Mood tracker for ADHD: catch the swings within a day
With ADHD, mood can change several times before lunch. A once-a-day rating misses most of it. Quick check-ins through the day show the swings and what set them off. This guide covers what to track and how to keep it easy enough to stick with.
Last reviewed by the Pixy team. Not medically reviewed. 2 sources.
Pixy is a self-tracking tool, not a medical device or therapy. It cannot diagnose, treat, or monitor any condition. Talk to a doctor or therapist about your symptoms and your care.
If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, get help now. In the US, call or text 988 (988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). In the UK, call Samaritans on 116 123. Elsewhere, find a free helpline at findahelpline.com or call your local emergency number.
What mood looks like with ADHD
Emotion dysregulation is common with ADHD. A review found it in about 25 to 45% of children and 30 to 70% of adults with ADHD.[1]
It is not one of the official diagnostic criteria for ADHD, but it often comes with it. Adults with ADHD show much more emotional lability than adults without it, and more of it goes with more severe ADHD symptoms.[2]
In daily life, that can look like quick frustration, big reactions to small setbacks, and moods that shift within hours: deep focus in the morning, a crash after a missed deadline, irritability in the evening.
Why ADHD makes mood tracking hard
The day's average hides the swings
A day with a great morning and a terrible afternoon averages out to "fine". One rating at night misses both.
Complex trackers get dropped
Long forms and many fields are hard to keep up. If a check-in takes more than a few seconds, it tends to stop happening.
Forgetting to log
Without a nudge, the check-in slips. A reminder at a fixed time helps, and so does logging right after a mood shift.
Meds and sleep change the day
Doctors adjusting ADHD medication want to know how your days go. Missed doses and short nights are easy to tag and easy to forget.
What to track with ADHD, and why
- Several quick mood check-ins
- Catches shifts within the day that one rating misses.
- The emotion
- Frustrated, overwhelmed, restless, focused. Naming it helps you spot repeats.
- Medication taken or missed
- Lets you and your prescriber look at days with and without it.
- Sleep
- A short night often shows up in the next day's mood.
- Hyperfocus and missed deadlines
- Two common turning points in an ADHD day.
How clinicians use mood records
Clinicians who treat ADHD look at how symptoms affect daily life. A log of your days, with medication tagged, gives concrete examples to talk about.
Research on emotion dysregulation in ADHD is still growing, and population studies are still needed.[1] There are no trials yet of mood tracking for ADHD specifically.
What tracking can look like: a week with ADHD
One made-up week with 3 to 6 check-ins a day. Mornings of hyperfocus, afternoon crashes after missed deadlines, and two days without medication.
Example: how your entries can look as a trend
This chart is drawn from the made-up entries on this page, using Pixy's colors. Pixy's statistics show a mood chart of your own entries. Pixy does not draw this exact chart, the tag rows below it, or mark episodes. You spot the patterns yourself.
What you can spot in this example
- Wednesday swings from extremely bad to very good, but the average of the day is neutral. Several entries a day show the swing that one color would hide.
- Missed deadlines line up with the sharpest drops.
- The two days tagged "missed meds" have fewer entries. Worth a question for your prescriber, not a conclusion.
How Pixy can help you track ADHD moods
Pixy is fast: a check-in can be one tap on a color. You can add as many entries per day as you like, so you can log the swing when it happens.
Tags to create
- meds takenOr "missed meds" if you only want to log the exceptions.
- short sleepPixy has no sleep log. A tag marks the short nights.
- hyperfocusStretches of deep focus, and what comes after.
- missed deadlineOr any common trigger: running late, a pile of emails.
- exerciseMovement, sport, a walk.
Setup and routine
- 1In Settings, turn off the check-in steps you skip anyway. Mood plus tags is a good start.
- 2Create the tags above in Settings, Tags. Keep the list short.
- 3Turn on the daily reminder for the time you most often forget, such as mid-afternoon.
- 4Add an entry each time your mood shifts, not just once a day. Pixy keeps every entry and colors the day by their average.
- 5Once a week, open a few days in the calendar to see the entries, not just the day color.
- 6Before an appointment, open the monthly report or Year in Pixels and show it on your phone, or take screenshots. Pixy has no printable report.
- 7Export your data now and then. Entries live only on your phone, with no cloud backup. The export is a JSON file, useful as a backup or for moving to a new phone.
What Pixy cannot do
- Pixy has one daily reminder, not several. Log the other check-ins when your mood shifts.
- Pixy has no medication reminders, no focus timer, and no ADHD symptom scales.
- Pixy does not calculate links between tags and mood. You see them by filtering and looking.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Pixy is a self-tracking tool, not a medical device or therapy. It cannot diagnose, treat, or monitor any condition. Talk to a doctor or therapist about your symptoms and your care.
If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, get help now. In the US, call or text 988 (988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). In the UK, call Samaritans on 116 123. Elsewhere, find a free helpline at findahelpline.com or call your local emergency number.
Sources
Facts on this page come from these sources. Numbers in brackets link here.
- Emotion Dysregulation in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Shaw P, Stringaris A, Nigg J, Leibenluft E, American Journal of Psychiatry 171(3), 2014.
- Emotion dysregulation in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analysis. Beheshti A, Chavanon ML, Christiansen H, BMC Psychiatry 20, 2020.
Guides for other conditions
- Bipolar disorderSpot episodes and early signs like short sleep. Build a simple life chart for your doctor.
- DepressionSee slow progress that is hard to feel day to day, and keep tracking on low-energy days.
- AnxietyFind which days and triggers make anxiety spike, from work to caffeine.
- BPDLog intense mood shifts hour by hour, next to your DBT diary card.
- PMDDRate every day for two cycles and line your mood up with a period tag.
Start your mood chart today
Free on iPhone and Android. No ads, no account. Your entries stay on your phone.
