Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, commonly known as ADHD, is a lifelong, neurodevelopmental disorder that affects millions of people. ADHD causes a variety of ongoing executive function problems and emotional regulation struggles.
ADHD in Women
ADHD is often underdiagnosed in girls because they typically present with symptoms of quiet inattention while boys tend to be more disruptive and hyperactive. Furthermore, women with ADHD frequently mask their symptoms to appear effortlessly, highly functional. Symptoms are frequently mistaken for standard depression or generalized anxiety, though it is very possible to navigate these simultaneously. In fact, it often takes until perimenopause for women to finally get diagnosed with ADHD. This is due to shifting hormones that reduce estrogen (which supports dopamine), frequently causing previously managed coping mechanisms to stop working in your 40sand 50s.
Areas of Impact:
Executive Function & Organization
Time blindness: You are chronically late or scrambling at the last minute because you struggle to estimate how long tasks will take.
Chronic Disorganization: You constantly misplace everyday items like your keys, phone, and glasses. Having a tidy home is not your forte.
Working Memory Issues: You may struggle with filling out paperwork or keeping track of where you are in a project and you have a hard time remembering to attend your appointments.
Inattentive & Cognitive
Zoning out or Hyperfocus: You cannot pay attention when you find something boring (work meetings anyone?) but if something interests you, you have laser focus and everything else in your environment ceases to exist.
Starting tasks but not finishing them: You think making your own home decor is a great idea! Remember that time you couldn’t wait to learn how to copy that new paint pouring technique you saw on YouTube, but after watching multiple videos on cool paint pouring techniques and spending over $200 on supplies, you are over it. You decide that you would rather just focus your energy on sewing a new cushion cover for your porch bench….Which leads you down another rabbit hole!
Mental Overload: You can’t get your mind to shut off enough to truly relax or fall asleep at night.
Internalized Hyperactivity
Internal Restlessness: Feeling like you need to constantly be productive on the inside, regardless of the fact that you can’t get off the couch.
Verbal Hyperactivity: Excessive talking and interrupting others during conversations.
Emotional Regulation
Emotional Impulsivity: Irritability, sudden mood swings, or impulsive shopping
Heightened sensitivity: Reacting strongly to perceived criticism (Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria- RSD) and feeling easily overwhelmed in situations with too much sensory input like loud noises, crowds, strong odors…
Perfectionism and Masking: You work so very hard to overcompensate for your struggles to appear perfect and organized that you end up burning out.
Hormones & ADHD:
Fluctuating Estrogen levels can have significant effects on a female’s ADHD. Symptoms often increase tremendously during premenstruation (PMS), pregnancy, postpartum, and perimenopause.