Even adaptive coping strategies can become maladaptive, as is the case when an occasional “I’m just gonna escape into this book for a bit” turns into “I have spent my entire year in a book or, more accurately, six hundred books.” Research finds that cognitive avoidance—a set of coping mechanisms in which a person uses cognitive techniques like avoidance, suppression, or rumination to escape mental and emotional distress—is particularly common among those with ADHD. When mindful coping crosses the line into unhealthy avoidance, we can end up avoiding or repressing emotions we need to face.
