August 26, 2026

ADHD medications decrease antidepressant usage and reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in people diagnosed with attention deficit, suggest findings from three new studies.

Antidepressant and psychotropic medication use in adults often precedes an ADHD diagnosis; however, a new landmark study published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica152 found that use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and other antidepressants decreased substantially after adults received an ADHD diagnosis and began treatment with a stimulant or non-stimulant medication.1

Women received antidepressant prescriptions prior to an ADHD diagnosis much more often than did men, according to the Finnish cohort study of 322,416 adults (66,146 with ADHD and 256,270 without). The researchers attribute this to clinicians misinterpreting or misdiagnosing ADHD symptoms as anxiety or depression in women. Depression and anxiety can also result from living with untreated ADHD. As many as 80% of adults with ADHD have at least one coexisting psychiatric disorder; the most common are generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and depression. 2

“ADHD is often associated with coexisting psychiatric conditions,” the researchers wrote. “Differential diagnosis between other conditions and ADHD is not always clear, and patients are sometimes initially treated for another disorder instead.”

Findings from the study support this: At the second-year follow-up, the use of SSRIs, benzodiazepine derivatives, diazepines, oxazepines, thiazepines and oxepines, and other antidepressants decreased in the ADHD cohort. However, SSRI and other antidepressant usage increased in the non-ADHD group during the same period.

Following an ADHD diagnosis, most patients were motivated to try ADHD medication: 95% of patients filled the prescribed medication; 80% of those bought the medication within 10 days. More than half of patients (56.5%) purchased extended-release methylphenidate (brand name: Ritalin).

Just one quarter of late-diagnosed adult patients with ADHD maintained continuous ADHD medication for five years or more.

“This indicates that ADHD drugs were not massively misused, as large purchases would be indicative of [abuse],” the researchers said. “Discontinuation may stem from symptom alleviation, adverse effects, or refinement of diagnoses.”

The study, which analyzed data from Finnish national registers between 2015 and 2020, also found that children and adolescents diagnosed later with ADHD used more antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs than did matched controls. After the children began ADHD treatment, the use of these drugs decreased more than it did in controls.

The researchers wrote that “future research is needed, for example, about possible anti-inflammatory effectiveness of ADHD medications, like that of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors.”

While the Finnish study broadly evaluated how an ADHD diagnosis and subsequent treatment influences antidepressant usage, two new clinical trials took a deeper look into whether a single-medication approach could treat ADHD and co-occurring depression and/or anxiety.

Stimulant Treatment for Co-Occurring Anxiety

During an 8-week Phase 3b clinical trial, centanafadine (brand name: Simtriyo), a first-in-class norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin reuptake inhibitor (NDSRI) and central nervous system (CNS) stimulant, delivered statistically significant, clinically relevant improvements in both ADHD and anxiety symptoms.3 Centanafadine received FDA approval for the treatment of ADHD in adults and pediatric patients aged 6 years and older on July 24, 2026.

The trial included 315 adults, aged 18 to 65 years, with ADHD and coexisting generalized or social anxiety disorder. Study participants received either centanafadine XR 280mg or placebo once daily. The study analyzed symptom improvements using the Adult Investigator Symptom Rating Scale (AISRS) and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A).

Non-Stimulant Treatment for Coexisting Depression and Anxiety

Another recent clinical trial published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry that adults with ADHD and coexisting depression and/or anxiety symptoms experienced substantial improvement in all three conditions while taking the non-stimulant viloxazine ER (brand name: Qelbree) extended-release capsules alone or in addition to existing treatments.4

During the open-label Phase 4 trial, 150 participants received 200mg of viloxazine ER once daily, with doses increasing up to 600mg. At week 14, the AISRS results showed improved ADHD symptoms and a significant reduction in total baseline AISRS scores. Depression and anxiety rating scales also showed significant improvement in symptoms from baseline to week 14: 71.8% of participants achieved a 30% reduction in AISRS total score, and half of the participants reduced their AISRS total score by 45.6%.

