Busy Philipps reveals she was diagnosed with ADHD alongside daughter Birdie: ‘Changed my life’

Like mother, like daughter.

Busy Philipps was diagnosed with ADHD after getting her 15-year-old daughter, Birdie, evaluated for the same disorder.

The “Girls5eva” star, 44, shared with Us Weekly Wednesday that she “felt like something was wrong” with her prior to the appointment.

The actress’s diagnosis “changed [her] life.” Getty Images Philipps’ realization came during an evaluation for the 15-year-old.

“Literally in the evaluation, my ex-husband, Marc [Silverstein], we were looking at each other because everything the doctor was asking Birdie and talking about, I was like, ‘But that’s me. That’s what I have,'” she recalled.

Philipps went on to list her symptoms, from having difficulty “completing tasks” to mixing up playdate times.

“I had a lot of big ideas and not a lot of follow through,” the “Freaks and Geeks” alum explained. “I often found myself behind on calls or double booked for things, canceling on people. It makes you feel bad because you feel like you’re messing up.”

“I was like, ‘But that’s me. That’s what I have,'” she recalled thinking. Getty Images for Paramount Pictures The “Girls5eva” star joked that she made the teen’s diagnosis about herself. Getty Images The Meteor

As the mother of Birdie and 10-year-old daughter Cricket, Philipps felt she had to “keep a million things straight.”

Since her diagnosis, the former “Busy Tonight” host has seen her self-esteem improve and her career grow more “productive.”

Philipps credited her diagnosis — and her medication, Qelbree — with “chang[ing her] life.”

They haven’t necessarily “bonded” over the news. Getty Images “Her experience is her own experience,” Philipps said. busyphilipps/Instagram

She gushed, “My executive function skills have improved so greatly, and I’m also so much more aware and able to prioritize.”

However, Philipps noted that she and Birdie have not necessarily “bonded” over their shared mental health struggles, which present more as “internal chaos” than “running around all the time.”

“She is a different person, and her own experience is her own experience,” the “Cougar Town” alum said. “Birdie’s always like, ‘Ugh, you make everything about you.’ And I mean, to be fair, I did a little bit make her ADHD diagnosis about me, because I was like, ‘But I have it, too!’”

Philipps’ executive function has “greatly” improved. Getty Images for The Brigid Alliance She is also the mother of daughter Cricket.

Philipps shares Birdie and Cricket with Silverstein, to whom she was married for 14 years before their 2021 split.

The “Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best” podcaster has shared other health updates while raising her kids over the years, including her eldest’s epilepsy diagnosis in 2023.

The teenager, who previously preferred they/them pronouns but is back to using she/her, is currently attending a boarding school in Sweden.