ADHD terms (of endearment)

Words you might not have heard or need to know

Emotional Dysregulation  

Emotional dysregulation is a mental health symptom that involves trouble controlling your emotions and how you act on those feelings. To those around you, your emotions and reactions will seem out of proportion compared to what you’re reacting to1. Symptoms can include low frustration tolerance, irritability, ease of negative emotional experience, and emotional lability6.

You can think about emotional regulation like volume control for your feelings. With emotional dysregulation, your volume control doesn’t work like it should, making your emotions “louder” and harder to manage1.

With emotional dysregulation, your volume control doesn’t work like it should, making your emotions “louder” and harder to manage.

Emotional Liability

Emotional lability involves rapid mood changes when strong emotions occur. Symptoms may include heightened irritability or temper, or an atypical emotive reaction to certain situations3.

Executive Dysfunction

Executive function refers to skills that you use to manage everyday tasks like making plans, solving problems and adapting to new situations. The three main skills are working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibition control. Therefore, executive dysfunction is a behavioral symptom that disrupts a person’s ability to manage their own thoughts, emotions and actions2.

Neurodivergent

Neurodivergent is a nonmedical term that describes people whose brains develop or work differently for some reason. This means the person has different strengths and struggles from people whose brains develop or work more typically7.

Neurospicy

Colloquialism. Term used to describe someone who is neurodivergent, meaning their brain functions differently than most people's4.  See: unique, fucking awesome.

Neurospicy used to describe someone who is neurodivergent and generally awesome. They think, perceive and expereince the world differently.

Neurotransmitters

Research indicates ADHD might cause an imbalance or shortage of certain neurotransmitters, especially dopamine and norepinephrine. Without the right amount or mix of neurotransmitters, your brain can’t function as it should.

Your brain relies on networks of specialized cells known as neurons, which send and relay signals throughout your brain. Those signals are how you form thoughts, move your muscles and more. Your brain needs special chemicals known as neurotransmitters to transfer signals from neuron to neuron8.

Sensation-seeking

Sensation-seeking is characterized by the desire for intense and novel experiences, and considered a trait of risk-taking behavior. Sensation-seeking has consistently been related to higher incidences of alcohol and substance abuse. ADHD has been found as an independent predictor of sensation-seeking9.

Sensation-seeking is characterized by the desire for intense and novel experiences.

Sensory Modulation Dysfunction

SMD is a neurodevelopmental sensory-processing alteration, characterized by difficulty in regulating the degree, nature, or intensity of responses to sensory stimulation9. It can affect any of your senses. It affects up to 20% of the world’s population and commonly occurs in people who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In adults, it can look like:

• A tendency to seek out OR AVOID intense sensory experiences

• High sensitivity OR UNRESPONSIVENESS to lights, sounds, textures, or smells

• Strong emotional reactions to sensory stimuli

• A tendency to become easily overwhelmed in crowded or noisy environments

• Avoidance of social situations due to sensory overload10

Alternate terms

Here are some fun articles I found on other names and terms for ADHD. My favourites are ‘ADOS – Attention Deficit Oooooooooh Shiny’ and ‘Doom Piling.

• From ‘dopamining’ to ‘squirreling’ – A guide to ADHD terminology

• Alternate Names For ADHD: We're A Funny Lot

Can you think of any you'd add to this list?

References

1. Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Emotional Dysregulation. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/25065-emotional-dysregulation

2. Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Executive Dysfunction. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23224-executive-dysfunction

3. Lorenzo Lucchetti (Oct. 10, 2023). What to know about emotional lability. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/emotional-lability

4. Dani Rodwell. (n.d.). Neurospicy Meaning: What It Means and Where it Came From. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://www.neurosparkhealth.com/blog/

5. Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Emotional Dysregulation. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/25065-emotional-dysregulation

6. Beheshti, A., Chavanon, ML. & Christiansen, H. Emotion dysregulation in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry 20, 120 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-2442-7

7. Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Neurodivergent. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23154-neurodivergent

8. Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Adults. Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/5197-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd-in-adults

9. Assayag N, Berger I, Parush S, Mell H, Bar-Shalita T. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms, Sensation-Seeking, and Sensory Modulation Dysfunction in Substance Use Disorder: A Cross Sectional Two-Group Comparative Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 22;19(5):2541. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19052541. PMID: 35270233; PMCID: PMC8909105.

10. Traci Pedersen. July 9, 2024. How Does Sensory Processing Disorder Affect Adults? https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/sensory-processing-disorder-in-adults