Worms: how ADHD lets Negative Emotions, Control your Actions

Hunting Your Worms: How to Manage Emotions with ADHD

As humans, we have this weird relationship with emotions. They control almost everything we do. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, broke, or even a criminal—at the end of the day, we’re all connected through feelings. What separates us is our environment and the hardships we face.

For those of us with ADHD, emotions hit even harder. ADHD makes it tougher to regulate and control how emotions influence our actions. But negative emotions aren’t all bad—they’re survival tools. They trigger fight-or-flight responses that help protect us from harm.

Combined Negativity: Worms

Life is messy, and it’s hard to pinpoint everything that makes it difficult. Since we live as the main characters in our own story, we all need a “common enemy” to make sense of the world. I like to think of that enemy as worms.

Worms are the sum of negative emotions from our experiences and hardships. They feed on grief, anger, sorrow, shame, and everything in between. Like parasites, they dig into the mind, latch onto other negativity, and grow stronger. Over time, these worms can evolve into bad habits and destructive behaviors—turning you into a puppet of impulse, desire, and hunger.

With ADHD, your mind is the perfect environment for worms to thrive. Struggles with impulse control, procrastination, and focus are like food for them. That moment when you “can’t focus” or lose hours to scrolling? That’s a worm acting through you.

You Can’t Control How You Feel… But You Can Control What You Do

Emotions are reactions to your environment—they happen whether you like it or not. The power comes from how you respond.

Here’s how to take control:

• Trap the emotion with breathing: Use deep breaths to notice and analyze negative emotions before they influence your actions.

• Escape your mindset: Remove distractions and focus on what needs to be done.

• Choose rational decisions: Base your actions on what improves your well-being, not instant gratification.

• Use hyperfocus as a tool: Shift your attention intentionally. Music, fidget toys, or focused tasks can keep worms from hijacking your mind.

• Be Honest with Yourself

We all lie about how we feel. We hide jealousy, anger, or insecurity—but worms thrive on denial. Catch the emotion before it becomes action, and you weaken its control.

Remember: emotions are tools for survival. ADHD just makes them louder, harder to ignore, and faster to escalate. Once you start noticing your worms, you can trap them, manage them, and prevent them from controlling your actions.