ADHD and anxiety
ADHD and anxiety often overlap. A person with ADHD may become anxious because they're constantly trying to keep up, remember things, avoid mistakes or manage criticism.
Anxiety may increase when someone feels overwhelmed, behind, judged, unprepared, confused, rejected, pressured, disorganised or sensory overloaded.
Sometimes anxiety can hide ADHD. A child or adult may appear worried, perfectionistic or avoidant, when underneath they are struggling with executive function and overwhelm.
Rejection sensitivity
Many people with ADHD experience strong emotional reactions to criticism, rejection or perceived failure. This is sometimes called rejection sensitivity.
It can look like overreacting to correction, feeling crushed by small comments, avoiding tasks in case of failure, people-pleasing, defensiveness, anger, shame or withdrawal.
Support: gentle communication, reassurance, emotional validation, and helping the person separate mistakes from identity.
ADHD and autism
ADHD and autism can occur together. When someone has both, they may experience a mixture of needs that sometimes pull in opposite directions:
- ADHD may seek novelty, while autism may need routine.
- ADHD may crave stimulation, while autism may become overwhelmed by stimulation.
- ADHD may make organisation hard, while autism may rely on structure.
Both can involve sensory differences, emotional regulation difficulties and social challenges. Support needs to be individual — what helps one person may not help another.