Adjustment reaction after late diagnosis
Anger and low mood after a late diagnosis is an 'adjustment reaction' (it has its own diagnostic name): a predictable period while your self-model rebuilds. It often comes with the illusion that symptoms got worse — a selective-attention effect, not real deterioration.
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Background
After a diagnosis in adulthood a wave of anger and low mood is common. Clinicians describe it as a grief / adjustment process — not the formal DSM ‘adjustment disorder’ — arising when your mental model of yourself suddenly changes (‘something everybody missed about me’). The brain has to retune, which transiently produces low mood. A second, parallel effect: symptoms start to feel worse. Often this is not real intensification but selective attention (the frequency illusion / Baader-Meinhof) — once you have a name, you notice the symptoms everywhere. But not always: genuine worsening does happen too. Both pass, but need time and support: a group of ADHD adults, a one-to-one therapist, or a good friend. Naming it as an expected, temporary phase removes its power to frighten.