Anxiety and ADHD, a thread.

Some ADHDers use anxiety as a coping mechanism to do stuff. You might've heard of "last minute panic", the rush of adrenaline caused by a deadline that will put your brain to work. While it might happen to people without ADHD too, many ADHDers rely purely on this to keep going.

ADHDers without anxiety as a coping mechanism are more likely to end up missing deadlines, so their grades are more likely to fall and they're more likely to get an ADHD diagnosis (they might be missed too, though). Meanwhile, anxious ADHDers will likely remain unnoticed.

ADHDers rely on high levels of anxiety to function. This anxiety isn't just a coping mechanism, it's a fear response. It makes you more likely to have a fawn response (trying to please others in fear of them not liking you), make you hide your struggles, and be the "quiet type".

Most late diagnosed ADHDers have crippling levels of anxiety because they've been using it as a coping mechanism to kickstart executive functioning their whole lives. When this coping mechanism wears out, the ADHDer reaches breaking point, often with many mental health issues.

While this might be functional in lower grades, the more advanced studies get, the more difficult it is. That's why many a ADHDers reach breaking point in college. The lose of external structure (not having teachers/parents tell you what to do), moving out, it's too much to cope.

Other common traits of ADHD, such as Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, also cause high levels of distress. Added to a high baseline of anxiety, struggles with studies, and other issues, it often causes mental health issues. Depressive and dissociative symptoms are very common.

Sometimes, anxious ADHDers reach a breaking point where they can't cope with the distress, and a new coping mechanism might arise: dissociation. The brain tries to protect itself from the overwhelming distress by shutting down, often triggered by overlapping emotional distress.

It's a part of why ADHDers are more likely to have PTSD, (specially if they're also autistic).

In ADHD, anxiety often isn't a secondary issue. It's a needed coping mechanism that might become pathological on the long run, specially when ADHD goes unnoticed. That's why an early diagnosis is so important, to get help before debilitating anxiety and dissociation happen.

Special thanks to @shiraisinspired who made justice to their username by inspiring this thread.

Take care of yourselves. Your mental health is important