Yes, you can get NDIS support for ADHD and anxiety, but it's not automatic; you must prove it's a permanent and significant disability impacting daily life, requiring specific supports, often with evidence from co-occurring conditions like autism or severe anxiety strengthening your case. Eligibility hinges on detailed functional impact assessments, not just diagnosis, showing how it affects work, socialising, and self-care, with NDIS funding covering therapies, coaching, or assistive tech, but not routine ADHD meds (PBS).
If your anxiety is a separate condition and not a symptom of ADHD, you may need to treat both disorders at the same time. Some treatments can work for both ADHD and anxiety, such as: Cognitive behavioral therapy. Relaxation techniques and meditation.
Children with ADHD can receive NDIS funding if their condition significantly impacts their daily functioning and meets the eligibility criteria. The NDIS recognises ADHD as a neurodevelopmental disorder that can affect a child's ability to participate in social, educational, and daily activities.
If you can show that your ADHD severely limits your ability to maintain gainful employment, you may be entitled to Social Security benefits.
Anxiety Symptoms
Over time, the anxiety issues take on a life of their own and mask the ADHD symptoms.
The ADHD "2-Minute Rule" suggests doing any task taking under two minutes immediately to build momentum, but it often backfires by derailing focus due to weak working memory, time blindness, and transition difficulties in people with ADHD. A better approach is to write down these quick tasks on a separate "catch-all" list instead of interrupting your main work, then schedule specific times to review and tackle them, or use a slightly longer timeframe like a 5-minute rule to prevent getting lost down "rabbit holes".
Symptom Overlap: ADHD and anxiety share symptoms like restlessness, trouble focusing, and difficulty finishing tasks. This overlap can make it harder to figure out if the issue is ADHD, anxiety, or both.
The ADHD "30% Rule" is a guideline suggesting that executive functions (like self-regulation, planning, and emotional control) in people with ADHD develop about 30% slower than in neurotypical individuals, meaning a 10-year-old might function more like a 7-year-old in these areas, requiring adjusted expectations for maturity, task management, and behavior. It's a tool for caregivers and adults with ADHD to set realistic goals, not a strict scientific law, helping to reduce frustration by matching demands to the person's actual developmental level (executive age) rather than just their chronological age.
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The 24-hour rule for ADHD is a self-regulation strategy to combat impulsivity by creating a mandatory waiting period (often a full day) before reacting to emotionally charged situations or making significant decisions, allowing time for reflection and reducing regretful snap judgments, especially for things like impulse purchases or arguments. It's a pause button that gives the brain space to process, move from impulse to intention, and evaluate choices more logically, helping manage ADHD's impact on emotional regulation and decision-making.
The VA disability rating for anxiety is 0%, 10%, 30%, 70% or 100%, depending on the severity of the symptoms and their impact on daily life and ability to work.
NDIS Eligibility Criteria
Here is an extensive list of NDIS requirements for ADHD patients. The applicant must have a permanent disability that significantly impacts their ability to participate in everyday activities. You must provide proof showing the disability is permanent, or how long it is expected to last.
Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs) like venlafaxine (Effexor) and duloxetine (Cymbalta) can effectively treat those with both anxiety and ADHD.
The ADHD burnout cycle is a pattern where constant effort to manage ADHD symptoms (like executive dysfunction, overstimulation, and masking) leads to extreme mental/physical exhaustion, a "crash," and a shame spiral, often followed by trying to overcompensate again, repeating the cycle. It involves phases like the initial push/overcompensation, the struggle/stress, the collapse/shutdown, and the guilt-ridden recovery attempt, resulting in fatigue, irritability, procrastination, and disengagement from life.
Up to 80% of adults with ADHD have at least one comorbid psychiatric disorder—the most common of which include substance use disorder (SUD), mood disorder, and anxiety disorder (Choi et. al, 2022).
If you have ADHD, you could qualify for the grant.
An Access to Work grant can pay for practical, life-changing support with the following: Starting work. Staying in work. Moving into self-employment or starting a business (but not to cover start-up costs)
The 10-3 rule for ADHD is a productivity strategy involving 10 minutes of focused work followed by a 3-minute break, designed to match the ADHD brain's need for short bursts of effort, making tasks less overwhelming and procrastination easier to manage by building momentum with quick, structured intervals. It helps individuals with ADHD ease into tasks, offering a tangible goal (10 mins) and an immediate reward (3 mins) to keep focus without burnout, often incorporating movement or preferred activities during breaks.
ADHD doesn't legally disqualify you from any career. However, roles that require constant, uninterrupted focus may be difficult or even impossible for people with ADHD.
There isn't one single "hardest age" for ADHD, as challenges evolve; however, adolescence and the transition to adulthood (late teens to 30s) are often particularly tough due to increased academic, social, and life responsibilities, alongside hormonal shifts and developing executive functions, while early childhood (ages 7-8) can see peak hyperactivity, notes CHADD, Medvidi, and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). ADHD impacts people differently, but the need for self-management grows as children age, creating significant hurdles during these demanding developmental stages.
Increase stress relief by exercising outdoors—people with ADHD often benefit from sunshine and green surroundings. Try relaxing forms of exercise, such as mindful walking, yoga, or tai chi. In addition to relieving stress, they can teach you to better control your attention and impulses.
Use the five-minute rule
Commit to working on something for just five minutes. This can sidestep internal resistance and build momentum naturally. Many people find they continue past the five-minute mark once they get going.
Alpha-2 Agonists: Originally marketed as blood pressure medications, research has shown that medications like Intuniv (guanfacine) and Kapvay (clonidine) have proven benefits for both ADHD and anxiety symptoms.
Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have heightened levels of anxiety, which has been associated with worse performance on working memory tasks.
Common ADHD habits in adults involve inattention (procrastination, disorganization, poor focus), impulsivity (interrupting, hasty decisions, impatience), and hyperactivity (fidgeting, restlessness, constant motion), leading to trouble with time management, emotional regulation (mood swings, low frustration tolerance), and task completion, often with underlying anxiety or stress. These aren't just occasional behaviors but persistent patterns disrupting daily life, work, and relationships, often manifesting as forgetting details, losing things, and feeling overwhelmed.