My Relationship with Money

Q: How do I find out what relationship I have with money or food that influences how I spend money or what food choices I make?

Sigh, this is all so familiar to me. You are not alone.

For part 1 -Yes, because of our Executive Function issues, some of us have a tough time handling money. We spend impulsively, and then because we cannot picture future consequences we fail to budget for the essentials.

If you have access to online banking, I would schedule for your bills to be automatically dispersed on pay day.

When I was single, the best way I found to handle the essential bills was to pay half of them after I got my first paycheck of the month, and the rest after my second paycheck. I had to just live with the leftover $$.

Part 2 – Many of us struggle with eating issues. Again, our EF issues make it difficult to regulate our hunger/satiety cues. On top of that the emotional aspects of ADHD can lead to problematic eating behaviors. Many humans use food for comfort, even without ADHD.

I’ve read that a large number of the patients in eating disorder clinics meet the diagnostic criteria for ADHD.

Personally, I have struggled with eating throughout my adult life. I’ve gone through restrictive periods and binge periods.

The things that help me include: full body exercise, freeform amino acids, intuitive eating. And my therapist.

But I would advise that nutrition is very individual. Sort of like ADHD is individual.

Are you currently treating your ADHD?

Talk to your doctor about your impulsive behaviors to find out what types of support and treatment are available to you.

here are some informational resources:

A recent webinar from adda – https://add.org/product/webinar-adhd-and-managing-your-finances/

TADD talk with James Greenblatt, MD (his book is good, too!) https://add.org/tadd-2017-adhd-eating-disorders/

https://add.org/put-pizza-seriously/

https://chadd.org/for-adults/managing-money-and-adhd/

here’s my link – http://adoseofhealthydistraction.com/struggle-weight-body-image-adhd/

Also, look up Dr. Roberto Olivardia. I have heard him speak about eating issues and ADHD, and he is great!

Don’t hesitate to look for support. Join one of the adda groups, or even look into coaching. Sometimes other people see us more clearly than we see ourselves.

Take Care.

– Liz