Feeling like a fraud at work

You got the job. You meet the deadlines, one way or another. People seem to think you are good at what you do. And yet there is a persistent feeling that you have somehow tricked everyone — that one day they will realise you are making it up as you go along, and it will all come crashing down.

This feeling is remarkably common among people with ADHD, and it has understandable roots. If your work gets done in last-minute bursts of panic rather than calm, steady effort, it can feel illegitimate — as though the result does not count because the process looked wrong. If you have spent years masking your difficulties, success can feel like evidence of the disguise rather than evidence of your ability.

The feeling also ignores how much of the work is genuinely yours. The ideas, the problem-solving, the knowledge you have built up — none of that was faked. The fact that it was produced by a brain that works in bursts does not make it less real. Different process, same competence.

A practical counterweight is a record of reality. Keep the thank-you emails. Note the problems you solved and the times colleagues asked for your help. When the fraudulent feeling arrives, treat it as a feeling to be checked against the record, not a fact to be obeyed.

It can also help to remember what the feeling costs. If you are braced to be found out, you may turn down opportunities, avoid visibility, or work twice as hard as needed to stay safe. A fairer view of your competence is not vanity — it is what lets you take up the space your work has already earned.

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