Symptoms of ADHD in Women
Women with ADHD often report misunderstandings or frustrations in their relationships. Some people mistake symptoms like forgetting appointments, being late for meetings or simply fading out of conversations as boredom or disinterest.
Women and girls who suffer from ADHD have a difficult time being evaluated due to gender discrimination. Clinicians must recalibrate their approaches to identifying female patients and treating them.
1. Disorganization
If you struggle with disorganization it can be difficult to keep on top of your daily tasks at work and school. You may also lose or misplace important things like keys or your phone. It may be difficult to stick to a schedule or forget important events or appointments, like birthdays or anniversary celebrations. It is also possible that you have difficulty remembering names. This can make it difficult to establish new friendships or maintain relationships.
There are many resources that can help you even if you don't know that your disorganization is ADHD. You can start by talking to your primary care doctor. They might recommend you to a mental health professional or a therapist with experience treating ADHD.
Girls and women who suffer from ADHD are often misdiagnosed. This is due to the coping strategies they employ to disguise their symptoms. They may be depressed or blame their problems on external factors such as relationship issues or their gender.
Stereotypes about gender, sex and behavior can make getting the support women with ADHD require more difficult. The impulsive and hyperactive behavior of ADHD is often viewed as more appropriate for males and boys. This is why some women suffering from ADHD are able to hide or suppress their symptoms to fit in and avoid criticism and embarrassment.
While being diagnosed with ADHD will not fix the social and cultural issues however, it can help you to learn to manage your symptoms more effectively. You can improve the quality of life by getting treatment and making lifestyle changes, such as adhering to a schedule, practicing meditation and eating a healthy diet.
You can also boost your ability to focus and accomplish tasks by taking ADHD medication. However, it's important to talk to your healthcare professional about the medication and any potential side effects you might have. They could modify your medication, like lowering doses or changing when you take them. They can also assist you in finding ways to improve your daily functioning. For example they may suggest ways to accommodate at school or work to accommodate for ADHD symptoms.
2. Attention!
You may be a woman suffering from ADHD who is struggling with "time blindness" - meaning that you're often late for appointments and don't have a clear idea of deadlines. It can also be difficult to concentrate or start tasks, especially if they're boring or unchallenging. These signs can be a source of frustration to co-workers or family members. You're not being rude or disrespectful intentionally. You're simply facing the challenges of living with ADHD.
Inattentional ADHD is more prevalent among girls and women than hyperactive or impulsive symptoms. These traits can make it more difficult for girls and women to receive treatment because they aren't as obvious. Girls and women develop strategies to cope that conceal the symptoms of ADHD. This can lead to a misdiagnosis, or underdiagnosis. For example, symptoms of anxiety or depression could be mistakenly attributed to the inattention deficit of ADHD and these disorders are treated as.
It's also possible that girls and women aren't able to be diagnosed with ADHD because they blame themselves. They might be so embarrassed by missing appointments or not meeting deadlines that they don't tell doctors about the signs. If they do go to consult with a healthcare professional, it's likely they'll be told that their behavior is normal and not their fault, which could further exacerbate their frustration and shame.
It is essential to find the right treatment for your symptoms and for you. If stimulant drugs don't work or you can't take them, your doctor may suggest antidepressants or non-stimulant medications. You should also determine if your symptoms are exacerbated by certain hormonal changes like those in the menstrual cycle, and also during menopausal and pregnancy. adhd in young women can affect the way your body processes medications and how effective they are. This is yet another reason why it's important to get a diagnosis early on. The use of medication can help you manage your ADHD symptoms, and improve your performance at work as well as at home.
3. Impulsivity
Women with ADHD frequently have difficulty regulating their emotions. They may experience constant feelings of frustration and anger, anxiety, mood swings that make it difficult to get through the day. Having trouble managing these emotions can impact relationships and work performance. Women can also experience difficulty maintaining friendships and may have an unstable love life, with more rapid romantic relationships and a greater likelihood of intimate partner violence.
The impulse-control symptoms of adhd in women can be more difficult to notice and identify than the hyperactive/impulsive symptoms seen in boys and men/people AMAB. This is because girls and women are better at developing strategies to manage or mask their ADHD symptoms in order to conform to gender-specific expectations of society (Quinn & Madhoo 2014). This can lead women with adhd to be not diagnosed correctly and receive less effective treatment.
For instance women with ADHD struggle to resist temptations or to avoid being emotionally driven and have a difficult time controlling their spending habits. This can cause financial difficulties, and also means they may neglect to pay bills or pay their bills on time. Women who are easily influenced by their emotions may be more likely to shop due to boredness or to seek out excitement and stimulation, which can result in problems with their relationship with food. This can result in unhealthy and unbalanced eating patterns that can lead to other health concerns.
We know that women are more likely to suffer symptoms of adhd more than men however research on this topic is limited. It is possible that this is because the initial research on ADHD was focused on men and women AMAB, making it easier to recognize their symptoms and refer them to diagnosis. It is also possible that the criteria used to determine ADHD aren't as effective to identify women suffering from the condition.
A diagnosis of adhd, particularly late in life, can be a game changer. It can help them understand the person they are and why they behave in the manner they do. It can cause them to feel like a lightbulb, giving them an explanation for their difficulties.
4. Anxiety
Many women with ADHD have issues with anxiety and stress. Stress can cause problems in relationships, at work, and at school. It can manifest physically, like a rapid heartbeat and breathing, a shallow breath muscles, tension in the neck, or headaches. It can also disrupt sleep. Sleep deprivation can increase anxiety, making it more difficult to manage. A vicious cycle could develop in which anxiety causes procrastination out of worry that things won't be done right and this fueling more anxiety.
It is important to be aware of yourself and recognise if you have an anxiety disorder. Speak to a mental health professional or doctor if you're experiencing symptoms that are interfering with your daily activities. They will evaluate your situation and utilize established criteria to determine whether you suffer from an anxiety disorder. This could include how long you have been suffering from symptoms and how intense they are. They may recommend a variety of tools and tests to rule out other health conditions that could cause them.
Women who suffer from ADHD may find it more difficult to get a diagnosis than men, as they tend to be better in masked symptoms. These women may develop strategies for coping to aid in their functioning. However, these strategies can become unsustainable over time. Some women with ADHD are able to manage their impulsiveness through planning ahead for meetings or by using a phone reminder. These coping mechanisms are, however, not able to deal with the underlying causes of their ADHD. This could lead to problems at home, work and school.
It can be difficult to get a reliable ADHD diagnosis because many ratings scales are geared towards male behaviors and symptoms. Women are less likely to seek treatment if they don't believe they suffer from ADHD, or if they think it will negatively impact their professional and personal relationships.
It's also important to speak up and seek help from supervisors, coworkers and teachers if you suffer from ADHD symptoms that interfere in your study or work. They're likely to be willing to make accommodations for you to enable you to achieve success at school or at work.