When “Superwoman” Starts Glitching: Late-Diagnosed ADHD, Overfunctioning, and the Hidden Cost of Coping
Therapy for Adult ADHD, Anxiety, and Burnout in Calgary
Why High-Functioning Doesn’t Always Mean Thriving
So many women—especially professionals, caretakers, and creatives—develop exceptional coping strategies early on. Perfectionism. People-pleasing. Overpreparing. You learn to mask the chaos inside by staying two steps ahead on the outside.
But that mask can slip when life gets more complex. Parenting. Career demands. Hormonal shifts. Suddenly the old systems stop working. And what’s left underneath isn’t failure—it’s undiagnosed neurodivergence.
Late-Diagnosed ADHD in Women: The Invisible Pattern
ADHD in women is often missed in childhood. It doesn’t always show up as hyperactivity—it’s the internal restlessness, the emotional intensity, the mental clutter, the chronic overwhelm. You may have been called sensitive, scattered, dramatic—or praised for being “so mature.”
Here’s what ADHD in adult women can look like:
- Struggling to stay organized despite best efforts
- Emotional overreactions followed by shame
- Forgetting even important things without reminders
- Mental fatigue from masking “normal”
- Constantly switching between burnout and overdrive
- A sense that life feels harder than it should
These aren’t character flaws. They’re symptoms. And therapy can help untangle them.
The Quiet Toll of Overfunctioning With ADHD
Many of our Calgary clients say the same thing: “I’ve always worked this hard to keep up—I just didn’t know why.” Therapy for ADHD isn’t just about focus or attention. It’s about rebuilding self-trust, uncovering what’s truly yours (versus what was masked), and learning how to support your nervous system instead of pushing it beyond its limits.
At Lodestone Psychology, we specialize in working with:
- Women with late-diagnosed or suspected ADHD
- Adults navigating anxiety, perfectionism, and burnout
- High achievers who’ve “held it all together” for too long
Our approach is collaborative, non-pathologizing, and tailored to you.
What Therapy Can Offer You (That Self-Help Can’t)
You’ve likely already researched, journaled, and made a hundred lists. ADHDers are great at that. But therapy gives you something those strategies can’t: a safe, structured space to reclaim clarity, build new systems, and stop pretending everything’s fine when it’s not.
Whether it’s through learning emotional regulation tools, reworking your routines, or simply giving yourself permission to rest—therapy offers a path forward.
You’re Not Glitching. You’re Waking Up.
That feeling you can’t shake—that something’s off—might actually be the beginning of something right. You don’t need to crash to change. You don’t need a crisis to deserve support.
You just need space to be fully seen—and a guide to help you reconnect with your actual self, not just the one who gets things done.
Ready to Explore a Different Way of Being?
Lodestone Psychology offers therapy for ADHD in Calgary—with in-person and virtual options to meet you where you are.
Whether you're newly diagnosed, self-identified, or just wondering why you’re always exhausted from doing everything, let’s talk.
Book a free consultation with a registered psychologist in Calgary.
Because thriving shouldn’t require you to run on empty.
Not sure ADHD fully explains what you’re feeling?
You might relate more to the quiet emotional exhaustion of high-functioning burnout.
👉 Read: High-Functioning, Quietly Falling Apart: The Burnout You Can’t Talk About →
