When Anxiety and ADHD Overlap: Walking as a Regulating Practice

If you live with both anxiety and ADHD, you know how exhausting it can be. It’s like being pulled in two directions at once: your body is buzzing with energy, but your mind can’t slow down. You're restless and stuck, wired and worn out.

This combination — which is more common than many people realise — can leave you feeling overwhelmed, misunderstood, and unsure where to start.

That’s where walking therapy comes in. At Walking Session, we offer phone-based walk and talk sessions designed to support both your mind and body — especially if you’re living with a dual diagnosis like ADHD and anxiety.

What It Feels Like When Anxiety and ADHD Collide

Both anxiety and ADHD affect attention, sleep, memory, and emotional regulation — but they do so in different ways. When they overlap, it can be difficult to tease apart what’s driving what.

You might experience:

• Trouble switching off your thoughts

• Difficulty focusing or staying on task

• Sensory overwhelm or emotional outbursts

• Chronic restlessness and fatigue at the same time

• Guilt over procrastination, followed by panic

• A cycle of overcommitting, freezing, and self-criticism

And while both ADHD and anxiety are treatable, traditional therapy often assumes you can sit still, make eye contact, and talk in a linear way — which can be challenging for neurodivergent or overstimulated minds.

That’s why movement-based therapy, like walking sessions, can feel like such a relief.

Why Walking Works for Both ADHD and Anxiety

When you walk, your brain and body begin to regulate. Heart rate slows. Cortisol levels drop. Brain activity shifts out of fight-or-flight mode and into a more grounded state.

Research backs this up. A 2020 meta-analysis in Psychiatry Research found that aerobic activity — like walking — significantly reduced anxiety symptoms and improved executive function in individuals with ADHD.

Here’s what walking does that’s particularly helpful:

• Releases excess energy so the body can relax and the brain can focus

• Improves working memory and attention span by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine

• Reduces physical symptoms of anxiety, like shallow breathing or muscle tension

• Interrupts cognitive spirals by giving your brain something rhythmic and repetitive to focus on

• Promotes self-efficacy — that “I did something good for myself” feeling

When movement is paired with therapy, it becomes more than exercise. It becomes regulation — a reset for your nervous system.

How Walking Sessions Support Dual Diagnosis Clients

In a walking session, you don’t need to explain why you can’t sit still. You don’t need to apologise for interrupting, losing your train of thought, or feeling scattered. We get it — your brain just works differently.

Phone-based walking therapy allows you to:

• Move while you talk, which actually helps attention and emotional processing

• Set the pace, both physically and emotionally — no rush, no pressure

• Choose your environment, whether it’s a quiet path, your street, or your hallway

• Process challenges in real time, supported by a psychologist trained to work with neurodivergent and anxious clients

Clients often tell us they feel more focused, less self-conscious, and more in control during walking sessions. For people with both ADHD and anxiety, that’s huge.

Therapy That Feels Like a Fit

Too often, people with overlapping diagnoses are offered fragmented care: ADHD support over here, anxiety treatment over there, with little understanding of how the two interact. At Walking Session, we know that what you need is integration — a space where your whole self is welcomed.

We take a neurodiversity-affirming and trauma-informed approach. That means no pathologising, no shaming, no one-size-fits-all solutions. Just flexible, respectful, evidence-based support.

Walk With Us — On Your Terms

If you’re feeling overstimulated, under-supported, and unsure how to manage both anxiety and ADHD at once, we’re here to help. You don’t need to sit still. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to take one step — and we’ll walk beside you from there.

👉 Book your walking session today and discover a therapy model that actually works with your brain, not against it.