ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2016 to 2019, an estimated 6 million children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with ADHD.

As a result, theres a lot of helpful research and literature to guide parents who find themselves raising a child with ADHD. However, less is written about parents who themselves have ADHD.

The demographic certainly exists. In fact, researchers believe that roughly 10 million American adults (and over 365 million adults globally ) have ADHD. A small study published in 2016 found that, of 79 children with ADHD, 41% of their mothers and 51% of their fathers also had the disorder.

To shed some light on the experience of parenting with ADHD, HuffPost spoke to experts about the challenges that parents with ADHD face as they raise children while trying to manage their own symptoms.

ADHD is underdiagnosed in parents.

Parents are absolutely under or misdiagnosed, as are many adults in general, because theres still this misunderstanding that ADHD is a kid disorder, said Michigan-based psychotherapist and ADHD coach Terry Matlen , who herself is a parent with the disorder.

Although the perception has been shifting, we still have a long way to go in giving parents and other adults better access to evaluations and treatments. A number of factors contribute to this issue.

Many ADHD symptoms overlap with the common experience of parenting, said therapist Rachael Bloom , who practices in Los Angeles. All parents talk about dealing with being distracted, overwhelmed, overstimulated, etc. Parents who in fact do meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis of ADHD often talk themselves out of seeking a diagnosis by telling themselves that what theyre experiencing is normal.

Someone who grew up in the 80s, 90s or earlier was less likely to get a proper diagnosis when they were a child than kids are today. So over time, parents with undiagnosed ADHD likely learned ways to compensate for their symptoms or make themselves seem more normal to others.

A lot of adults have learned to mask their ADHD symptoms and often function well enough on the outside to have symptoms overlooked, said Billy Roberts, a therapist at Focused Mind ADHD Counseling in Columbus, Ohio. In addition, ADHD is challenging to diagnose in adulthood, especially if someone is seen by a provider who does not specialize in adult ADHD. Commonly occurring mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety can mimic symptoms of ADHD and often a thorough testing process is needed to confirm the diagnosis.

As a result, its quite common for parents to receive an ADHD evaluation after their child is diagnosed, as they often recognize their own struggles in their kids experience.