Women and ADHD
Why wasn’t I diagnosed with ADHD as a child?
Girls with ADHD often don’t have the hyperactivity and behavior problems that many boys with ADHD have. Also, girls with ADHD tend to be extra talkative, whereas boys with ADHD tend to be very physically active. Girls with ADHD tend to be more emotionally distressed, whereas boys with ADHD tend to have more problematic behavior. Also, the criteria developed to diagnose ADHD were based on boys’ behaviors. So girls with ADHD tend to “fly under the radar”—parents and teachers don’t see them as problems and they don’t get diagnosed with ADHD.
Why haven’t any of my health care providers recognized my ADHD yet?
Health care research has a long tradition of ignoring women when collecting data, because women’s hormones were seen as making them too complex to study. But then, conclusions drawn about men were applied unquestioningly to women. Of course, this line of reasoning makes no sense and leaves women grossly understudied and not understood in general, and especially with regards to ADHD.
What are the emotional problems that women with ADHD often have?
Anxiety and depression are more common in women with ADHD than in the general population; this is true for men as well, but not to the same degree. Also women with ADHD tend to feel very ashamed of their life challenges with ADHD, have low self-esteem, and try to hide how hard they are working to keep up with everyone else.
What are the special challenges of women with ADHD?
Women with ADHD tend to be especially challenged by their symptoms in the week before the onset of their menstrual periods when estrogen levels in the body are low. Even when they are taking medication for ADHD, they often feel just as bothered by inattention and lack of focus during that time of the month as they did before they started medication. It remains unclear how to help women the most during these times.
Where can I read more?
Here are a couple helpful articles: