Everyone has a Little ADHD. Really?
The most common response when I tell people I coach late-diagnosed ADHD women is:
"Oh! I need to get diagnosed — I'm SURE I have ADHD."
The second most common?
"Everyone has a little ADHD."
Let's talk about both of these.
The first one always sparks a million questions in my mind — What makes you sure? What challenges are making life feel hard right now? What would a diagnosis actually change for you? Would it bring peace of mind, access to medication, validation? These are worth sitting with.
The second response I'll be honest — I find a little irritating. ADHD can come with significant impairments that affect life satisfaction, relationships, unrealized potential, and even physical health. It's linked to higher rates of addiction, risky behaviors, and a shorter lifespan. Saying "everyone has a little ADHD" makes light of something that is genuinely serious for a lot of people.
That said, it's worth acknowledging: in today's world, many of us are struggling with ADHD-like challenges. The Attention Economy has fractured focus for everyone. Phones have outsourced our memory and schedules. Nervous system dysregulation — which is incredibly common, especially at midlife — can look a lot like ADHD emotionality. And for many women I work with, hormone imbalances are a major factor, showing up as brain fog, mood swings, or memory issues that can easily be mistaken for ADHD (and vice versa — ADHDers are much more prone to hormonal imbalances throughout life).
It's complicated. But here's the question that actually matters:
How is what you're struggling with impacting your wellbeing — and what do you want to do about it?
One of the diagnostic criteria for ADHD is that symptoms have been present across the lifespan. I'm not a diagnostician, but looking back can be a powerful starting point — a trailhead for understanding yourself.
And here's what I want you to know: it doesn't matter to me whether you've been diagnosed or not. If you're struggling with challenges that look like ADHD, coaching might be exactly what you need — whether that's to start flourishing, or simply to figure out if getting diagnosed is the right next step.
In my coaching, this is where we begin:
Where have you noticed these challenges showing up throughout your life and right now?
And then we expand to the bigger vision:
What would be different in a year if this was the most successful coaching relationship you could imagine?
That gets at the heart of it: I think I have ADHD — now what? What dreams have you been quietly squashing? Where have you been managing, but not truly flourishing?
If any of this resonates, I'd love to connect. Let's jump on a call.
Wishing you a wonderful rest of your February — it's more than half over!
Warmly, Danica
