ADHD, Overthinking and the Reality Behind the “Superpower” Story

Emma Bridger

Minutes
23rd March 2025
ADHD,
Employee Experience,
Employee Engagement
Neurodiversity Celebration Week has just passed.

And like many of you, I’ve seen a lot of content celebrating the strengths of neurodivergent thinking.

Which is important.

But I’ve also been reflecting on what’s missing from that conversation.

Over the last year, I’ve started to share more openly that I have ADHD.

Sometimes deliberately.

Sometimes because it just… comes out.

And if you’ve ever told someone something quite personal within minutes of meeting them — then immediately replayed that moment for the next 24 hours — you’ll know exactly what I mean.

Because ADHD isn’t just one experience

On some days, it feels like a strength:

  • energy
  • creativity
  • fast thinking
  • connecting ideas quickly

But on other days, it looks like:

  • overthinking everything
  • struggling to make decisions
  • imposter syndrome creeping in
  • saying too much, then analysing it later
  • underlying anxiety that never fully switches off

And both of those realities exist at the same time.

The “superpower” narrative (and why it’s not enough)

There’s been a real shift towards positioning ADHD as a superpower.

And I understand why.

But the risk is that we create a version of neurodiversity that feels:

  • neat

  • positive
👉
  • easy to celebrate

When in reality, it’s often:

  • messy
👉
  • contradictory
  • context dependent

And when we don’t acknowledge that, we make it harder for people to be honest about their experience at work.

Why this matters for EX and IC

If you work in employee experience or internal communication, this isn’t just an awareness topic.

It’s a design challenge.

Because many of the things we create unintentionally amplify the harder parts of ADHD:

  • vague messaging → increases overthinking
  • unclear expectations → fuels anxiety
  • too much information → overwhelms
  • fast-paced decision making → disadvantages different processing styles

And yet, we rarely design with this in mind.

ADHD in women: the invisible experience

Another layer to this is how ADHD shows up differently in women.

Many of us didn’t fit the stereotype.

I was well behaved. High performing. Reliable.

But internally:

  • constantly overthinking
  • masking
  • trying to get everything “just right”
  • feeling like I had to work harder than everyone else to keep up

It didn’t look disruptive.

It looked… fine.

Which is exactly why it gets missed.

What I’ve found most valuable

For me, the biggest shift hasn’t been about “playing to strengths”.

It’s been about:

  • understanding patterns
  • recognising triggers
  • having language for what’s going on

That awareness doesn’t remove the challenges.

But it does make them easier to navigate.

A question for this community

If we were designing EX and IC with neurodiversity in mind from the start…What would we do differently?

How would we structure communication?

How would we design decision-making processes?
How would we create space for different ways of thinking and contributing?

Because this is where the real opportunity is.

Not just celebrating neurodiversity.But designing for it.

So yes — let’s celebrate. But let’s also be honest about the full experience.

Because that’s where better design — and better workplaces — begin.

Emma
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