This was the first clinical trial of viloxazine ER in adults with ADHD to include participants with coexisting depression and/or anxiety and to allow concurrent medication use. In addition to viloxazine ER,

• 28.6% of participants used stimulant medications
• 44.7% of participants used antidepressants
• 14.9% of participants used anxiolytic and/or hypnotic medications

Viloxazine ER is an FDA-approved non-stimulant medication for children, ages 6 years or older, and adults with ADHD. 5 It is not approved as an antidepressant in the U.S. However, studies from the 1970s found viloxazine demonstrated antidepressant effects 6 In Europe, viloxazine was approved and used as an immediate-release drug for depression for approximately 30 years before being discontinued for commercial reasons unrelated to efficacy or safety. 7

Clinical Implications

More research is needed to determine whether ADHD medications effectively treat coexisting depression and/or anxiety or if symptom reduction is related to improvements in ADHD symptoms. However, one consistent takeaway from all these studies is the utility of ADHD medications.

The potential benefits of using one medication to treat both ADHD and coexisting depression and/or anxiety could improve safety and medication adherence issues for patients who already have executive function deficits.

“Simultaneous treatment of ADHD and depression and/or anxiety symptoms can be challenging, partly due to safety concerns about combining medications,” the authors of The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry article wrote.

Fewer prescription medications could also translate to greater cost savings for patients.

The steep out-of-pocket costs of ADHD care today — on average, more than $8,500 per child and $4,700 per adult annually — are driving families to ration medication, delay or skip medical appointments, and forgo interventions they rely on to function well, according to ADDitude’s Cost of ADHD Diagnosis & Treatment survey. Of the 1,970 survey respondents, 10% said their ADHD care costs exceeded 10% of their income.

“I just go without medication when I run short of money,” a respondent said.

“I never take my clinician-recommended dosage because I can’t afford it,” another survey respondent said.

“We are paying out-of-pocket for medication, so our kids don’t take it on weekends or vacations,” another mother commented.

“As with any treatment, the best approach to treating depression and/or anxiety and ADHD depends on the patient’s individual needs,” says Roberto Olivardia, Ph.D., who recommends clinicians consider both psychological and psychopharmacological treatments when treating patients with ADHD and coexisting anxiety and/or depression.

“Dealing with ADHD symptoms is challenging enough,” Olivardia says. “Dealing with depression or anxiety, too, is debilitating. Only with proper assessment and diagnosis can treatment for both, or either, be possible.”

Sources

¹Westman, E., Prami, T., Kallio, A. et al. (2025). Use of antidepressants decreased after initiation of ADHD treatment in adults — a Finnish nationwide register study describing use of ADHD and non-ADHD medication in people with and without ADHD. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica152. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.70007

²Katzman, M.A., Bilkey, T.S., Chokka, P.R., Fallu, A., & Klassen, L.J. (2017). Adult ADHD and comorbid disorders: clinical implications of a dimensional approach. BMC Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1463-3

³P3b short-term study of CTN in patients with ADHD and comorbid anxiety. ClinicalTrials.gov. May 6, 2026. Accessed July 1, 2026. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06973577

⁴Adler, L.A., Lieberman, V.R., Brijbasi, L., Mattingly, G.W., et al. (2026). Viloxazine extended release in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and depression and/or anxiety symptoms: results from a decentralized, open-label, phase 4 trial. J Clin Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.25m16234

⁵Qelbree (viloxazine extended-release capsules). Prescribing information. In: Supernus Pharmaceuticals. Inc.; 2025. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2025/211964s013lbl.pdf

⁶Greenwood D. (1975). Animal pharmacology of viloxazine (Vivalan). J Int Med Res.

⁷Findling, R.L., Candler, S.A., Nasser, A.F., et al. (2021). Viloxazine in the management of CNS disorders: a historical overview and current status. CNS Drugs. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40263-021-00825-w

July 14, 2026

Parental use of antidepressants during pregnancy does not cause ADHD or autism in their offspring, according to a new study published in The Lancet Psychiatry.¹  This large-scale systematic review included data from 25 million pregnancies, analyzing maternal use of antidepressants during pregnancy, paternal use during pregnancy, and maternal use pre-conception, to explore any potential relationship between medication use and later emergence of neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

Though a slight association was found between maternal antidepressant use in pregnancy and ADHD as well as ASD (relative risk [RR], 1.13), this link ceased to exist after the researchers adjusted for confounding factors, including the genetic influence of parents’ psychiatric health and familial factors.

