ADHD and getting fired

Getting fired can feel like proof that you can’t keep up, can’t get it together, or can’t trust yourself. For many people with ADHD, though, it’s often a mismatch between your brain, your role, and your environment. It’s not a verdict on who you are.

Licensed psychologist Dr. J explains why people with ADHD are more likely to be fired. Executive function skills like time management, working memory, and emotional regulation are what most workplaces rely on every day. And sensory overload, informal verbal instructions, and lingering myths about ADHD can make those skills even harder to use. For many women with ADHD, years of masking, over-preparing, and over-apologizing can hide the struggle until it’s no longer sustainable.

Dr. J also explains why being fired can hit so hard, from emotional dysregulation to rejection sensitivity — all while you’re facing resumes, unemployment paperwork, and insurance on a stressed brain.

Then come steps for the first day or two after being let go, like holding off on emotional messages, documenting what happened, telling one safe person, and taking care of your body. Dr. J then covers the deeper work: a compassionate postmortem, spotting patterns without judging your character, separating accountability from shame, asking for what you need, and talking about being fired in interviews.

Getting fired is an event. It is not your identity, and it doesn’t have to be the end of a long, fulfilling career.

For more on this topic

• Watch: “Hope is not a plan:” How to manage ADHD at work | Hyperfocus
• Listen: Executive function and ADHD shame in women (Katy Weber’s story) 
• Read: 5 ways ADHD can affect you at work 

For a transcript and more resources, visit The ADHD Channel for Women on Understood.org. You can also email us at podcast@understood.org.

Getting your child the support they need at school shouldn’t feel like a fight. But for millions of families, it does. In Zero Reject, an investigative podcast from Understood.org, award-winning journalist Anya Kamenetz looks at how changing federal policies are reshaping special education — and what’s at stake for families trying to access the support their children are legally entitled to. Start listening now.

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