It's not uncommon to find out that a person is dealing with a combination of mental health conditions. Women, especially, are susceptible to dealing with this due to their fluctuating hormone levels.
Dealing with one mental health condition is challenging enough, but having two can feel like a war that you just can't win. When you are being pulled into two different directions, it can make you feel as if you are on a rollercoaster that you just can't get off of.
While anxiety and ADHD are two different conditions, they can overlap with one another. Before we talk about how they overlap, we'll first discuss each separately.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is the body's natural response to stress and danger. Two of the hallmark conditions of anxiety are uncontrollable thoughts and excessive worrying. Other symptoms of anxiety can include:
Insomnia
Feeling on edge or restless
Racing heart
Feeling a sense of doom or dread
Sweating/trembling
What Is ADHD?
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a condition that can impact children, teens, and adults. It's commonly believed that only boys or men can deal with ADHD symptoms, but that couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, women are just as likely to have ADHD as men. However, it often goes undiagnosed in girls at an early age because boys will show more of the hyperactive symptoms. In contrast, girls are more likely to show inattentive symptoms, which often fly underneath the radar for many parents and teachers.
While ADHD manifests differently in children versus adults, in general, symptoms of ADHD can include:
Trouble focusing
Fidgeting or unable to sit still
Being inattentive or not paying close attention to detail
Being hyperactive, full of energy
Difficulties with organization
Impulse control issues
How Are ADHD and Anxiety Connected?
Looking at the above list of symptoms, you wouldn't imagine they could have much in common, right? At first glance, it seems like an apples-to-oranges comparison. However, while they are completely different, there is a lot of overlap.
It's not a simple overlap, though. While they are connected, it can be hard to diagnose one or the other if someone is experiencing multiple symptoms of both. To help you remember the key difference — people with anxiety will often have uncontrollable and negative thoughts frequently, while someone with ADHD won't experience that.
ADHD and Women
As we mentioned earlier, females are less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. Most commonly, they will experience symptoms of inattentiveness, talking fast, or daydreaming often. The typical picture of ADHD will not look like that. Now, with that said, many women are often just diagnosed with anxiety, even though they may be exhibiting signs of ADHD.
This can make it really challenging for a woman who is dealing with both anxiety and ADHD but is only treated for one. While there is a lot of overlap in symptoms, which can be experienced separately, that doesn't mean only one can be present in somebody's life.
Living with ADHD and anxiety, when you can't manage all of your symptoms, is why many women often feel on edge and uneasy all the time. If you are a woman who thinks you may have one or both of these conditions, you aren't alone in this struggle.
How to Manage ADHD and Anxiety
The first step to feeling better is to reach out for support. A proper diagnosis is important so that you can get the right treatment options for your specific symptoms. If you are interested in learning more about counseling for women and receiving support for ADHD or anxiety, reach out to learn more.
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