ADHD and Stress – Small Solutions That Actually Help

ADHD and stress can sometimes make our thoughts race far ahead of reality.

🇸🇪 Svensk version När ångesten nästan åt upp morgonen – men jag åkte ändå

Sometimes reality is not the hardest part.
It is the thoughts beforehand.

ADHD and Stress Before the Day Has Even Started

Yesterday morning, stress almost swallowed me before the day had even begun. Just the thought of driving down to Gothenburg triggered everything at once.

Parking.
City traffic.
Taking the wrong turn.
Not finding the right road.
Getting stuck somewhere in the middle of traffic.

You know how the brain can sometimes run several hours ahead of reality and already create disasters before you have even put your shoes on.

Small Solutions for ADHD and Stress

But I did something that actually helped me.

I took one step at a time.

I got into the car and drove all the way down there. Not calmly and harmoniously exactly, but I did it anyway. When I arrived in Bäckebol, I parked the car there and booked a Bolt taxi into the city instead.

It arrived within five minutes.

And honestly…

Maybe it was avoidance.
Maybe some people would call it cowardly.

But then so be it.

Because those 101 kronor were worth every single krona.

101 kronor to avoid the anxiety of city driving.
101 kronor to avoid the stress of finding parking.
101 kronor to help my nervous system stay a little calmer.

ADHD and stress sometimes make the brain try to solve problems long before they even exist.

And really, it is cheaper than both doctor visits and sleepless nights.

Sometimes I think we humans are far too hard on ourselves when we find solutions that actually make life manageable.

As if everything has to be done in the hardest possible way to count.

But I got through the day.
I did not stay home.

And honestly, that is what matters.

The taxi driver was also incredibly kind. He came from a completely different country and drove through Gothenburg as if he had done it his whole life. We started talking about running a business, and he told me he had previously had employees, but in the end it became too much with fees, responsibilities, and people who perhaps did not put the same heart into the business as he did.

He said something that stayed with me.

That your business almost becomes like your child.

And I understood exactly what he meant.

But honestly, this was not even what the post was supposed to be about. That became one of those little side tracks life often takes.

ADHD, Creativity and the Longing to Create

Later that day I went to an art exhibition.

And something happened inside me there.

Suddenly the thought appeared:

What am I really doing with my creativity?

Why am I spending all my time on everything else when I have paints downstairs in the basement and canvases still waiting for life?

That longing is still inside me.

The inspiration too.

And right there and then I promised myself that I would create space at home again where I can actually start painting. Not to become good at it. Not for achievement. But because something inside me misses it.

Maybe some parts of us need to rise to the surface again before they become completely silent.

ADHD and Stress When Meeting New People

And yes…

I also met many people I had never met before that day. Of course, that also created anxiety already in the morning.

“What if they do not like me?”
“What if I am not enough?”
“What if I say something strange?”

All those thoughts the brain throws at us as if they are supposed to protect us from something.

But in the middle of everything, something hit me:

Do I decide beforehand that I will not like people before I even meet them?

No.

Quite the opposite.

I am far too curious about people for that.

I actually like meeting people. Hearing their stories. Feeling different personalities and energies.

And maybe other people sit there carrying the same small clouds of worry inside themselves.

Maybe several of us there yesterday looked calm on the outside while secretly wondering what would happen, whether we would fit in or not.

So how do I summarize the day?

Well…

The anxiety was far bigger than reality.

And maybe that is exactly what is important to remember sometimes.

That thoughts can scream long before life has even begun.

Reflection – ADHD, Stress and Kinder Ways Forward

In the past, maybe we would have called it cowardly to take a taxi the last part of the journey.

Today I think differently.

ADHD is not only about forgetting things or having lots of energy. Sometimes it is about a nervous system running at full speed long before anything has even happened. The thoughts have already lived through the entire day before we have even walked out the door.

And maybe that is why we sometimes need small emergency solutions just to cope.

A pause.
A detour.
A taxi for 101 kronor.
A plan B that keeps the body from breaking under stress.

We humans are often so hard on ourselves when we are simply trying to make life work. As if everything must be done in the hardest possible way to count.

But maybe compassion is something else entirely.

Maybe it is about stopping for a moment and asking yourself:

“What do I need right now to get through this day without drowning in stress?”

Because sometimes the bravest thing we can do is not to push ourselves harder.

Sometimes it is to help ourselves through life a little more gently.

Between the Lines – When the ADHD Brain Expects Not to Fit In

Between the lines there may be a person who for a very long time believed that everything has to be done the “right” way to count.

That you should just push through.
Drive all the way.
Not feel stressed.
Not need small emergency solutions.

But life does not always work that way for those of us who feel deeply, think deeply, and carry old experiences inside our bodies.

Sometimes we need to find our own ways through the day simply to be able to stay present in it.

And maybe there is also something important in realizing that many of those thoughts about not fitting in actually come from yesterday, not from the people we meet today.

For those of us living with ADHD and stress, small solutions can sometimes be the difference between staying home and actually making it through the day.

And when the fear calms down a little, curiosity often returns.

The longing for people.
Conversations.
Colors.
Creativity.
Life.

Maybe the whole text is really about that.

Not about anxiety.

But about life still pulling us forward, despite everything.

And maybe it is strange how the brain sometimes still expects not to fit in, even though life has already shown us something different many times before.

Question for You

Have you ever used a small “emergency solution” just to manage something that felt too overwhelming?

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Carina Ikonen Nilsson

Yesterday has already come to rest in history, tomorrow is waiting further ahead. But right now – this is where life happens.

ADHD and Stress Can Sometimes Make Our Thoughts Run Far Ahead of Reality