Online spending

You don’t have to have ADHD to be lured into spending way too much online – only to have to return practically everything once you’ve tried it on in the cold light of day. Newsflash: internet shopping drunk/late at night/basically ever is not a good idea – but when you have ADHD, there’s an added element of danger, and you run the very real risk of forgetting to make your returns in time.

“I get as far as packaging up clothes to send back, but then I completely forget to send them, and I miss the cut-off for returns,” says Dr Watson. “I end up with a bunch of clothes that I paid £150 for that I’m never going to wear. And yes – if I could be bothered, I could sell them on Vinted or whatever and get some money back, but that requires multiple tasks like photographing/listing/packaging/sending – and given that I didn’t manage to send them back the first time, I don’t trust myself to remember.”

Overpaying for memberships

Let’s face it – we can all relate to this one. Tempted to try free delivery for a week, only to then forget to unsubscribe after the seven days are up? Check. And don’t even get us started on television subscriptions that we’re never going to use. Add ADHD into the mix – and it’s a recipe for (financial) disaster.

“I sign up to a lot of subscription-based things and it is a real issue for me,” admits Dr Watson. “While I’m hyper-focused, feeling energised and filled with ideas, I fall down an online rabbit hole and sign up for things thinking things will be different this time, but it’s not until an invoice lands in my inbox that I can even remember what I’ve signed up to.”

Unfortunately, the reality is that cancelling memberships can be tricky, to say the least – which can be hugely off-putting for people who struggle with executive functioning, leading to a vicious and costly cycle.

Are you paying an ADHD tax? Here’s how much it could be costing you – and what you can do about it