Women and ADHD

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I read an interesting article today about women and ADHD at Help 4 ADHD. Although most of it wasn’t news to me, I still found it worth sharing.

Here is one of my favorite parts of the article:

Some women seek treatment for AD/HD because their lives are out of control — their finances may be in chaos; their paperwork and record-keeping are often poorly managed; they may struggle unsuccessfully to keep up with the demands of their jobs; and they may feel even less able to keep up with the daily tasks of meals, laundry, and life management5. Other women are more successful in hiding their AD/HD, struggling valiantly to keep up with increasingly difficult demands by working into the night and spending their free time trying to “get organized.” But whether a woman’s life is clearly in chaos or whether she is able to hide her struggles, she often describes herself as feeling overwhelmed and exhausted6.

They have us pegged, don’t they?

The article also mentions that women with ADHD have higher rates of depression, moodiness, sleep deprivation, substance abuse problems, overeating, and stress. We’re also at risk for stress related diseases like fibromyalgia. Gee, thanks.

Women with ADHD have a tendency to see both their difficulties and their accomplishments as the result of outside forces rather than themselves. I can relate to this; one of the reasons that I stopped coaching was because I took every client’s difficulties on as my own.

Women with ADHD also tend to cope with stress by using self protecting measures rather than taking action and looking for solutions. Raising my hand here, too. I am acutely aware of how stress affects me and what stresses me and take great care to protect myself.

The article mentions several ways that we can manage our ADHD symptoms more effectively, including coaching, putting systems in place, and taking better care of ourselves. The article is somewhat long but worth the read. Check it out.

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle is the writer of Lacyestelle.com and the Podcast host for An ADD Woman.

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One Response

  1. Thank you for finding and posting that article. I did read the whole thing (almost) word for word. Although I’ve pretty much suspected (and even joked) that I was AD/HD most of my life, I was just officially diagnosed last month…at the age of 36. Since my “official” diagnosis I’ve been googling and reading just about everything I can. Thank you.