Adults diagnosed with ADHD often experience the workplace as restrictive rather than enabling.

Many employees with ADHD engage in “masking” to fit in at work, leading to exhaustion and reduced well-being.

Supportive leadership and flexible work environments unlock creativity and potential in employees with ADHD.

By Tom Vodden and Gamze Arman

Across the lifespan, ADHD diagnoses have been steadily increasing, with a particularly notable rise in diagnoses made during adulthood. At the same time, we see persistent inequalities in working life. Employment rates for neurodivergent individuals—such as those with ADHD—remain significantly lower than for neurotypical individuals. Even when employed, people with ADHD are often perceived as lower performers (regardless of their actual performance) and tend to change jobs or career paths more frequently.

One reason may be that the written and unwritten rules of working life have largely been designed with neurotypical norms in mind. As a result, “one-size-fits-all” job descriptions, performance metrics, and expectations may not work for everyone. If organisations are serious about embracing neurodiversity, these rules need to be rethought—or at the very least, critically reconsidered.

Redesigning work in ways that align with individuals’ strengths has the potential to improve both employee well-being and organisational performance. A crucial first step in this process is listening to and understanding how neurodivergent employees themselves experience the workplace.

With this in mind, we conducted a qualitative study exploring the work experiences of individuals diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood—after they had already entered working life. Our findings were recently published in a special issue on neurodiversity in Career Development International.

Being an Employee With ADHD: What We Learned

Our analysis revealed three overarching themes that capture how participants make sense of their working lives.

1. “Having your hands tied behind your back”: Navigating a non-neurodivergent world of work

Participants frequently described feeling restricted by rigid expectations about how work should be done.

As one participant explained:

“The biggest barrier to my success is the expectation that things have to be done in a certain way. It prevents you from acting in line with your strengths.”

“The biggest barrier to my success is the expectation that things have to be done in a certain way. It prevents you from acting in line with your strengths.”

Strikingly, many participants used physical metaphors to describe this experience—such as “having my hands tied behind my back” or “having to work with one hand.” These metaphors vividly convey a sense of constraint and lost potential.

This theme also included:

Stress arising from micromanagement and excessive control

Limited autonomy and suppressed creativity

Concerns that requests for flexibility would be misunderstood

2. “How to show up at work”: The effort of fitting in

The second theme reflects the often invisible labour involved in trying to “fit” into workplace norms—both professionally and socially.

One participant described it this way:

“At work, it feels like I am performing. My ‘work self’ is quite different from who I am outside of work.”

“At work, it feels like I am performing. My ‘work self’ is quite different from who I am outside of work.”

This highlights the emotional and cognitive effort required to conform to expectations. Participants also reported:

Masking behaviours and aspects of identity

Trying to be accepted without drawing attention or being perceived as a threat

A disconnect between work and non-work identities

Mental exhaustion from constant self-monitoring

Experiences of burnout, identity confusion, and a lack of belonging

3. A double-edged sword: Diagnosis and the disclosure dilemma

Receiving an ADHD diagnosis in adulthood was often experienced as both empowering and challenging.

As one participant reflected:

“You need to find a way of working that suits you but also accept that you cannot work in the same way as others.”

“You need to find a way of working that suits you but also accept that you cannot work in the same way as others.”

While diagnosis helped individuals better understand themselves, it also introduced a new dilemma: whether to disclose their ADHD at work.

Participants further described:

Being torn between disclosure and concealment

Concerns about stigma—even in seemingly supportive environments

Additional challenges for women, given that ADHD is still often associated with male stereotypes, such as the “hyperactive boy”

The Power of Inclusive Work Environments

Our findings also point to what does work.

When employees experienced trust-based relationships and supportive leadership, they were better able to leverage their strengths—such as creativity, adaptability, and innovative problem-solving. In these contexts, neurodiversity became an asset rather than a barrier.

Inclusive leadership, therefore, is not just about accommodation—it is about unlocking potential. It enables individuals to express themselves more fully while turning difference into a driver of innovation.

Conclusion: Toward Genuine Inclusion

We are living in a time when the nature of work—and the rules that govern it—is being actively questioned and reshaped. Conversations around neurodiversity are an important part of this shift.

Designing work environments that are responsive to different needs not only benefits neurodivergent individuals; it contributes to a more sustainable and humane working life for everyone.

Understanding how different groups experience existing systems is a critical starting point. But genuine inclusion cannot be achieved through a single formula. It requires flexibility, empathy, curiosity, and an ongoing commitment to learning.

For work psychologists and organisational practitioners alike, this also means revisiting and rethinking long-standing theoretical models—perhaps beginning with a more nuanced understanding of individual differences, and how we can meaningfully accommodate them in the workplace.

Vodden T. & Arman G. (2025), "When work context limits opportunities for career sustainability: insights from people diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood". Career Development International, Vol. 30 No. 7 pp. 796–811, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-03-2025-0155

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