Building a lasting, satisfying relationship is challenging for everyone, however it can be more difficult where one of both members in the relationship have ADHD. This can cause misunderstandings, frustration and resentments. This can happen if the husband/wife was never properly diagnosed or treated. The good news is you can turn these problems around, here are four strategies to improve your ADHD relationship
Listen- Adults with ADHD can be easily distracted by internal and external stimuli so therefore it is very important to remove or turn off the distracting objects such as the television, cell phone etc.). In addition to having a good listening strategy it is important to say things like “is that right?” “did I get that?”
Avoid Rambling- Adults with ADHD are prone to rambling when talking and getting lost in their own thoughts. Thus, is important to give the other person a chance to speak how they feel without interrupting. You can do this by having an object like a pillow and whoever has the pillow can talk without being interrupted and when it is the other person’s turn to talk they can hold onto that object without being interrupted.
Call A Time Out – If the conversation you are having with your ADHD husband/wife starts to get intense call a time out. Give yourselves permission to take a breather and then come back to when both of you are calmed down and in a better state of mind. It is helpful for both to agree on a time that works both of you to start the conversation again.
Be Respectful – No matter how difficult the topic of conversation is or how upset you are, you husband/wife always deserves respect.