16. Anxiety or ADHD? Understanding the Two Types of Racing Thoughts and what to do about them

It's 10:15 on a Sunday night. You've come out to the kitchen to rinse one pot. One. And now you're just standing there, not touching it — because the second you stopped moving, it started. The permission slip. The referral. Was it orange day. The group chat you didn't answer. The dog bowl. And underneath all of it, the thought that always turns up: what's wrong with you, everyone else can do this.

So you do the breathing. Four in, hold four, four out. Name it. I'm feeling anxious.

And nothing happens.

What We Cover

• The Sunday-night sink — 40 thoughts arriving at once, none of them actually dangerous
• Why the breathing didn't work, and why that isn't a you-problem — even I've been paid to teach this and still couldn't breathe it down
• The two kinds of racing thoughts, and how to tell them apart in about four seconds
• The shelf — why yours is smaller, why it won't file, and why the dog bowl and the electricity bill are screaming at exactly the same volume
• What the friend who 'just handles everything' actually has that you don't
• The fire blanket problem — what happens when the whole wellness industry hands you one tool and tells you it works on everything
• The one question to ask instead: is something actually wrong, or is it everything at once?
• Why the too-much kind doesn't want calming — it wants emptying
• What you're really doing when you keep the TV on, scroll till your eyes shut, and say you 'just can't switch your brain off'

Free Resources

The Energy Accounting Guide — mentioned in the episode — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-mums-energy-accounting-guide/

Household Family Meeting Template — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-household-family-meeting-template/

Paid Resources

ADHD Mums Shop — https://adhdmums.com.au/shop/

Related Episodes

QUICK RESET: No, I Can't Meditate. I'm Too Busy Disassociating. — S3 EP47 — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-47-quick-reset-no-i-cant-meditate-im-too-busy-disassociating/

When You Can't Relax Even When It's Quiet — What Your Body Is Doing and Why — S3 — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/why-adhd-mums-cant-relax/

Anxiety & ADHD — S1 EP37, with Jessica Burgess — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-37-anxiety-and-adhd-with-jessica-burgess/

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