Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD can show up in many different ways. While some people experience high energy, impulsivity, or a need to move, others may appear quiet, dreamy, or often lost in thought.

Some common traits include:

• Difficulty focusing or staying on task
• Forgetfulness or losing items
• Struggling to follow through on plans or instructions
• Acting quickly without always thinking it through.
• Feeling restless or needing to move
• Talking a lot or interrupting without meaning to 
• Sensitivity to rejection (often called rejection-sensitive dysphoria)
• Finding it hard to get started on tasks or manage time 
• Feeling easily overwhelmed or emotionally flooded

These experiences can vary depending on your environment, age, or gender. Many people—especially girls, women, and nonbinary people-go undiagnosed until adulthood, often due to masking or being misunderstood.

ADHD is a brain-based difference that affects executive functioning-the mental skills that help us organise, plan, manage time, regulate emotions, and shift focus. It’s primarily genetic, meaning it often runs in families, and it’s not caused by poor parenting, diet, screen time, or lack of effort.

That said, your environment matters. Living in systems that aren’t designed for neurodivergent ways of thinking can make ADHD traits feel more intense or harder to manage. School expectations, overstimulating workplaces, or rigid routines can contribute to overwhelm, self-doubt, and exhaustion.

ADHD is not a failure of willpower, it’s a different way of processing the world.

ADHD doesn’t look the same for everyone. There are three commonly recognised presentations:

• Primarily Inattentive – often marked by distractibility, forgetfulness, or mental drifting (previously referred to as “ADD”)

• Primarily Hyperactive-Impulsive – characterised by high energy, restlessness, and difficulty with impulse control

• Combined Type – features of both inattentive and hyperactive traits

At Seed, we work with people across the ADHD spectrum, including:

• Children and teens navigating school, friendships, and changing routines

• Adults managing careers, parenting, or executive functioning challenges

• Women and nonbinary people exploring late or misdiagnosed ADHD

• People with co-occurring experiences such as autism, anxiety, or trauma
  

Living with ADHD can be challenging-especially in systems that aren’t built for how your brain works. But with the right support and strategies, it’s possible to create more ease, clarity, and self-compassion in daily life.

You might find it helpful to:

• Use visual cues, timers, or reminders to externalise tasks
  
• Break larger tasks into small, manageable steps
  
• Create gentle routines that reduce decision fatigue
  
• Incorporate movement or sensory tools to support focus
  
• Explore medication or allied health supports if that feels right for you
  
• Practise self-compassion and begin to unlearn internalised shame
  
• Connect with ADHD communities for shared tools, humour, and validation

You don’t need to do it all alone, and you don’t need to change who you are. There’s power in working with your brain, not against it.

At Seed Psychology, we offer warm, neuroaffirming support for ADHD across the lifespan. Whether you’re exploring a new diagnosis, navigating life with ADHD, or seeking tools that actually work for your brain-we’re here.

Our Psychologists can support you to:

• Understand how ADHD uniquely shows up for you

• Build sustainable executive functioning strategies

• Improve time management, organisation, and follow-through

• Navigate emotional intensity and overwhelm

• Strengthen communication and relationships

• Develop self-worth and reduce burnout

If assessment is part of your journey, we offer respectful, comprehensive ADHD assessments for children, teens, and adults, always with your context, identity, and goals in mind.

Wondering if you or your child might have ADHD, or looking for support to manage it more effectively?

Our client care team will help match you with a Psychologist who truly understands ADHD and honours neurodivergent ways of thinking. We offer in-person sessions at our Brunswick practice and secure online therapy across Australia.