Further, researchers found that paternal antidepressant use during pregnancy was also linked to increased ADHD risk (RR, 1.46) and ASD risk (RR, 1.28), confirming that any association between antidepressants and later ADHD was likely caused by the high degree of heritability of ADHD, and its common comorbidity with depression.

Though older research found an association between parental antidepressant use and ADHD in offspring, causing some concern among expectant mothers, these studies did not control for confounding variables. As later research adjusted for the influence of maternal and paternal psychiatric and neurodevelopmental history, associations have been deemed largely insignificant.

“We know many parents-to-be worry about the potential impact of taking medication during pregnancy,” said co-author of the study Wing Chung Chang, M.D., from the University of Hong Kong, in a statement. “Our study provides reassuring evidence that commonly used antidepressants do not increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. While all medications carry risks, so too does stopping antidepressants during pregnancy due to an increased risk of relapse.”

SSRI Use Common Among Those with ADHD

In a recent ADDitude webinar titled “Identifying Co-Occurring Mood Disorders in Adults with ADHD,” Desiree Matthews, MSN, spoke about the shared genetic underpinnings that explain the high co-occurrence of ADHD and mood disorders. “Up to 70% of adults living with ADHD have at least one co-occurring condition,” said Matthews, founder of Different Mental Health Program. “Studies show that ADHD crosses over with shared genes that may be responsible for anxiety disorders as well as mood disorders such as depression, PTSD, or bipolar disorder.”

Research has found that postpartum depression (PPD), also called perinatal depression, is significantly more common in women with ADHD than it is in their neurotypical counterparts: 17% of women with ADHD had PPD, compared to 3.3% without ADHD.²

Though PPD often emerges after childbirth, it can be present during pregnancy as well.

The medications used to treat these disorders — typically, antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — are frequently used by individuals who have ADHD, including some pregnant women. “Not surprisingly, the most common medication prescribed alongside ADHD medication is an SSRI,” Matthews explained. “They are cost-effective. They’re widely accessible.”

Swift treatment of mood disorders is critical, Matthews explained, as leaving depression untreated can have fall-on effects. “Remission should be the goal when we think about depression, not only because we want to have full restoration of functioning, but because it changes the prognosis of the disorder in terms of treatment and relapse,” Matthews said. “If we don’t address these symptoms as quickly as possible, there is a higher chance the depression will come back.”

Source

¹Chan J, Zhong A, Lam J et al. Maternal and paternal antidepressant use before and during pregnancy and offspring risk of neurodevelopmental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 13, 472-484

²Andersson, A., Garcia-Argibay, M., Viktorin, A., Ghirardi, A., Butwicka, A., Skoglund, C., Bang Madsen, K., D’onofrio, B.M., Lichtenstein, P., Tuvblad, C., and Larsson, H. (2023). Depression and Anxiety Disorders During the Postpartum Period in Women Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.069

Up to 70% of adults with ADHD have at least one co-occurring condition. Mood disorders like anxiety and depression are the most common “comorbidities,” though that term insufficiently captures the realities of living with multiple conditions.

“I really like to think of this as more of a multi-morbidity,” said Desiree Matthews, MSN, PMHNP-BC, during her July ADDitude webinar, “Identifying Co-Occurring Mood Disorders in Adults with ADHD.” “People can have prominent major depressive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder along with ADHD, and both could be equally impairing, maybe in different ways.”

Which is why thorough evaluations and accurate diagnoses are crucial — a critical issue when mood disorders are still frequently overlooked or misdiagnosed.

Here are our main takeaways on the overlap between ADHD and mood disorders from Dr. Matthews’ webinar.

Shared Pathways Explain Multi-Morbidity

Why does ADHD frequently co-occur with so many other conditions, particularly mood disorders? These conditions likely share root causes, according to Matthews.

“Many of the risk factors in our genes are risk factors for more than one mental health disorder,” she said.

As far as neurobiological underpinnings, researchers are also taking a closer look at serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, sleep, impulse control, appetite, and cognition. “We can see dysregulation in serotonergic pathways in ADHD but also in depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorders,” Matthews said.

[Read: When a Mood Disorder Looks Like ADHD — and Vice Versa]

On Comorbidities and Sex Differences

Why do women tend to have higher rates of anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder compared to men? The answer may lie, in part, in differences in how the sexes synthesize certain neurotransmitters. Men, for example, have greater serotonergic capacity than women. Since serotonin can buffer stress, this may explain why women are at greater risk for mood disorders compared to their male counterparts.

How to Tell If It’s More Than ADHD

Complicating accurate diagnosis is that symptoms are transdiagnostic. Issues with attention and executive function — core features of ADHD — are also seen in anxiety disorders, for example. It’s why thorough screenings matter, even if a diagnosis already exists. “Going with [the patient’s] chief complaint can lead us astray, whether we are missing or making a misdiagnosis,” Matthews said.

One question to help patients and clinicians consider if there’s more beneath the surface: Is treatment improving quality of life? If ADHD treatment is improving focus, but poor sleep and emotional distress persist, then it’s time to consider an additional evaluation.

Screeners are easily accessible tools that can help get a conversation started with a healthcare provider or a loved one. The Rapid Mood Screener, for example, is a tool that helps to differentiate bipolar disorder from major depressive disorder.

ADHD and Mood Disorders Can Be Safely Treated Together

From new medications for treatment-resistant conditions and non-pharmacological options like neuromodulation, psychotherapy, and prescription digital therapies, there are several options for safely and effectively managing ADHD with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, complex PTSD, and more.

Treatment is certainly not one-size-fits-all, and in some cases, the most impairing condition must be treated first rather than both conditions treated concurrently. For comorbid bipolar disorder and ADHD, for example, the former is treated first. Providers should also monitor patients to ensure that treatment combinations do not result in activation, insomnia, or mood destabilization.

For more insights on identifying co-occurring mood disorders with ADHD, watch the full webinar at additu.de/070826

Mood Disorders and ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: Signs of Depression That May Surprise You
• Read: Treating Both Depression and ADHD Safely
• Read: Treating Mood Disorders, Anxiety, or Autism Alongside ADHD

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

May 18, 2026

Symptoms of inattention appear in both ADHD and anxiety, but new research suggests that distinct brain mechanisms are associated with this behavior in each condition. A study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders found that children with ADHD and those with anxiety notice or focus on information at the very beginning of a task in similar ways; however, they behave differently after realizing they have made a mistake.¹

Determining whether a symptom of inattention is explained by underlying ADHD or anxiety can be challenging for clinicians. Distractibility, poor concentration, and forgetfulness are core traits of inattentive ADHD. Though inattention is not a clinical symptom of an anxiety disorder, children with anxiety may appear distracted and forgetful.

“ADHD and anxiety disorder symptoms overlap,” says William Dodson, M.D. “Both cause restlessness. An anxious child can be highly distracted because they are thinking about their anxiety or their obsessions. Both can lead to excessive worry and trouble settling down enough to fall asleep. It takes time to do a comprehensive history to determine whether a patient is struggling with one or both conditions.” About half of children with ADHD also meet the diagnostic criteria for a co-existing anxiety disorder.¹, ¹

For the study, researchers examined distinct stages of the attentional process — from initial focus to error correction — to chart differing behaviors among 111 children, ages 7 to 11. The participants were divided into four groups: ADHD-only, anxiety-only, ADHD-and-anxiety, and typically developing (TD). Electroencephalography (EEG) recorded the participants’ brain activity as they completed three computerized attention tasks of various difficulty.

The study found that children with ADHD, anxiety, or both conditions exhibited similar early attention and arousal regulation difficulties when they began a task. More specifically, the groups showed weaker neural responses to important cues, in deciding what to pay attention to, and in adjusting alertness levels based on task demands, compared with the TD group. The TD group’s brains shifted into a more activated, “ready” state before starting difficult tasks, while the other groups’ brains did not.

