Louise Rothwell Therapist

20/12/2025

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19/12/2025

🤔

18/12/2025

Hey guys 🫶🏻

Where is December going! It does not feel like Christmas is actually next week!! Anyone else thinking the same?! 😳🎄🤪

I’ve just recorded another audio and the topic is an interesting one! 🎉

Do you ever consider what direction your feelings are coming from? 🤔

We do not really think about how or where feelings are generated, but understanding this gives us so much more power over them. How can you conquer something if you have no awareness of why it is there, or where it came from?

This audio looks at four directional theories that give more context to your feelings, so that you have a greater understanding of what direction your feelings are moving in, so that you can essentially stop them in their tracks.

If you would like a listen, head to the audio section on my website. If you already recieve my audios, then this is winging its way to you now.

Enjoy, you lovely lot ☺️🤩

18/12/2025

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15/12/2025

Did you know that if you text HOME to 741741 at a time when you may be feeling depressed or suicidal, a crisis worker will text you back immediately and will continue to text with you? Many people, especially younger ones, don't like talking over the phone and would feel more comfortable texting. This is a free service for anyone - if you would like to join me in raising awareness, please copy and paste this.


🤷🏻‍♀️It takes just a copy and a paste!

14/12/2025

☺️

11/12/2025

Hey you lovely lot! 😍

I hope you’re all doing great and getting organised for Christmas! 🎅🏼🎅🏼🎅🏼

Let’s try and keep the festivities as calm as possible, particularly on the inside!! 🤩

Anxiety and an anxious feeling, are two different things. Believing they are the same can cause you to create anxiety and get stuck in the cycle of it. Understanding that anxiety is actually a response to another feeling, can really help you understand your triggers and stop anxiety in its tracks. It can also stop you from turning a normal anxious response into a state of permanent anxiety. 🤪😬

I have just recorded an audio on this subject that clears up this common misunderstandings and helps you reframe and minimise anxious responses, lessoning your chances of getting stuck in a consistent phase of anxiety.

To listen, head to my website and click on audios. If you are already registered, this will be in your inbox now!

Enjoy ☺️💪🏻🤩

04/12/2025

Good afternoon you lovely lot! ☺️

How good would it be to have FIVE SIMPLE STEPS to a happier, contented life?

Sometimes we just need some simple, basic, every day steps to happiness. When you are trying to work on your self and your mood, it can be easy to over complicate everything and overwhelm yourself with huge lists of things to try.

Reading lots of self help books and googling advice, can help in the short term but trying to do too much at once can feel stressful and can then make it feel too hard to get ahead.

The audio I have just recorded gives five, simple tips to easily put into your day, that can make all the difference, without overwhelming you.

To listen head to my website and look for the audio section. If you are already registered to recieve my audios then this will be in your inbox now 🤩

Enjoy 🥰

03/12/2025

A brilliant explanation ☺️

When Your Brain Takes Everything Too Deep: The AuDHD Layers Nobody Sees

If you’ve ever walked away from a simple conversation and replayed it for hours—analyzing every word, tone, facial shift, and hidden meaning—then you already understand the chaos of a neurodivergent mind. Most people hear sentences. We hear signals. We hear implications. We hear possibilities that weren’t even spoken. For many ADHD and autistic adults, communication isn’t just about listening; it’s about decoding, interpreting, filtering, and then emotionally managing whatever we think we understood.

That is the exhausting truth behind this funny little graphic:
Autism takes things literally. ADHD takes things personally. AuDHD takes everything—literally, personally, and emotionally—all at once.

And once you’ve lived through that spiral, you never quite experience conversations the same way again.

The ADHD Hook: When One Word Feels Like a Whole Story

ADHD brains don’t just hear information; they feel it. A tiny comment can hit like a punch. A question can feel like criticism. A neutral tone can send your mind into a loop of overthinking. Not because you're weak, dramatic, or emotional, but because ADHD affects emotional regulation, threat perception, and how your brain assigns weight to social cues.

It’s why someone saying, “Are you sure?” can feel like an accusation.
Why “You forgot again” can feel like failure.
Why “We need to talk” can ruin your entire day.

Your brain remembers every time you messed up, every moment you disappointed someone, every fear you’ve tucked away. So the smallest trigger pulls up a whole file of memories. People think you’re reacting to one sentence—but you’re really reacting to years of patterns.

