Does ADHD Affect Women Differently?
It used to be thought that only boys could have the condition. It also used to be thought that boys always grew out of it. We now know that neither of those is true.
It used to be thought that only boys could have the condition. It also used to be thought that boys always grew out of it. We now know that neither of those is true.
In our new book, A Radical Guide for Women with ADHD (New Harbinger, July, 2019) my co-author Michelle Frank,Psy.D and I set out to change the conversation among women. We also wanted to address helping professionals across domains about how to approach the complexities of women and men with executive function challenges.
Winning with ADHD describes how to remove some of these rocks from your backpack so we can perform at our personal best. So what does it take to lighten the load?
How many CEO’s, (okay let’s just say men) could do what they do if they also had to do what we do?
Answer: None. But if WE are the CEO, it doesn’t keep us from killing ourselves trying to do it all ourselves, and all by ourselves.
Your ability to pay attention, problem solve, plan, and regulate your emotion is managed in part by certain chemicals in your brain. One of these important chemicals is Dopamine. Studies suggest that an ADHD brain does not release or reload dopamine effectively, which leads to problems with all of those executive function activities listed above that we need to use on a daily basis.
Here are Dr. Gray’s top 4 tips for women with ADHD: