ADHD and the Trap of Imposter Syndrome
Why do so many high-performing women with ADHD feel like frauds—even when they’re crushing it? In this episode, we unpack the deep connection between ADHD and imposter syndrome, and why this experience is so often missed or misunderstood in women.
We explore how a lifetime of masking, over-functioning, and internalized self-correction can create a disconnect between external success and internal self-trust. If you’ve ever felt like you’re faking it—like your competence is a performance, like you’re one mistake away from being exposed—this conversation is for you.
This episode isn’t about “overcoming” imposter syndrome. It’s about understanding it. And more importantly, reclaiming your identity, authority, and leadership as a neurodivergent woman.
Key Points Covered
- The silent burden of masking ADHD symptoms and how it fuels imposter syndrome
- Why women with ADHD often feel like their success isn’t “real” or sustainable
- The difference between performing competence and embodying self-trust
- How rejection sensitivity, perfectionism, and emotional dysregulation reinforce internalized fraudulence
- The cultural and systemic forces that invalidate neurodivergent strengths
- The role of feedback loops, working memory, and trauma in shaping imposter narratives
- What it means to strategically unmask in high-responsibility spaces
- Why your adaptability isn’t fraudulence—it’s fluency
- How to begin rewriting the internal story from “I’m faking it” to “I’m navigating it”
- The power of self-recognition and identity reclamation in dissolving imposter syndrome
Ready to get more specific about your particular flavour of ADHD?
Check out the Executive Function Inventory. - Where are you right now on each of the 12 executive functions. An inventory that identifies which EFs are challenges (that need to be bolstered), adaptive (you've built accommodations for yourself), and strengths (to leverage to support your challenges. If you know, you can be intentional. https://www.mineelachand.com/adhd-adults-efi
The website: https://www.mineelachand.com/ Want to get in touch with me, contribute to the conversation, or ask a question you would like some answers for? Here's the form you can fill out - I read all of them: https://forms.office.com/r/NFvguHn7s3
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