Updated on August 20, 2026.
Stigma is a negative social attitude based on a trait or characteristic. If you’ve ever felt judged, devalued, or treated differently because you have ADHD as an adult, you’ve experienced stigma.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that results in ongoing difficulties with focus, attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. It is a developmental disorder that affects how the brain works. While ADHD begins during childhood, it is also prevalent among adults, and there are many people with ADHD who are not formally diagnosed until they are adults.
Adult ADHD and stigma
To better understand stigma, it helps to break stigma down into different types and categories.
Public stigma
Public stigma refers to negative attitudes, stereotypes, and beliefs about ADHD found in broader communities and public discussion. These attitudes are often communicated and reinforced through public discussion, including exposure to online content. Common stigmatizing beliefs include that ADHD is a childhood disorder that people outgrow, that “everyone is a little ADHD,” and that ADHD is a person making excuses for laziness or poor discipline.
Self-stigma
This type occurs when people begin to internalize and believe negative attitudes about themselves and ADHD. For example, a person believes that they have poor discipline, that they are lazy, or that they have poor self-control. This is harmful for a number of reasons. Internalizing these types of thoughts can lead to a loss of self-esteem. It can worsen symptoms of depression and anxiety, conditions that commonly co-exist in adults with ADHD.
Self-stigma can also create doubts about the validity of a diagnosis and prevent a person from seeking appropriate treatment. Though skills and behavioral therapy are effective at treating ADHD, the condition is not something that can be managed with willpower.
Structural stigma
Structural stigma results from institutions, where rules, policies, laws, and procedures can contribute to unequal treatment. Many examples can be found in healthcare and health insurance. For example, procedures that create treatment delays, limited availability for healthcare providers qualified to treat ADHD, and health insurance policies that limits what providers a person is able to access for treatment.
While it helps to understand the different forms of stigma, it’s also important to acknowledge where they can overlap. Workplaces are one example, where company policies may put a person with ADHD at a disadvantage, and concerns about public stigma can make that person less likely to ask for an accommodation to minimize distraction, or in some cases, make them less likely to take their medication.
Strategies for coping with stigma
As an adult living with ADHD, there are steps you can take to address stigma in your life:
- Work with a healthcare provider. Seeking out appropriate treatment and following your treatment plan should always be a top priority. ADHD is a medical condition that varies significantly from person to person. Your best source of information about your diagnosis and treatment will be a healthcare provider.
- Make stigma a focus of treatment. Counseling is often a part of treatment for ADHD in adults. Stigma is a topic that you can discuss with a counselor or therapist, including where you experience stigma or where you’ve experienced it in the past, how it impacts you, and strategies for addressing it.
- Build a support network. It helps to have the support of friends and loved ones. Work on social connections, especially with people who can be supportive and who you can speak with honestly about your challenges. Consider participating in a support group or online community where you can connect with other people who are living with ADHD.
Keep learning about ADHD. Patient education is considered a critical aspect of managing ADHD. Education and awareness also promote a better understanding of the condition, which helps dispel myths and misinformation.
