ADHD: Or as I Like to Call It, “How Have I Been Alive This Long Without a Label?”

If you’re a woman with ADHD, chances are you didn’t get diagnosed in elementary school while fidgeting in your chair and refusing to stop talking. Nope. You probably got told things like “she’s so smart, but…” or “she just needs to try harder,” or my personal favorite — “she’s a little too emotional.” (Ah yes, the classic diagnosis: Too Much.)

Here’s the thing: ADHD in women often hides in plain sight. It looks like chronic overwhelm disguised as ambition. It looks like 47 tabs open in your brain (and also on your laptop). It looks like being the go-to problem solver for everyone else, but low-key melting down in your car over a forgotten grocery list. And because society trained us to smile, multitask, and not make a fuss — we learned to mask it like professionals. Gold medal in overfunctioning, anyone?

But here’s what I need you to know: your brain isn’t broken. It’s just wired like a disco ball instead of a filing cabinet. It’s creative, fast-moving, big-hearted — and yeah, sometimes chaotic. But the moment you stop shaming it and start understanding it, everything changes. You stop forcing yourself into a “normal” routine that was never built for you in the first place, and you start designing a life that actually works with your rhythm. Spoiler alert: That life can be wildly successful, beautifully messy, and full of Post-its — and still totally valid.