Understanding ADHD & Anxiety Overlap: Symptoms & Support
Do you ever feel like your brain is constantly “on”?
Maybe you have trouble concentrating, your thoughts seem to race, you feel restless or overwhelmed, or you find yourself putting things off even when you know they need to get done. Perhaps you spend a lot of time worrying, second-guessing yourself, or feeling like you're struggling to keep up with everyday responsibilities.
These experiences can be associated with both ADHD and anxiety, and sometimes the symptoms can overlap.
Research has found that ADHD and anxiety can be difficult to distinguish based on symptoms alone. In a study examining adults with ADHD, anxiety, both conditions, and a control group, Grogan and colleagues found significant overlap in the symptoms reported by participants. The researchers also found that commonly used symptom questionnaires had limitations when attempting to distinguish ADHD from anxiety.
The takeaway isn't that you need to figure out which condition is responsible for every symptom. Instead, it's that what you're experiencing is worth understanding and addressing—even when the symptoms feel complicated or difficult to put into a single category.
What Can ADHD Feel Like in Adulthood?
ADHD is often associated with difficulty paying attention or being easily distracted, but adult ADHD can involve much more than concentration.
Adults experiencing ADHD symptoms may struggle with:
Staying focused on tasks
Getting started on things they need to do
Following through on projects
Organization and time management
Remembering appointments or responsibilities
Procrastination
Managing multiple tasks
Restlessness or feeling the need to constantly be doing something
Impulsivity
Frustration and emotional regulation
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, ADHD involves persistent patterns of inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity that can interfere with functioning at home, work, school, or in relationships.
For some adults, these difficulties can become especially noticeable as responsibilities increase. Managing a career, household, relationships, finances, parenting, and countless daily tasks can make existing challenges feel much more difficult to manage.
And when you're repeatedly struggling to stay organized or complete things on time, it's understandable that stress and worry might begin to build.
What Can Anxiety Feel Like?
Anxiety can affect both your thoughts and your body.
Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time. It can be a normal response to stress or uncertainty. But when anxiety becomes persistent or begins interfering with everyday life, it can become much more difficult to manage.
Anxiety can involve:
Excessive or persistent worry
Racing thoughts
Feeling restless or “on edge”
Difficulty relaxing
Irritability
Trouble concentrating
Fatigue
Sleep difficulties
Muscle tension
Physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach discomfort, sweating, or feeling short of breath
The National Institute of Mental Health notes that anxiety can occur even when there is no immediate threat and may interfere with daily activities when it becomes persistent.
One particularly important point is that anxiety itself can make it difficult to concentrate. When your attention is consumed by worrying about what might happen, what you forgot, what you should have done, or what someone else might think, it can be difficult to focus on what's happening in front of you.
Why ADHD and Anxiety Can Feel So Similar
This is where things can get complicated.
Imagine you're sitting at your desk trying to complete an important project.
You keep getting distracted. You check your phone, get up to get something to drink, remember another task you need to do, and find yourself jumping between different activities.
You might think, Why can't I focus?
But another person might sit at that same desk and struggle to concentrate because they're thinking:
What if I do this wrong?
What if my boss doesn't like it?
I'm already behind.
What if I can't finish it?
Both people may end up staring at the same unfinished project—but the experiences happening internally may be very different.
And sometimes, they can happen together.
Grogan et al. found that adults with ADHD and/or anxiety showed overlapping symptom patterns, highlighting how difficult it can be to separate the two based solely on commonly reported symptoms.
When Symptoms Feed Into Each Other
ADHD-related challenges can sometimes create circumstances that increase stress.
For example, difficulty with organization may lead to missed deadlines. Missed deadlines may lead to criticism or conflict. That criticism may increase worry about making another mistake. Eventually, a person may begin avoiding tasks because they associate them with stress.
Similarly, anxiety can make it harder to initiate tasks, make decisions, concentrate, or tolerate uncertainty. Those difficulties can then contribute to procrastination and overwhelm—which may create even more anxiety.
This can become a frustrating cycle:
Difficulty focusing → falling behind → feeling overwhelmed → worrying → avoiding → falling further behind.
When you're caught in that cycle, it can be easy to become critical of yourself.
You might think you're lazy, unmotivated, irresponsible, or simply "bad at adulting."
But struggling with these symptoms doesn't mean you're lazy or incapable. It may mean that the strategies you've been using aren't adequately addressing what's happening underneath the surface.
You Don't Have to Have Everything Figured Out
One of the most important things to remember is that you don't have to perfectly understand your symptoms before seeking help.
You might know that you're overwhelmed.
You might know that you're having trouble focusing.
You might feel anxious all the time.
You might be struggling with procrastination, organization, racing thoughts, irritability, or difficulty managing your emotions.
Or you might simply feel like something isn't working the way you want it to.
That's enough of a reason to reach out for support.
The goal of therapy doesn't have to be figuring out a perfect label for every experience. Therapy can also focus on helping you develop practical ways to cope with the symptoms that are interfering with your life.
How Therapy Can Help With ADHD and Anxiety Symptoms
Therapy can provide a supportive space to understand your patterns, identify what is contributing to your stress, and develop strategies that make everyday life feel more manageable.
Depending on your individual needs, therapy may help you work on:
Managing Anxiety and Overthinking
If your mind constantly jumps to worst-case scenarios, therapy can help you recognize patterns of anxious thinking and develop healthier ways of responding to worry.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), for example, is a well-established form of psychotherapy for anxiety. CBT can help people identify unhelpful thought patterns, understand how thoughts influence emotions and behaviors, and develop more effective responses.
Improving Focus and Organization
Therapy can also help you develop practical strategies for managing responsibilities when concentration, motivation, or organization are difficult.
This might include breaking larger tasks into smaller steps, creating routines, reducing avoidance, improving time-management strategies, or finding ways to make tasks feel more manageable.
For adults with ADHD, psychotherapy—including behavioral and cognitive behavioral approaches—is one of the treatments that can help reduce symptoms and improve functioning.
Breaking the Overwhelm Cycle
When everything feels urgent, it can be difficult to know where to start.
Therapy can help you slow things down, identify what is actually within your control, and work toward manageable changes rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Building Self-Compassion
Living with persistent attention difficulties or anxiety can take a toll on how you see yourself.
You may have spent years feeling like you should be doing more, doing better, or somehow trying harder.
Therapy can help you develop a more compassionate understanding of your experiences while still working toward meaningful change.
Improving Relationships
ADHD and anxiety symptoms don't exist in isolation. Difficulty listening, forgetfulness, irritability, emotional overwhelm, avoidance, or constantly feeling stressed can affect relationships with partners, family members, friends, and coworkers.
Therapy can provide an opportunity to explore these patterns and practice healthier ways of communicating and responding.
You Can Work on the Symptoms That Are Affecting Your Life
You don't necessarily need to know whether a particular symptom is coming from ADHD, anxiety, stress, or some combination of factors before you can begin working on it.
If you're struggling with racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, procrastination, overwhelm, restlessness, worry, or emotional stress, therapy can help you develop tools for managing those experiences.
And you don't have to wait until things become unbearable to ask for help.
Ready to Feel More in Control?
At ThinkSpot Therapy, we help adults work through anxiety, overwhelm, difficulty concentrating, stress, and other challenges that can make everyday life feel harder than it should.
Therapy can give you a place to slow down, understand your patterns, build practical coping strategies, and work toward feeling more confident and in control of your day-to-day life.
You don't have to figure everything out on your own.
If you're ready to start working on the symptoms that are getting in the way, contact ThinkSpot Therapy today to schedule an appointment.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any individual condition. If you are concerned about your mental health or symptoms, consider speaking with a qualified mental health professional or healthcare provider.
References
Grogan, K., Gormley, C. I., Rooney, B., Whelan, R., Kiiski, H., Naughton, M., & Bramham, J. (2018). Differential diagnosis and comorbidity of ADHD and anxiety in adults. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57(1), 99–115. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12156
National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). ADHD in adults: 4 things to know.
National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: What you need to know.
National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Generalized anxiety disorder: What you need to know.
National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Anxiety disorders.