Afternoon irritability and defensiveness after 2 PM can signal ADHD, caused by declining executive function as your brain's decision-making and focus capacity wears down. If it affects others, disclose your ADHD, apologize, limit the behavior, and make amends.
You might have ADHD if you get irritable and defensive later in the day, especially after 2:00 PM. The reason this is happening is mostly because of low executive function, which is just something we gotta learn to live with if we have ADHD. If you have low executive function, it's getting worn down all throughout the day while you're making decisions, you're organizing, you're planning, and you're really getting focused on things. If you're being irritable or defensive or acting in any way that negatively impacts people around you, the first step is letting them know you have ADHD. And then after that, We have to take responsibility. We have to apologize. We have to do what we can to limit those behaviors, to have them not impact people so negatively, and to make amends as quickly as we can when we do do those things. Even if we didn't mean to do it, we didn't think we were going to do it, we didn't feel like it was a bad thing, it doesn't matter. If they are hurt or they feel bad, it's because of something we did, and we have to take responsibility for that.
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