Distinct patterns emerged between the ADHD-only, anxiety-only, and ADHD-and-anxiety groups at the attentional engagement, performance monitoring, and performance evaluation phases of the study.

Children with Anxiety and Inattention

Children with anxiety showed signs of heightened error monitoring. Their brains reacted more harshly when mistakes occurred, indicating that they were hypersensitive to errors and potential failure. At the same time, they showed reduced conscious processing of those mistakes afterward. In other words, anxious children appeared to overreact automatically to errors without learning from them.

The researchers suggest that this anxiety-related inattention may stem partly from excessive self-monitoring and worry. The anxious brain may become so focused on avoiding mistakes and rumination that it remains mentally “stuck” on the error and is unable to redirect. This cycle of heightened error sensitivity combined with inefficient conscious evaluation could contribute to the distractibility and difficulty with sustaining attention seen in children with anxiety.

Children with Inattentive ADHD

In contrast, the ADHD-only group was less likely to recognize mistakes or practice post-error slowing (immediately slowing down after making an error to improve performance on the next attempt). This finding suggests that attention issues in children with ADHD are caused by a reduced ability to monitor performances and use feedback from the environment to adjust behaviors.

Children with ADHD and Anxiety

Findings from the study showed evidence of two types of attention issues working in tandem among the ADHD-and-anxiety group. Anxious behaviors, such as hypervigilance or worrying about making a mistake, appeared to act as a compensatory mechanism that offset typical ADHD symptoms. The anxious behaviors paradoxically reduced ADHD symptoms, such as impulsivity, and improved focus, but in doing so created a different attention issue (getting stuck, careless mistakes). In this case, when children are inattentive, it is not only because of their ADHD but because their anxiety prevents them from moving on and focusing on the task at hand.

Understanding the different neural mechanisms underlying inattentive symptoms could help clinicians more accurately distinguish between ADHD-related and anxiety-related inattention.

“Inaccurate or incomplete diagnoses can delay appropriate treatment, potentially leading to greater functional impairment and worsening symptoms,” the researchers wrote. “The attentional processes identified in the present study as differing between ADHD and anxiety symptom profiles may represent promising candidate targets for objective assessment to support clinical characterization.”

Source

¹ Pranjić, M., Peisch, V., Li, Y., Troxel, M., Lee, K., & Arnett, A.B. (2026). Inattention in pediatric attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and anxiety: Neurophysiological evidence for distinct and overlapping cognitive Mechanisms. Journal of Attention Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547261445680

¹Bowen R., Chavira D.A., Bailey K., Stein M.T., Stein M.B. (2008). Nature of anxiety comorbid with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children from a pediatric primary care setting. Psychiatry Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2004.12.015

¹Reimherr F.W., Marchant B.K., Gift T. E., Steans T. A. (2017). ADHD and anxiety: clinical significance and treatment implications. Current Psychiatry Reports. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-017-0859-6

When I started my Ph.D. program years ago, I arrived confident. I had two master’s degrees, decades of management experience, and a solid sense of myself as a capable professional. Then I found myself surrounded by people who seemed effortlessly brilliant, and my gaps in knowledge and experience felt enormous. Before long, a quiet but persistent doubt crept in: What if I don’t actually belong here?

That experience surprised me, but I now recognize it as imposter syndrome.

This feeling is especially common among adults with ADHD due to a lifetime of being told they’re “not enough,” or simply doing things wrong. When you combine that history with the demands of modern workplaces — constant evaluation, comparison, and self-promotion — imposter syndrome isn’t a personal failing. It’s a predictable response.

3 Factors Drive Imposter Syndrome

Up to 70% of people experience imposter syndrome — feeling like a fraud and doubting their abilities, even when evidence suggests otherwise. Researchers and clinicians say these feelings appear to be more persistent and disruptive for adults with ADHD for three reasons:

1. The inconsistency gap.

Because ADHD affects executive function, performance can be highly variable — brilliant one day, struggling with basic tasks the next. This makes it easy to distrust success and dismiss accomplishments as flukes.

[Self-Test: Do You Suffer From Imposter Syndrome?]

