You're Not Burned Out. You're Undiagnosed.

When the smartest person in the room can't focus - and no one thinks to ask why.

Apr 17, 2025

I was told I was too sharp to have ADHD.

Too successful. Too articulate. Too high-functioning.
They looked at my results, not my reality.
They saw performance — not pain.
They missed the truth.

The real diagnosis came later.

Not burnout.
Not anxiety.
Not “working too hard.”

ADHD. Combined Presentation. Clinically confirmed.

I wasn’t burned out because I was doing too much.
I was burned out because I’d been compensating for decades — with no one asking what it was costing me to keep up.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

I got a full neuropsychological evaluation.

Perceptual Reasoning Index: 92nd percentile — IQ equivalent of 138.
Full-Scale IQ: 87th percentile.
Executive dysfunction: 98th–99th percentile across multiple domains.
Working memory deficits, behavioral regulation issues, and self-reported inattention and restlessness.
Clinically diagnosed: ADHD, Combined Presentation (F90.2).

In plain language?

I’m objectively smart — and my brain still betrays me every day.
I didn’t fail because I wasn’t capable.
I burned out because I spent years running a mental obstacle course just to look like I was keeping up.

High IQ Doesn’t Protect You From ADHD — It Hides It

People assume ADHD means bouncing off walls. That you’re scattered, sloppy, disruptive.

But here’s what it really looks like in someone like me:

Finishing projects last-minute with intense focus… then crashing for two days
Needing a fidget cube to sit through meetings
Zoning out mid-conversation and blaming yourself for being “rude”
Losing your keys, your peace, and your sense of time all in the same hour
Forgetting your own ideas, your own writing, your own goals
Working best under pressure because urgency is the only way your brain kicks into gear

I was the top advisor in my role.
I passed exams. Hit goals. Looked fine.

But inside?

I was holding it together with duct tape and adrenaline.

That’s not discipline.
That’s masking.

High-Functioning ADHD Is One of the Most Misunderstood Realities There Is

Most people only recognize ADHD when it interferes with external performance.
But when you’re good at masking, when you’re smart, when you’ve trained yourself to grind?

You don’t underperform.
You overfunction.
Until the wheels fall off.

And when that happens?

They call it burnout.
Not ADHD.
Not trauma.
Not a neurodevelopmental disorder.

Just “stress.”

But here’s what my testing showed — objectively:

Executive functioning impairment in the 99th percentile — including task initiation, organization, planning, and self-monitoring
Working memory deficits above the 99th percentile
Behavioral regulation issues — 97th to 99th percentile
Elevated hyperactivity and impulsivity (T-scores: 76–80)
Confirmed inattentive symptoms — missing details, task avoidance, forgetfulness
Confirmed hyperactive symptoms — restlessness, fidgeting, blurting, interrupting

And still, no one thought to ask:
"Why is someone this smart struggling to do basic things?"

Because “Functioning” Isn’t the Same as Thriving

Most people with ADHD don’t get diagnosed because they can’t succeed.

They get diagnosed because they can’t keep succeeding without breaking down.

I didn’t lose my ability. I lost my ability to pretend I wasn’t struggling.

That’s what burnout really is for a lot of us.

Not laziness. Not flakiness. Not a lack of motivation.

But years of unmanaged executive dysfunction + shame + unrealistic expectations — colliding at once.

You don’t outgrow ADHD.
You outperform it until you can’t anymore.

They Saw My IQ Score and Dismissed My Symptoms

Here’s the punchline:

Because I’m “smart,” I got overlooked.

Because I could talk my way through tests, I got labeled gifted.
Because I got promoted, I was told I was “fine.”
Because I showed up, I was told I couldn’t be struggling.

But intelligence does not cancel out ADHD.

If anything, it makes it harder to see.

Because people like me build invisible systems to hold our lives together — until they collapse.

Then we get hit with blame:
“You were doing so well.”
“What happened?”
“Why can’t you just try harder?”

But trying harder was the problem.

I was trying too hard, too long, in silence.

I Thought My Problem Was Motivation. It Was Regulation.

This is what ADHD actually is — and what no one told me:

It’s not a deficit of attention. It’s a dysregulation of it.

Some days, I hyperfocus for 6 hours.
Some days, I can’t finish a 3-minute email.
Some days, I’m brilliant.
Some days, I forget to pay bills, call friends, or eat.

It’s not inconsistency.
It’s a brain that doesn’t distribute energy evenly.

It’s not laziness.
It’s cognitive fatigue from fighting your own wiring every damn day.

And unless you’ve lived it — you don’t get it.

So Let Me Say This, Clearly

If you’re smart… driven… high-achieving… and secretly wondering:

Why can’t I focus?
Why am I always exhausted?
Why do I never feel caught up no matter how hard I work?

You’re not lazy.
You’re not broken.
You’re not dramatic.

You might just be undiagnosed — and done living like it.

Here’s What I Wish Someone Had Told Me Sooner:

You don’t need to be falling apart to have ADHD.
You don’t need to fail to be struggling.
You don’t need to hit bottom to ask for help.

And if you’ve already been diagnosed?

You don’t owe anyone an explanation for how you now choose to live your life.
Whether it’s systems, meds, coaching, boundaries, or silence — it doesn’t have to make sense to them.
It only has to work for you.

What they called “functioning” was never sustainable for people like us.

We were just hiding in plain sight.

You’re not behind.
You’re not a mess.
You’re not a lost cause.

You’re a high-functioning survivor with a brain wired differently — finally learning to work with it instead of against it.

And now?

You build it your way.

No mask.
No shame.
No apology.

-Cody Taymore

Read more at KillTheSilenceMovement.com