10 Ways to Make Your ADHD Symptoms WORSE

How to make your ADHD symptoms worse

Most people with ADHD are looking for ways to improve their focus, organization, and emotional regulation. But what if we flipped the script? What if, instead of talking about how to manage ADHD, we looked at all the things that make it worse?

If you’re looking for a way to completely derail your productivity, increase frustration, and ensure your brain stays in full chaos mode, here’s your ultimate guide. (Or, you know, use this list to recognize what NOT to do.)

1. Get as Little Sleep as Possible

Want to experience maximum brain fog, emotional meltdowns, and whole scope of executive dysfunction? Just cut back on sleep. ADHD brains already struggle with regulation, and lack of sleep only intensifies inattention, impulsivity, and irritability. But this also goes for TOO much sleep. Stay in bed all day, maximize 14-16 hours of sleep, that's just as guaranteed to make your symptoms worse.

2. Skip Meals and Rely on Junk Food

Blood sugar crashes are your best friend if you want to make ADHD symptoms worse that is. Skipping meals or loading up on processed sugar leads to mood swings, brain fog, and an absolute inability to focus. It is true that having something sugary can improve cognition temporarily, but you really want to be overloading yourself with those short term fixes to ensure your body has nothing to run on.

3. Surround Yourself with Clutter and Chaos

ADHD brains struggle with organization, so why not make things harder by keeping your space as messy and chaotic as possible? The more visual distractions, the better. If you want to make your ADHD symptoms the worst they possibly can be, luckily this is one that won't take much effort to achieve as it's typically a trait of ADHD anyway.

4. Try to Force Yourself into a Neurotypical Routine

If you want to really frustrate yourself, try using rigid, traditional productivity methods that weren’t designed for ADHD brains. To-do lists with 50 items, sitting in one spot for hours, and attempting to power through boring tasks without breaks will ensure burnout and failure. You need to expect yourself to work like a machine, you have to berate yourself when you get distracted, and ignore any need for movement or stimulation. The saying, 'stay till it's done,' should be your motto on this one.

5. Stay in One Place for Too Long

Want to guarantee restlessness and mental stagnation? Stay in the same environment all day without changing your scenery. ADHD brains thrive on novelty, so when everything starts feeling stale, motivation plummets. Work, eat, and relax in the same spot every day without a change of surroundings.

6. Sit Down and Stay There (The Sit Pit)

If you have a task to do, there is nothing more important to making sure you become further dysregulated than to convince yourself you need a break and to sit down. ADHD brains need movement to regulate energy and maintain focus. But if you want to hit a full executive dysfunction shutdown, just plant yourself on the couch or at your desk for hours without a break. Stay in one position for as long as possible, ignore your body's need for movement, and wait until your energy completely crashes before forcing yourself up.

7. Hyperfocus on the Wrong Things

Why tackle the task you need to do when you could spend hours deep-diving into an obscure topic or organizing your bookshelf by colour? Hyperfocus can be useful, but not when it hijacks your entire day. Spend three hours perfecting a spreadsheet instead of paying your bills, then panic when you realize you’ve missed deadlines. Rely on the adrenal glands to motivate you with a good hit of adrenaline, that ought to do it.

8. Avoid Asking for Help

ADHD is hard enough to manage on your own, so why not make it even harder by refusing support? Many ADHDers struggle with self-reliance, thinking they should be able to handle everything solo. Refuse to use resources, avoid seeking support, and convince yourself that asking for help is a sign of weakness.

9. Doomscroll on Your Phone All Day

Excessive phone use is the perfect recipe for distraction, overstimulation, and avoidance of important tasks. Social media, endless TikTok scrolling, and hopping between apps hijack your dopamine and leave you feeling mentally drained. Check your phone the moment you wake up, keep notifications on for everything, and reach for your phone every time you feel the slightest bit bored. Make sure you use that time to consume more of my content, just while you're there that is.

10. Rely on Prolonged Caffeine Intake

Caffeine can be a double-edged sword for ADHD. While it can help with focus in moderation, too much can cause anxiety, worsen sleep, and increase restlessness, leading to a vicious cycle of exhaustion and overstimulation. Drink coffee or energy drinks throughout the day, ignore how it affects your anxiety, and have a caffeine boost in the evening to “push through” your to-do list.