ADHD in Women: Signs, Symptoms, & Treatments

Hi my name is Kristen Souza, a licensed mental  health counselor specializing in ADHD and today   I'm here to talk to you about ADHD in women.  So men and women can have any or all of the   symptoms of ADHD but current research based on  self-report says that women mostly experience   more of the inattentive type of ADHD. So including  inattentiveness, disorganization, problems with time   management, emotional regulation, issues with dating,  shame, and more. What is ADHD? We actually did an   overview of ADHD in another video that we'll  tag in the description below if you'd like   to watch that more. ADHD or attention deficit  hyperactivity disorder is a mental health disorder   affecting executive functioning. The onset of ADHD  is usually in childhood after the age of five with   symptoms typically persisting into adulthood. Those  with adult ADHD can experience an impact of those   symptoms in their day-to-day life at work, school,  in relationships ,Etc. For adults struggling with   ADHD this can take a huge toll on your day-to-day  functioning and impact your work performance   school performance and your relationships. ADHD  is often misdiagnosed or overlooked in childhood   for adults who have never been diagnosed or  accurately diagnosed, it might feel really   distressing to consistently struggle with these  symptoms. This is especially true for women. Men   and women can have any and all of the symptoms of  ADHD like I mentioned however let's go over common   ADHD symptoms in women. Number one: inattention.  Many studies suggest that women struggle with   inattentiveness more often than the hyperactive  or impulsive symptoms that men are experiencing.   People who are struggling with inattentiveness  might feel like they're daydreaming and have   difficulty retaining information. So a good  example of this is let's say you are experiencing   inattentive symptoms and you are on a team call  and you feel like you are daydreaming and just   can't retain information that the speaker is  talking about. Another good example of this is   if you are reading a book you look up and you ask  yourself what did I just read. This is a common   thing of inattentiveness in ADHD so retaining  information and being able to pay attention   is super difficult. Being overly talkative. We see  this one with women a lot blurting out a response   is also something that we're seeing this may be  a reflection of the mind moving very quickly and   impulsively before choosing to speak something I  see a lot with clients is let's say you're having   a very important conversation with your boss  and you interrupt your boss with what you think   they're about to say because your mind is moving a  lot quicker to the next subject. This happens a lot   in women with ADHD. Difficulty listening. ADHD women  report difficulty listening they may find that   they struggle in higher education settings and feel  they just can't focus or retain the information.   They may zone out or feel like they're in a  different world. Trouble staying organized. Some   women report that they have difficulty managing  concrete things like finances or more subjective   experiences like work-life balance. When  someone's bucket feels like it's overflowing   it can be really distressing and disorienting and this  happens a lot in women who struggle with ADHD. Time   management issues with difficulty focusing comes  a sense of time blindness and this is a big one   with ADHD. This means that someone that experiences  time blindness might think they have way more time to   finish something or they have way less time to  finish something than they actually think they   do. This can cause someone to be late to work or  lot chronically late to things like appointments   dropping kids off at school things like that  and turning projects in on time let's say to   work because you think you have a lot more  time to complete something than you actually   do.Poor emotional regulation: this may be due to  shifts in hormones and mood fluctuations. Okay so   poor self-esteem also plays a big role here  with regulating emotions with women getting   the sense that they're on display and being  judged all the time due to Falling short in a   lot of areas because of their symptoms that are  negatively impacting their day-to-day functioning   and performance. Chronic procrastination can be  another concern that women with ADHD experience.   Women struggle to manage their time and emotions  as well as staying organized so a good example of   this is let's say you have your child's schedule  for the whole year you know what you need to do   but you put off a project till the night before  to help your kid turn in the next day. Another   good example is let's say you have a deadline that  you've known about for a month at work you decide   to complete that the night before but it goes  over to dopamine and people with ADHD usually have   lower levels of dopamine and when you are waiting  to the very last minute to complete something you   are having that instant Rush of dopamine and  cortisol in your body which helps you with   completing that task. Difficulty dating. So this  is a big one because people with ADHD especially   women experience RSD or rejection sensitive  dysphoria because we fall short in a lot of   different areas of our life constantly getting  negative feedback from symptoms of ADHD. Therefore   you feel intense feelings of rejection and we can  