a gourmet polenta that fails to set up and a cooking class where you don’t get to cook can be converted into a reminder of what matters at Cam’s core. Ash deftly steers the conversation to further explore the significance of “things doing their basic function” and how the learning from the cooking class example is the thread to pull on. The conversation explores the awareness of negative emotions, recognizing their impact, and the potential for repurposing them to inform and reacquaint one with core values. The discussion touches on ADHD implications, the importance of basic functioning, and the frustration that individuals with ADHD may face. The episode concludes with a promise to continue the conversation in the next part, delving into repurposing negative emotions further.