ADHD and Anxiety: Understanding the Overlap

ADHD and anxiety are two of the most common neurodevelopmental and mental health conditions — and they frequently occur together. Research suggests that up to 50% of adults with ADHD also have an anxiety disorder. But even for those who don't meet the clinical threshold for an anxiety disorder, anxiety symptoms are extremely common in ADHD.

Understanding the relationship between the two is important, because they interact in ways that can make both harder to manage.

How ADHD Can Cause Anxiety

For many people, anxiety isn't a separate condition from ADHD — it's a consequence of it. Years of struggling with executive function, falling behind, forgetting things, and feeling out of control can generate genuine anxiety. The constant low-level worry that you're forgetting something important, that you're going to miss a deadline, that you're going to let someone down — this is anxiety that's directly caused by the lived experience of ADHD.

This is sometimes called "secondary anxiety" — anxiety that develops as a response to the challenges of ADHD rather than as a separate condition. It's extremely common, and it often improves significantly when ADHD is well-managed.

How Anxiety Can Look Like ADHD

The overlap goes the other way too. Anxiety can produce symptoms that look very similar to ADHD: difficulty concentrating (because your mind is occupied with worry), restlessness, difficulty sleeping, and trouble completing tasks (because anxiety makes starting feel risky).

This overlap is one of the reasons ADHD is sometimes missed in people who also have anxiety — the anxiety symptoms are more visible, and the ADHD underneath them goes unrecognised.

The Interaction Between ADHD and Anxiety

When ADHD and anxiety co-occur, they interact in ways that can be particularly challenging:

Anxiety can make ADHD worse. Anxiety consumes cognitive resources — working memory, attention, and executive function — that are already limited in ADHD. When you're anxious, ADHD symptoms often intensify.

ADHD can make anxiety worse. The disorganisation, unpredictability, and loss of control that come with ADHD are anxiety-provoking. And the impulsivity of ADHD can lead to decisions that create more things to be anxious about.

Treatment can be complicated. Some ADHD medications can increase anxiety in some people. And some anxiety treatments (particularly avoidance-based coping) can make ADHD worse. Getting the balance right often requires working with a knowledgeable clinician.

Distinguishing ADHD from Anxiety

While the two conditions overlap significantly, there are some useful distinctions:

ADHD inattention tends to be consistent across situations — you struggle to focus whether you're anxious or not. Anxiety-driven inattention tends to be more situational — you can focus fine when you're not worried about something.

ADHD restlessness tends to feel like a need for stimulation or movement. Anxiety restlessness tends to feel more like tension or dread.

ADHD avoidance is typically driven by difficulty initiating tasks. Anxiety avoidance is typically driven by fear of failure or negative outcomes.

These distinctions aren't always clean, and many people experience both simultaneously.

What Helps

Accurate diagnosis. If you're experiencing both ADHD and anxiety symptoms, it's worth getting a thorough assessment from a clinician who understands both conditions. Treatment that addresses only one may not be sufficient.

ADHD management reduces anxiety. For many people, getting ADHD well-managed — through medication, coaching, or both — significantly reduces anxiety, because the underlying source of the anxiety (disorganisation, missed deadlines, loss of control) is addressed.

Therapy for anxiety. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has good evidence for anxiety, and can be adapted for people with ADHD. A therapist who understands both conditions is ideal.

Self-compassion. Living with both ADHD and anxiety is genuinely hard. Being kind to yourself about the challenges you face isn't self-indulgence — it's a necessary part of managing both conditions.