Differential guides
Plain-English explainers for each of the major conditions that get mistaken for ADHD — what each one is, how it overlaps, and how clinicians tell them apart.
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ADHD vs anxiety
Both fragment attention. Both produce restlessness, sleep disruption, racing thoughts. The treatments diverge — getting the wrong one is worse than getting nothing.
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ADHD vs depression
Untreated depression is one of the top reasons adults are wrongly diagnosed with ADHD. Both produce concentration impairment, low motivation, poor follow-through.
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ADHD vs sleep deprivation
Chronic insufficient sleep, undiagnosed sleep apnea, and circadian disorders all produce attention deficits that look identical to ADHD on a 15-minute interview.
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ADHD vs autism
30–50% of autistic people also have ADHD; many more have one mistaken for the other. The hyperfocus, sensory overload, and executive issues overlap heavily.
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ADHD vs trauma / PTSD
Hypervigilance fragments attention. Avoidance looks like task-initiation difficulty. Emotional dysregulation looks like impulsivity. Trauma is the most-missed differential.
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ADHD vs bipolar spectrum
Hypomanic episodes look like extreme ADHD energy and focus. Misdiagnosing bipolar II as ADHD and prescribing stimulants can destabilize the underlying cycling.