Health & Fitness
5 Lesser Known Signs Of ADHD In Women
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Health & Fitness
5 Lesser Known Signs Of ADHD In Women
More and more women are being diagnosed with this neurodevelopmental condition—here’s everything you need to know about Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Always running late? Can never keep the family calendar organized? Feel paralyzed by basic paperwork? If all of this sounds familiar, you might have undiagnosed ADHD (or Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).
“The largest cohort of individuals coming forth for assessment today are women,” says Dr. Joan Flood, a physician at the Possibilities Clinic in Toronto and member of the advisory council of the Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance. “ADHD is related to poor activity of the neurotransmitters, mostly dopamine and norepinephrine, in the prefrontal cortex of the brain,” she says.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is as inheritable as height, typically involves hyperactivity, emotional dysregulation, inattention and impulsivity, and can look different for women at various life stages. While boys are most often identified in childhood, many girls get missed because their symptoms present differently, often showing up as daydreaming instead of the stereotypical can’t-sit-still feature that has historically been the major red flag for ADHD.
Inattentiveness is tough to spot, and as girls with ADHD age, the increasing complexities and responsibilities of adulthood can make this inattention more impairing. Plus, some research suggests that symptoms can become more challenging during menopause due to the drop in estrogen, which impairs the transmission of dopamine in the brain. But, thanks to changing attitudes about mental health and increased awareness of ADHD, and thanks in part to social media (there are currently more than 4.3 million posts with the hashtag #ADHD on TikTok alone), diagnoses are surging in adult women. If you think you might have ADHD, here are five signs worth watching for.
1. always feeling anxious
“The number one presentation in every age group is anxiety,” says Dr. Ainslie Gray, a family physician and co-founder of the Springboard Clinic in Toronto. Often, ADHD creates a pattern of one always being late, missing deadlines and forgetting appointments, that can lead to feelings of anxiety. Many women diagnosed with ADHD in midlife have a history of being on anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications. “But that doesn’t solve the problem, because anxiety and mood issues may be secondary to the root diagnoses of ADHD,” says Dr. Gray. Women with ADHD have higher rates of depression, eating and sleep disorders, too.
2. impulsive spending
If you often find yourself having a few glasses of merlot and making spontaneous online purchases, this could be a warning sign. Impulsivity is a hallmark of ADHD, and this can feed a range of addictive behaviours, including gambling, substance abuse and food or internet addiction. But issues with impulsivity can also result in erratic and overboard spending. “There is an aspect of novelty seeking, dopamine seeking, and this can take the form of impulsive shopping,” says Dr. Flood. Impulsive shopping refers to the tendency to make unplanned purchases, driven by immediate desires or emotions, without considering long-term consequences—like next month’s credit card bill. By some estimates, someone with ADHD is more than twice as likely to develop compulsive buying behaviours.
3. big emotions
Regularly arriving home from work only to completely melt down or blow up at your family might be a sign of emotional dysregulation. ADHD can make it difficult to control strong feelings like frustration, stress and anger, which can leave you feeling exhausted. “Many women with ADHD get easily overwhelmed, overly excited or angry—they may have all these things going on, but some women may present in an explosive way, while others may internalize their emotions,” says Dr. Flood. Which means that even if you don’t find yourself losing it with your partner and kids, you may often find yourself crying in the shower or screaming into a pillow.
4. time blindness
Understanding how long it will take to drive across town or how many things can actually be accomplished in a morning can be problematic for someone with ADHD. Time blindness is the inability to sense how much time has passed and estimate the time needed to get something done, and research has shown it may be linked to dopamine signaling and activity levels in the prefrontal cortex. It can lead to procrastination and troubles with time management. A classic example is leaving the house early for an appointment, then deciding you have time to run an errand along the way (which takes longer than expected) and ending up being late after all.
5. super successful (and struggling)
Many women with ADHD are superstars at work because some of their unique traits, including keen problem solving skills, creativity, high energy and hyperfocus (being able to sustain intense concentration for a long period of time) can be assets in many careers. “Hyperfocus for an emergency room physician, for example, means an optimized ability to deal with the heart attack or other crisis at hand,” says Dr. Gray. “In that way, it can be an asset rather than a liability,” she says. However, having difficulties with executive function (the skills related to organization and planning) is also a key feature of ADHD, and it can pose real challenges in the workplace. This can show up as being late for meetings, missing deadlines and ineffectively prioritizing projects or assignments. “Someone will say, ‘oh you’re a lawyer, you couldn’t possibly have ADHD’, but that’s not true,” says Dr. Gray. You might have a very successful career, but really be struggling to keep it all together, she says.
So, what if I have ADHD?
Many women who suffer with untreated ADHD avoid diagnosis and treatment due to the negative stigma associated with neurodivergence. Some people still dismiss it as little more than laziness, a marketing opportunity generated by pharmaceutical companies, or confusion created by social media, but ADHD is very real and affects about five percent of Canadians. Fortunately, ADHD is very manageable. For some, ADHD doesn’t interfere with everyday life or cause impairment, and if that’s the case there’s no need for intervention. But when a woman begins to struggle in her professional or personal life, feels like she isn’t living up to her full potential or is experiencing frustration or sadness, it’s important to get a proper assessment.
An effective treatment plan is multifaceted and built around a woman’s specific struggles and goals for increasing attention, decreasing impulsivity and improving emotional regulation. This might include prescription support with long-acting stimulants alongside behavioural coaching, adjustments to daily routines, emphasis on sleep hygiene and fostering coping strategies for big feelings and anxious moments, as well as including the ongoing support of an ADHD coach or psychologist.
“You can’t cure it—but you can support it,” says Dr. Gray.
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