ADHD Symptoms For Women
Women with ADHD typically experience symptoms of emotional instability and sensitive to rejection. They might also experience insomnia and poor quality of sleep, which can exacerbate symptoms.
Girls and women often hide their ADHD symptoms better than men, using strategies to manage their stress and meet the social expectations and norms. This can lead to misdiagnosis or delay in treatment.
1. Difficulty Focusing
For many women suffering from ADHD concentration is the most challenging thing. This neurodevelopmental disorder makes it difficult to focus at school in meetings at work, or when reading and listening to others talk. It can also be difficult to complete everyday tasks like keeping track of appointments or making sure to take medications.
Difficulty focusing is one of the most common adhd symptoms for girls and women, regardless of their gender identity or whether they have hyperactive/impulsive or inattentive ADHD. According to CHADD the women who suffer from the inattentive form of the disorder may struggle with organizing their homes and desk. They might also find it hard to prioritize their tasks. These issues can result in them not attending appointments, showing up at the wrong time or location, or failing to complete their work duties. They can also cause them to feel bad about themselves and blame themselves for their shortcomings and think they're lazy or forgetful.
Attention-deficit ADHD symptoms can also make it difficult to stay on top of obligations, resulting in poor work or school performance and an accumulation of debt. According to CHADD, they are often triggered by stress or other mental conditions like anxiety and depression.
Teachers and parents might be biased towards males and females, which can cause women and girls to be underdiagnosed. They may not be able to express their ADHD symptoms as well, especially the hyperactive/impulsive ones, and may have difficulty finding treatment that works for them.
Hormonal changes can also cause symptoms for women who suffer from ADHD. For example, they can become more noticeable during menstrual cycles or during perimenopausal transition, the period leading up to menopause--when estrogen levels dip and cause emotional problems which include mood swings as well as irritability.
Adults with ADHD can benefit from stimulant medications to improve their focus however, it cannot solve the problem. Other strategies, like lifestyle changes, mindfulness training and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), can also help with focus and organization. Certain schools and workplaces offer accommodations to help with these issues, as well.
2. Forgetting Things
Inattention can make it difficult to keep track of your daily activities or take care of obligations. You may struggle to remember important details about people or events particularly when they take place in a noisy or crowded environment. You might also find yourself having trouble remembering appointments or getting late to work or school. Forgetting to pay bills or reply to emails is a common occurrence for women suffering from ADHD, which can create financial stress and make you feel overwhelmed. You may experience difficulties working in a busy or noisy office, and may zone out during conversations. This could cause the other person to feel ignored or misunderstood.
Many girls and women who suffer from ADHD also struggle to maintain friendships. They also run the risk of being forced into inappropriate sexual behaviour or becoming victims of intimate partner violence. This is because they have a difficult managing their emotions and are more likely to feel overwhelmed. They could also have a problem with self-esteem, and they might view their issues as a "personal flaw" instead of recognizing that their behavior is related to their ADHD symptoms.
Females and females with ADHD are also often overlooked due to gender bias because their symptoms are less evident than the symptoms of men and boys. They can disguise symptoms as anxiety and mood disorders, which can result in a misdiagnosis or incorrect treatment.
The symptoms of ADHD differ with the fluctuation of hormones particularly during puberty, when progesterone drops and estrogen rises. This can cause a greater range of symptoms, making it harder to identify and treat ADHD.
If you are diagnosed and treated, you will learn to manage ADHD symptoms. You can also consider lifestyle changes, like eating a balanced diet and avoiding caffeine, sugar and other stimulants that may cause symptoms to become worse. You can also practice mindfulness and meditation techniques to calm your mind, decrease impulsiveness and restlessness, and improve emotional regulation. Talking to an expert in mental health can be beneficial, as they can discuss possible accommodations at school or at work to aid in managing your ADHD symptoms better.
3. Disruptive Behavior
Women who suffer from ADHD tend to be less attentive than those with hyperactive or hyperactive symptoms. That may be because the brains of women and girls differ from those of males and females, or it could have to do with how much activity is occurring in the regions of the brain responsible for managing impulsive and disruptive behavior.
It can be challenging for doctors to identify ADHD in women. Many women develop strategies for coping to hide their symptoms. Some of these are healthy, while others are not sustainable and could result in other health issues. Women, for instance are prone to drinking excessively and other drugs to deal with their problems. They could also develop depression or other mental health problems such as anxiety. These unhealthy coping mechanisms can make it more difficult for someone to recognize they are suffering from a condition and may delay a correct diagnosis.
Disruptive behavior is a common adhd symptom for women that can impact school or work performance and relationships. They often include not staying focused on a particular task, not remembering important dates or events, and being easily distracted by other things in their environment or in their thoughts. They might fidget or tap their hands or feet or squirm in their seats. adhd in women treatment may also yell or speak loudly and may interrupt.
Women who have the most inattentional type of adhd might struggle to concentrate on their lectures or conversations and juggling writing, reading, or schoolwork; following instructions at work or in class; and managing daily tasks. They can be disorganized and messy and find it difficult to adhere to commitments or tasks. They are more prone to misplacing or losing items like keys, wallets, and eyeglasses.
Having the predominantly hyperactive/impulsive type of adhd can disrupt work or school, cause social problems, and create relationship challenges. This type of disorder can cause trouble at home, at work, and at school, and can trigger feelings of anxiety or boredom. They have a difficult time waiting for their turn at home, school or at work and are often disruptive to other people. They tend to be reckless and are not able to control their behavior.
4. Anxiety
Girls and women who suffer from ADHD are more likely to have a difficult time coping with their symptoms than boys and men. This is largely due to social expectations that insist that mothers and women be the primary caregivers of their children and their household. If a woman is struggling to manage her responsibilities and obligations, it can cause anxiety and low self-esteem. This in turn could make it difficult to seek treatment for her ADHD.
Women who suffer from ADHD are not often recognized as easily as men or boys because their symptoms do not appear as prominent. They may present with primarily inattentive symptoms, which do not have the same outward appearance as hyperactive/impulsive ADHD symptoms, making them less likely to receive a referral for treatment from teachers and parents. In addition they are more likely to develop coping strategies to disguise their ADHD symptoms, like excessive fidgeting and forgetfulness which could be misinterpreted as symptoms of anxiety disorders.
The symptoms of ADHD may also change over the course of the woman's life. Women may be afflicted with ADHD symptoms in the course of hormonal changes, like menstrual cycles and pregnancy. This can lead her to be misunderstood or considered an emotionally overly sensitive.
This article is based on research on how ADHD affects different individuals based on their gender. Verywell Health acknowledges that sex is a reference to biology, including chromosomal makeup, hormones, and anatomy. whereas gender is a subjective sense of being a woman, man or a nonbinary. This distinction is important because it allows for better understanding of how and why the ways that ADHD manifests can vary between genders. In this article, we will refer to males and people who were assigned male at birth as boys and men. We also refer to females as well as people who were assigned females at conception as girls and women. This is in line with the way many research studies employ this terminology. For more information, read the Verywell Health guide to gender and sexuality.