Struggling to differentiate between ADHD and anxiety

Yes, I feel like my anxiety sometimes is triggered by my adhd😂

Yes! I recently just got off my anxiety meds because i got diagnosed with adhd and have realized most of my anxiety comes from my adhd. I’m anxious because I’m overwhelmed from not being able to focus on just one thing.

Kinda opposite story here—adhd was diagnosed young and treated for years mostly unsuccessfully till I learned (by myself) that my struggles were mostly coming from my anxiety/depression. Once I started treating those everything got easier with the adhd. If the anxiety meds are helping stay with those—but you can seek out adhd treatments too. Sometimes it’s really hard to know where one begins and the other ends.

i was diagnosed with depression and anxiety as a teenager, then misdiagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and also dealt with binge eating disorder. when i was FINALLY diagnosed with ADHD everything made soooo much more sense! now that i’m medicated and taking adderall, i do still take wellbutrin as an antidepressant but all my other symptoms have subsided significantly.

I personally treated my ADHD first. I was having lots of stress and anxiety from school, so it helped my anxiety a lot to help my ADHD so I could do my schoolwork. I tried Strattera and it worked really well on my ADHD and it isn’t a stimulant, so maybe that is an option if you don’t want a stimulant. I have switched to stimulants now and that works for me as well.

I have both. I personally have chosen to address the anxiety mostly, as stimulants have made me feel awful. Antipsychotics really help me anxiety. I’d like to work on the adhd eventually.

I definitely have had a tough time managing both anxiety and ADHD, and then trying to figure out which is which 😅 Your provider will likely want to avoid stimulant medications for treating your ADHD, so as to not exacerbate your anxiety. It would be a good idea to have an open conversation with your doctor on potential solutions.

absolutely i was Diagnosed with both ADHD and anxiety at 14 and they treated my anxiety first and it seemed somewhat regulated until i was 20 when i got out of college and my anxiety sparked again so i questioned if maybe we could try treating my adhd and since then i feel much more organized with my thoughts and my life is more manageable but i do still have anxious spiraling thoughts

Yes! All the time! It’s so difficult when symptoms overlap so much

✋ Me!