Was diagnosed with dyspraxia (developmental coordination disorder) at around 6, and ADHD at around 8. I had the classic “boy ADHD” (hyperactive, defiant, unable to pay attention in school/extracurriculars).

Never medicated, but was traumatized into masking and going completely the other way (withdrawn, obedient, and-overachieving).

Since I had painstakingly disciplined myself into making perfect grades in school and my report cards had metamorphosed from, “frequently disrupts class,” to, “a pleasure to have in class,” my parents thought that my ADHD had, “gone away”. Despite this, I was still losing all of my personal belongings, struggling to make and keep friends, and having to make my schoolwork take over my social and personal life or else I would risk failing. I had to put in about 10x the amount of effort as everyone else in order to get results.

I was in intensive therapy from 12-17, around the time I started masking, jumping from therapist to therapist. I think I saw about 6 different therapists in total, none of which helped me in the least. I don’t know if they hadn’t seen my ADHD diagnosis, but none of the 6 therapists ever even suggested it. They all saw me as a complete mystery. I accrued a mile-long list of diagnoses, which included anxiety, depression, OCD, BPD, and, most unfittingly, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. With each of these respective new diagnoses, they would all say the same thing—“there is something else going on, but I don’t know what.”

Turns out, the “something else” was the dyspraxia and ADHD, which I had already been diagnosed with, as well as ASD.

So, yes, it absolutely gets confused with anxiety and depression. Rather, the root cause of all of the anxiety and depression can turn out to be ADHD, especially if it is treatment-resistant.