The stereotype is a fidgety 8-year-old boy who can't sit still. The reality, for millions of adults, looks nothing like that. Adult ADHD looks like 47 open browser tabs. It looks like crying over a mildly critical email. It looks like being brilliant in a crisis and paralyzed by routine.
Why adult ADHD is different
ADHD doesn't go away after childhood. It changes shape. The hyperactivity becomes internal restlessness. The inattention becomes missed bills and half-finished projects. Studies estimate 60-70% of children with ADHD continue to meet criteria in adulthood.
What it actually looks like
Chronic lateness. Not because you don't care. Because time blindness makes you genuinely unable to track how long you've been getting ready.
Emotional intensity. Your prefrontal cortex can't modulate emotional responses the way a neurotypical brain can. That sharp sting of rejection, that flash of rage — those are neurological events, not personality flaws.
The "potential" narrative. "You're so smart, you just need to apply yourself." The gap between capability and output has a name: executive dysfunction. It's not a motivation problem. It's a deployment problem.
Hyperfocus misdirection. You can spend 6 hours researching toasters but can't spend 15 minutes on taxes. Hyperfocus isn't a superpower you can aim. It's an interest-driven attention lock your executive system can't override.
The late-diagnosis experience
Relief, grief, anger, recalibration. Each stage is valid. The "now what" often means medication evaluation and building external systems — tools like UpOrbit that are designed around how ADHD brains actually work. Neither medication nor systems alone is enough. Both together can be transformative.
You're not broken. Your brain has a different operating system. You don't have less capability. You have less executive function to deploy it consistently.