2. Working memory challenges.

These create what researchers call “success amnesia.” Failures remain vivid, while accomplishments are fleeting. Without a stable internal record of competence, every new challenge can feel like starting from scratch.

3. Masking.

Many adults with ADHD develop elaborate coping strategies to appear neurotypical. When praise comes, they may feel that people are complimenting their mask, not who they really are. Rejection sensitive dysphoria, an intense emotional response to perceived or real criticism, can amplify this fear of being “found out.”

The result is a familiar cycle: You work twice as hard to compensate. You succeed. But because the effort seemed chaotic or last-minute, the success feels undeserved. Anxiety follows, along with the fear that, next time, you’ll be exposed.

Is Imposter Syndrome Harmful or Helpful?

Imposter syndrome causes harm when it leads to burnout, chronic over-preparation, or under-advocating for yourself. It can also keep you stuck, turning down opportunities because you’re convinced that you’ll be found out.

[Watch: How to Interrupt the Cycle of Self-Sabotage]

At times, it can masquerade as helpful, prompting conscientiousness, humility, or thoroughness. But when doubt becomes a primary motivator, it is not serving you. The cost is simply too high.

Moving Forward

Imposter syndrome can resurface at any time throughout your career, especially during transitions or high-stakes moments. That’s to be expected. But confidence isn’t a personality trait that you either have or you don’t. It’s a skill built through practice, systems, and support. You don’t overcome imposter syndrome by becoming perfect; you do it by recognizing that belonging is earned by showing up as yourself.

5 Strategies for ADHD Brains

Name the Pattern but Don’t Argue with the Feeling

You don’t have to feel confident to be competent. When imposter thoughts show up, identify them: “This is imposter syndrome talking.” You’re not debating or validating the thought, just recognizing it as a pattern.

Build an External Evidence File

Because working memory challenges and strong emotions can create an unreliable narrator, keep a tangible record. Save emails with positive feedback, compliments, or successful outcomes. When your brain won’t cooperate, let the facts speak.

Separate Performance from Self-Worth

ADHD brains often fuse mistakes with identity. A missed deadline becomes “I’m a failure,” instead of “I missed a deadline.” Try shifting your thinking to “This skill is still developing.” That small change creates critical distance between what you do and who you are.

Stop Trying to Be Good at Everything

I stopped struggling with imposter syndrome when I accepted the fact that I didn’t need to excel at everything. For many adults with ADHD, this means designing roles and workflows that lean into strengths like creativity, problem-solving, relationship-building, or strategic thinking — and letting go of the idea that you must also excel at detail-heavy or administrative work that conflicts with the way your brain operates.

Get Curious Instead of Critical

Self-doubt often stems from uncertainty. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” try “What kind of support, structure, or clarity would help me here?” Curiosity moves you from shame to problem-solving — a far more productive place.

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome: Next Steps

• Free Download: Emotional Regulation & Anger Management Scripts
• Read: You Are Enough: How to Counteract ADHD Imposter Syndrome
• Read: You Are Not the Sum of Your ADHD Challenges
• Watch: “Perfectionism and ADHD: Making ‘Good Enough’ Work for You”

Eric Zackrison, Ph.D., is a leadership consultant and organizational communication scholar who teaches in the Department of Technology Management at UC Santa Barbara.

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not write or edit any content published by ADDitude. Our team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

Knitting. Wood whittling. Cross-stitching. This list of Victorian-era hobbies doubles as a menu of analog activities that occupy the hands and quiet the minds of kinetic and sometimes overstimulated people with ADHD.

We asked ADDitude readers about their favorite analog hobbies, and the responses were as diverse as our community members themselves. That said, the favorite activities shared key characteristics: They engage the mind, but because they’re typically repetitive, the mental load is light. They usually involve the creation of something, whether that’s a puzzle or a sprout of basil. And the progress made — from pages read to rows knitted — is easily observable.

Cross-stitch by stitch, puzzle piece by piece, brush stroke by stroke, these analog hobbies help ADHD minds find calm, gratification and peace.

“Gardening has the benefit of getting me outside and moving. Plus, there’s the tactile piece of getting my hands in the dirt and the dopamine hit of seeing my plants grow and eating my veggies. It has become one of my favorite parts of summer!” — Cami, Wisconsin

“I make leather bags. It’s so satisfying to make something that will last for decades and to do it well enough that people don’t guess it’s homemade.” — An ADDitude Reader

[Read: How Do I Reduce Stress? Gardening. Wordle. Crochet…]

“I love to build LEGO sets! Big ones are my favorite, but any set will do! I like that building them keeps my hands engaged and that I don’t have to think really hard about them. Over time, I’ve come up with a whole setup for organizing while I build; little bins to sort out each packet so that I don’t lose any pieces. It’s soothing for my sometimes disorganized brain.” — Melyssa, Texas

“I make soaps, candles, room sprays, cuticle oil, and lotions. I love it because I can make things that are useful and smell the way I like them. Also, with all my skin sensitivity I know what is in the products, which keeps me from being itchy.” — Cecily, Idaho

“I sit in front of the TV at night and make theater props at a table. I love to make props using what most people consider junk. I get great joy out of creating something that looks incredibly lifelike, such as a fake moldy sandwich. I need to be creative; sharing ideas with other creatives is soul food.” — Sally, Australia

[Read: “I Cultivate My Garden – and My Inner Peace”]

“Reading fiction is very helpful. My overpowered brain can go on overdrive, and sometimes instead of calming it, the best I can do is redirect it to a fictional set of problems. I really do get the benefit of disengaging from my own problems, but I’m not dealing with the anxiety of trying not to think about something.” — Maria, North Carolina

“I play piano. It’s very hard to ruminate about things when you’re focusing on a difficult piece of music.” — An ADDitude Reader

“Watching TV in the evening is our family’s way of winding down, but I find that my body is still restless. Knitting or working on a cross-stitch project helps calm my physical restlessness while watching TV helps calm my mind.”  — Amber, California

“Putting together jigsaw puzzles is one of the most relaxing activities that I can do. My brain just tunes into the shapes and colors, and I can get lost in working on and finishing a puzzle. I don’t have to think about anything in particular while doing this, and I end up with a creative masterpiece!” — Ann Elizabeth, California

“I like whittling — usually with music in the background. Making wooden decorations and ornaments is very relaxing.” — Amelia, England

“Lately, I’ve been making custom-painted Chuck Taylors for friends and family. Painting puts me into my meditative space. I like to play music and think about the person I’m painting the sneakers for while I’m doing it.” — Karin, South Carolina

“The analog hobbies of ADHD members of my household include Diamond Dots, crochet, playing a musical instrument, and jigsaw puzzles. Each of these activities has a certain amount of repetition, but none of them requires significant mental effort to accomplish and there’s tangible progress very quickly.” — An ADDitude Reader

“Swimming just gets me in the zone; I could do it for hours. Something about the feeling of floating around in the water and the freedom of movement really helps me enjoy the present.” — George, Wisconsin

“Knitting is great for me! Very calming. But only ‘straight’ things like scarves and blankets so I don’t have to think about adding or dropping stitches. Easy.” — An ADDitude Reader, Illinois

“My two kids and I have ADHD. We have several analog hobbies that we do every day. Having a variety of activities keeps things ‘new’ and boredom-free. We craft with melty beads, draw, cross-stitch, and do puzzles, Diamond Dots, and LEGOs. I also knit, sew, and hand embroider. Usually, we’re working on our projects in the same room and enjoy being together. We usually feel recharged and better connected afterward. Oh, and when we do them before bedtime, the kids are more relaxed and fall asleep easier!” — Marjorie, Virginia

“I read novels from the library. It’s beyond wonderful to escape into the lives of characters who have families, partners, elders, etc. — all the things in life I long for.” — An ADDitude Reader, Canada

Analog Hobbies for ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: “Upcycling – My (Guilt-Free) ADHD Obsession”
• Watch: “Some Kind of Wonderful – How Music Affects the ADHD Brain”
• Read: “Diary of My ADHD Hyperfixations – My Brief-But-Intense Obsession with Pressure Washing”

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not write or edit any content published by ADDitude. Our team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.