Living with both ADHD and OCD

The prospect of dealing with both ADHD and OCD can feel daunting. But there are steps you can take to make life with both conditions easier to manage.

Challenges

When ADHD and OCD show up together, they can make each other harder to manage.

For example:

• ADHD can make it difficult to stick to OCD rituals.
• OCD can increase anxiety, which makes it even harder to focus.

Interestingly, in some cases, OCD may actually reduce hyperactivity in people with ADHD.^[1] 

People with both conditions often struggle with:

• Managing time
• Staying focused
• Finishing tasks
• Handling stress and anxiety

The impulsive side of ADHD can clash with OCD’s need for order and repetition, leading to extra frustration, especially in school, at work, or in social situations.

Everyday things like planning, organising, or paying attention to details can feel overwhelming.

Imagine you need to plan your week, but you have both ADHD and OCD. With ADHD, you might find it hard to start organising because your mind jumps between tasks and you get easily distracted.

At the same time, OCD might make you fixate on making your plans “perfect,” like needing to check and re-check every detail before moving on.

This combination can make a simple task like planning your week feel overwhelming, confusing, and stressful, leaving you stuck or feeling anxious about getting it “just right.”

Coping strategies

Coping strategies may help you manage both conditions better. For instance you can try:

• Practicing mindfulness, which could mean paying attention to your breathing, eating slowly, or noticing how your body feels during everyday tasks.
• Setting up some daily routines.
• Leaning on your support system when you need help.
• Taking care of yourself by getting good sleep, exercising, eating well and using relaxation techniques.
• Being patient with yourself and practising self-kindness.

These tips can make a difference, but it’s also important to get professional help for the best treatment.

Everyone’s experience with ADHD and OCD is different, but therapy, treatment, and coping strategies together often work well.

Support resources

Living with ADHD and OCD can be challenging. So if you need further help and information about these conditions, the following websites may also offer useful sources of support:

• ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity - an integrated health and education service for those with ADHD.
• ADHD UK - a charity run by people with ADHD.
• OCD Action - an OCD charity.
• TOP UK - a charity that focuses on providing self-help for people dealing with phobias, OCD and other anxiety-related disorders.
• OCD-UK - an organisation providing advice, information and support services for children and adults with OCD.
• HealthUnlocked - an OCD support forum.

References

1. Abramovitch, A., Dar, R., Mittelman, A. and Wilhelm, S. (2015). Comorbidity Between Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Across the Lifespan. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 23(4), pp.245–262.