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.
It might just be in my imagination. A lot of things are.
But I’m starting to wonder, is my ADHD seasonal? Do the symptoms abate in the warm, long days of summer? Then grow worse during February’s cold, grey?
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?
What are some of the gender specific symptoms of ADHD in women?
There’s not a lot of good news in the media when it comes to ADHD. But then, well, there’s not a lot of good news in the media period.
For a woman with ADD, the healing starts in her brain and continues in her heart.
In order for women with the executive function struggles of ADHD to maximize their strengths and increase their feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment, it is usually necessary to re-structure the way they set up their lives both at home and at work.
This means that first, they must come to a deep understanding and acceptance of how they function best, how their brains work, and become willing to ask for support for their challenges. This may sound simple, but it is far from easy….
When I spoke with TotallyADD about writing a piece for their month dedicated to ADHD and Women, I began making a list of how ADHD impacts men and women differently.