And then add autism to the mix…

The Autistic Literal Brain: Words Are Exact, Not Approximate

Autistic communication is clear, direct, logical, and structured. Words mean what they mean. Tone is straightforward. Intent is literal. Autistic people often trust language more than hidden signals, because hidden signals are confusing. That means:

If someone jokes harshly, it can feel like the truth.
If someone says, “Don’t worry about it,” your brain wonders what you missed.
If someone is vague, you might take the vaguest option possible.
If someone is sarcastic, you might think they’re serious.

Literal thinking is not immaturity; it is honesty. It is clarity. It is authenticity. It is communication without games.

But when your ADHD emotional sensitivity mixes with autistic literal interpretation?

You don’t just take it literally.
You don’t just take it personally.
You take it as both… plus everything in between.

The AuDHD Experience: Overthinking in High-Definition

AuDHD isn’t autism + ADHD. It’s the collision of two systems fighting for control.

One part of your brain tries to analyze every detail logically.
The other part tries to emotionally interpret every unspoken layer.
And together, they create a storm:

You hear the words literally.
You absorb the tone emotionally.
You interpret the meaning personally.
You replay the interaction endlessly.
You create four possible explanations.
You prepare for all outcomes.
And you blame yourself for even needing this much processing.

It feels like your brain opens 15 tabs from one sentence.

Most people don’t realize how intense simple communication can be.

The Weight of Emotional Memory

ADHD brains struggle with emotional regulation. Autism brains store emotional experiences very deeply. Combine them, and you get a mind that:

Remembers every moment of embarrassment
Overanalyzes every argument
Feels guilt for things that happened years ago
Gets overwhelmed by small conflicts
Needs closure that others don’t think to offer

You don’t just feel emotions—you drown in them.
You don’t just hear criticism—you absorb it.
You don’t just misunderstand something—you punish yourself for it.

This is why AuDHD communication feels like walking through life without protective skin.

The Silent Panic Behind Miscommunication

AuDHD individuals often fear three things during conversations:

Misunderstanding the meaning

Overreacting emotionally

Being perceived as “too much”

So you spend a lot of energy monitoring yourself.

Should I ask for clarification?
Will I sound annoying?
Did I interpret that right?
Did I respond too quickly?
Did I take it wrong?
Should I apologize?
Should I let it go?
Should I pretend I didn’t notice the tone shift?

By the time the conversation ends, you’re mentally exhausted.

Not because the topic was hard—
but because your brain ran a full emotional and analytical marathon just to keep up.

Why Even “Jokes” Hit Hard

AuDHD humor isn’t the same as neurotypical humor. When someone makes a harsh joke about you, even casually, your autistic side takes the words literally and your ADHD side reacts emotionally. Suddenly, your brain thinks:

Are they serious?
Was that passive aggression?
Were they hiding a truth inside a joke?
Should I laugh?
Should I be offended?
Was I supposed to understand a deeper meaning?

You decode the joke from eight different angles—but still aren’t sure how to feel.

People may say you’re sensitive.
But you’re not sensitive.
You’re deciphering multiple signals at once, in a world that never taught you how.

The Beautiful Side Nobody Talks About

For all the overwhelm, AuDHD also creates a mind that feels with intensity, cares with sincerity, and understands people deeply. You notice details others overlook. You sense emotional shifts before words reveal them. You care about clarity, honesty, and authenticity in ways that make relationships richer.

Literal thinking makes you reliable.
Emotional insight makes you empathetic.
Deep processing makes you intuitive.

These traits aren’t flaws.
They’re strengths wrapped in complexity.
They’re gifts wrapped in sensitivity.
They’re layers wrapped in humanity.

You Are Not “Too Much”—You’re Multi-Layered

If you’ve ever felt ashamed for reacting strongly, thinking deeply, or caring intensely, remember this:

Your brain isn’t broken.
Your heart isn’t weak.
Your reactions aren’t wrong.

You are navigating conversations with a mind that processes everything in high-definition. You feel more, notice more, analyze more, and absorb more. That is not a flaw.

It is a rare kind of emotional intelligence—
one the world has not yet learned to appreciate fully.

But you don’t need to shrink to fit in. You only need to understand yourself deeply enough to stop apologizing for having a rich inner world.