see that a lot when it comes to dating. RSD is not   a diagnosis on its own but it's a symptom we see  people experience that have ADHD and shame the   cultural expectations prescribed women can make  neurotypical and atypical women feel like they're   failing not meeting standards or the opposite  of perfect. A good example of this is keeping a   household organized staying on top of things and  really comparing yourself to other women in your   life. So let's say someone else is super organized  has a really clean house has projects turned in   on time for their kids and all those things it  can be really easy to be hard on yourself and   feel shame. ADHD in women versus men. So like I said  before women experiencing ADHD often experience   inattentive symptoms. Where men experience  the hyperactive and impulsive symptoms of   ADHD. While both men and women can experience some  or all of the symptoms ADHD women experience the   disorganization and inattentive symptoms of ADHD.  Now this is really important to note because women   are often misdiagnosed or under diagnosed when it  comes to ADHD. In fact women are often misdiagnosed   with depressive disorder rather than ADHD as  well there is a lot of research that supports   the idea that there is gender bias involved in  the diagnostic criteria for ADHD. With younger   boys being labeled hyperactive for big behaviors  in ADHD in girls who are assumed to be emotional   shy or not confident. With Children and Youth  ADHD is more commonly diagnosed in biological   males than females. Gender bias and expectations  certainly play a role in the diagnostic process.   For example it's believed in the mental health  community that women with ADHD tend to demonstrate   more inattentive symptoms rather than the impulse  conduct symptoms that males are experiencing. Like   I mentioned before. Treatment for ADHD in  women versus men. For decades the first sign   of treatment for ADHD has been medication such as  a stimulant these include stimulants like Ritalin   or Adderall. There are also other medications that  are non-stimulants or third line antidepressants.   Research supports that women don't display overt  symptoms like the hyperactivity and impulsivity   behavioral symptoms that men do so they don't  have as many referrals to get a prescription that   men do. Instead women who internalize may try to  overcompensate, want to adapt or meet expectations   and be diagnosed with a mood disorder or  Personality Disorder. Medication is a great option   for someone with ADHD in combination with therapy.  A lot of people do really well with medication and   a lot of people decide to go the non-medication  route and Thrive as well talk therapy for ADHD   is an excellent idea in combination with  medication. CBT cognitive behavioral therapy   and DBT dialectical behavioral therapy have been  really helpful with people with ADHD we actually   did a video on CBT for ADHD and we will tag that  video in the description for you. How sex affects   ADHD treatment. This is really fascinating because  our hormones have a lot to do with the medication   used for treating ADHD but first there are  many schools of thought on the use of stimulant   medication during pregnancy. Many doctors find  it safe many doctors don't. The research is   inconclusive. There's been a lot of studies on it  but they can't say for sure that it's completely   safe to take during pregnancy. That's why it's  really important to discuss this with your doctor.   It's been said that people that took the stimulant  before pregnancy are okay to take it during but   again talk to your doctor about that, there's mixed  information out there there's really no answer   about stimulants being safe during pregnancy.  Now just like any other mental   health disorder, hormones play a big role in the  timing of symptoms and impact of medication during   the third or fourth week of the menstrual cycle  some women experience a decrease in medication   Effectiveness due to hormone fluctuation in  with some women experiencing severe premenstrual   symptoms it's been said that contraceptive use  may help regulate or decrease severity of ADHD   symptoms in women so hormones play a big role in  the effectiveness of medication and it's also been   said that contraceptive use has also helped with  the symptoms of ADHD. Final thoughts on ADHD in   women ADHD can be extremely difficult to deal with  and manage symptoms however there are effective   treatment options out there like medication and  therapy when you see a therapist it's important   to be open and honest about the symptoms your  experience so you can have the ultimate outcome   on managing your symptoms we hope you found this  video helpful we will put in the description any   links and videos that we discussed in the video  if you or a loved one are struggling with ADHD you   don't have to do it alone talking to a therapist  that specializes in ADHD can help you understand   your symptoms better we link some valuable  resources in the description and comments to   help you find a therapist psychiatrist and other  useful resources check them out [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Choosing Therapy

Views: 20,592

Keywords: adhd, adhd in women, women with adhd, adhd symptoms, adhd treatment options, adhd coping skills, coping with adhd, adhd struggles, living with adhd, adhd awareness

Id: zGkZ5QwDTOE

Length: 10min 11sec (611 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 06 2023