Your ADHD and Money

rachelcsykes.com

I Work with Stressed Out Professional Women

Licensed in Massachusetts & New Hampshire
Rachel C. Sykes, LMHC, LLC
Rachel@rachelcsykes.com

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

In prior blogs, I have shared that a lot of my clients who are seeking support for anxiety also have ADHD, many of whom have only been diagnosed as adults.  To me, this commonly co-presenting feature makes a lot of sense, especially for those who exhibited primarily inattentive features rather than hyperactivity.  They likely grew up with a lot of criticism for not paying attention, being labeled as lazy and uncaring, and sometimes even as stupid.  It seems logical that anyone treated like this might grow up feeling “less than”, insecure, and anxious, right?  Would it be that much of a stretch to believe that folks that struggle with typical ADHD symptoms might also be at a disadvantage with respect to their finances?

ADHD

mediocre word cloud generated by ChatGPT by Rachel Sykes

Some research

In the last couple decades, there has been research on how those diagnosed with ADHD function relative to their non-ADHD peers and there are real disparities, including how well they fare financially.  For example, In a 2016 study, Amy R Altszuler  et.al. found that adults with ADHD are more often financially dependent on their families and the welfare system and generated lower earnings and less in savings than those without ADHD.  I infer from this finding that these study participants may also be less functional in higher paying work (yes, I did read the article). Furthermore, a 2021 study published by the NIH’s National Library of Medicine titled “Financial judgment determination in adults with ADHD” found that adults with ADHD were less knowledgeable on financial issues, stating that “adults with ADHD have difficulties with financial judgment especially with the ability to understand information that is relevant for a financial situation or transaction. Furthermore, adults with ADHD were found to have problems with appreciating, reasoning and communicating about practical information that partly relates to their own financial situation”. Sounds like a disadvantage to me!

Published on March 27, 2023; Licensed under the Unsplash+ License

Some tips

Cope! : )

If you are skilled in managing your anxiety, overwhelm, dread, etc. that typically arises when you think about savings, plan to use those skills. Maybe you might need to set yourself up in a private, quiet space with good lighting with a your tasks written out in a numbered list. Breathing exercises to remain relatively calm? Whatever works. Acknowledge that your ADHD may kick in with a heightened response but be ready for it and be kind to yourself. If you are not skilled in handling emotions that arise in such situations, it seems like an area for future growth!

Make a Budget

I know this sounds boring and that doesn’t help but there are apps that can make this process a little easier. (I actually find budgeting to be very calming so this is so hard for me to relate to!)  Get a budget accountability buddy where you regularly work on budgeting with a friend.  You don’t necessarily have to “spill the beans” by sharing all your secrets such as your pay or how much you spend on all your streaming services.  However, scheduling regular times to work side by side (in person or remotely) with a buddy can increase follow through and maybe actually be something to look forward to.

Set rules

Once you have made your plan, set up some fixed rules about how you are going to follow through.  For example, Rule #1 might be “contact payroll department to discuss savings options”.  Rule #2 might be “set up weekly payroll deduction into new savings account”. Rule #3, check budget and bill payments first day of every month. You get the idea.

Automate it

Speaking of rules, can you leverage existing functionality at work and in your savings institutions to “set it and forget it”?  For example, can your payroll department direct a fixed percent or dollar amount of your pay to be deposited into a savings account?  If not, perhaps you can discuss with your banking institution.  What about saving for retirement?  Many employers have programs that already opt you into the standard plan but check this out where you work.  While you are there, check to see what percent you are opted into saving for retirement – perhaps you could raise that to a higher retirement savings rate! Do you need to automate your bills? I get it if you do but please double-check things for accuracy and don’t lose touch with your payments!

Schedule it

If you budget, literally set up the time as a recurring meeting on your calendar every month.  I mean put it onto your outlook or google calendar as a recurring meeting with reminder alerts. If you are budgeting with a buddy, schedule them as attendees, too!

Questions?

Have thoughts on this blog? Have some questions? Feel free to reach out by email or phone.

You can request an appointment or call/email to ask for a free 15-minute consultation.

email: Rachel@rachelcsykes.com
phone: 781-630-4670

 References

Altszuler AR, Page TF, Gnagy EM, Coxe S, Arrieta A, Molina BSG, Pelham WEJ. Financial dependence of young adults with childhood ADHD. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2016;44(6):1217–1229. doi: 10.1007/s10802-015-0093-9.

Koerts J, Bangma DF, Fuermaier ABM, Mette C, Tucha L, Tucha O. Financial judgment determination in adults with ADHD. J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2021 Jul;128(7):969-979. doi: 10.1007/s00702-021-02323-1. Epub 2021 Mar 12. PMID: 33709182; PMCID: PMC8295146.