Women And Girls With ADHD Articles

While many women and girls with ADHD have some of the same ADHD problems as men and boys with ADHD do, some of them have different ones AND different levels of societal expectations, especially by other non ADHD women. Here are some articles on the group of people some don’t think exist but do, girls and women with ADHD.

10 Women on Living With ADHD

By Tessa Miller in The Cut. 10 women explain how ADHD affects them

26.7% of the severely obese women had ADHD, more than 5 times larger then the regular population.  Study.

Self medication. They had problems with impulsivity, distractibility, and attention and staying focused.

“Toronto psychologist John Fleming adds: “There’s a tendency to not pay attention to feelings of fullness and that ability to be able to say ‘stop’.”
So far, reports Favaro, the researchers have found that when these patients are treated for attention disorders with drugs like Ritalin, coupled with counselling, about 40 per cent end up losing weight.”

28% Of Referrals To A Mood & Anxiety Clinic Had Undiagnosed ADHD

28.4% of referrals to a tertiary-care mood and anxiety clinic had undetected ADHD. ADHD was also diagnosed in 22.6% of patients referred to the clinic for treatment-resistant depression. Only 5% of adults have ADHD

ADD/ADHD and Fibromyalgia (FMS): Where Is the Connection?

Glenda H. Davis, MD, and Patricia Stephens, CNC. “Is there a connection [between ADD and FMS]?”(2). We believe there is, since ADD and FMS: a) respond to the same medications (stimulants), b) have similar symptoms, c) run in the same families.”

ADHD And Self-Esteem. What Lowers It, What Raises It?

Notes from a Vancouver Adult ADD Support Group meeting I lead. Not specific to women since men with ADHD also have lower rates of self-esteem but in my experience in coaching hundreds of ADHD adults, women with ADHD often have more problems with self-esteem than men with ADHD.

Goes over the consequences of low self-esteem, what things reduce self-esteem?, and what things boost your self-esteem?

ADHD Symptoms in Women.

By Keath Low in Very Well Mind. Talks about how symptoms in ADHD women may be chalked up to personality, lists some ways that ADHD might show up in your life

Girls And Women With ADHD Have Higher Rates of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa And Binge Eating, Here Are Some Reasons Why

Girls with ADHD were 2.7 times more likely to develop Anorexia Nervosa.

Girls with ADHD have 5.6 times higher rates of Bulimia Nervosa than controls.

8% of girls with ADHD-Combined had engaged in at least one DSM-IV defined binge eating episode in the last year …relative to 0% of girls with ADHD-Inattentive and comparison girls.

26.7 % of severely obese women had Adult ADHD, more than 5 times larger then the regular population.

ADHD girls compared to non ADHD girls had higher rates of:

• pathological eating

• desire to lose weight

• peer rejection

• punitive parenting

• disruptive disorders

• internalizing disorders

• externalizing symptoms

• internalizing symptoms

Girls With ADHD At Risk for Self-Injury, Suicide Attempts As Young Adults, Says New Research

“Young women diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as girls, particularly the type with early signs of impulsivity, were three to four times more likely to attempt suicide and two to three times more likely to report injuring themselves than comparable young women in a control group,

“Our findings reinforce the idea that ADHD in girls is particularly severe and can have serious public health implications.”

Of the participants diagnosed with ADHD-combined, 22 percent reported at least one suicide attempt at the 10-year follow-up, compared to 8 percent of those with ADHD-inattentive and 6 percent of the control group.

Girls in the ADHD-combined group were significantly more likely to injure themselves, with 51 percent reporting actions such as scratching, cutting, burning or hitting themselves. That compared to 19 percent in the control group and 29 percent in the ADHD-inattentive group.”

Girls With ADHD In Academic Settings: What Educators Should Know

By Dr. Geraldine Farrelly, M.D., F.R.C.P.C., Developmental Paediatrician and & Dr. Meadow Schroeder, R. Psych

Slide deck from CADDAC.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Recognize similarities and differences between females and males with ADHD.
2. Increase awareness and knowledge of ADHD and co-existing disorders in females.
3. Review role of the educator in Identification and management.

How to Explain ADHD

From my Vancouver Adult ADD Support Group notes. Not specific to women but I think it’s crucial for women and men to learn multiple ways to explain ADHD to people THEY decide to go out of the ADHD closet too.  Goes over why would we want to learn how to explain ADHD to others, and many ways to explain ADHD to non ADHD people.

Is It Depression or ADHD?

From my first blog. I  stopped counting at 20, women with ADHD who underwent therapy for depression or depression and anxiety for a decade or more that I knew personally, not second hand, and even suggested to their therapist that they might have ADHD and that possibility was quickly dismissed.

Later they found someone who understood ADHD, got diagnosed and sought help and now are no longer depressed. I’ve unfortunately heard and read far too many other similar stories

Is your Daughter a Daydreamer, Tomboy or “Chatty Kathy?

She may have undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder. By Kathleen G. Nadeau, Ph.D. Author of Understanding Girls with ADHD. Talks about how ADD can show up in girls and lists some resources.

More Discrimination Against Minority Children With ADHD, 46% Less Likely to Receive An ADHD Diagnosis

Want to have your daughter or son get a proper diagnosis for ADHD in America? It helps if you’re white a study of 17,100 children for 8 years in Pediatrics revealed. This is despite minority children having more risk factors for ADHD.

69% lower odds of African-Americans to get diagnosed with ADHD than otherwise identical white children.

50% lower odds of Hispanics to get diagnosed with ADHD than otherwise identical white children.

46% of lower odds of other ethnicities to get diagnosed with ADHD than otherwise identical white children.

Mothers with ADHD Have More Problems Parenting ADHD Children Than Those Who Don’t

Study by UBC Parenting lab shows “mothers with ADHD were found to be poorer at monitoring child behavior and less consistent disciplinarians compared with mothers without ADHD. There was some evidence to support the prediction that mothers with ADHD were less effective at problem solving about childrearing issues than control mothers.

The differences between the 2 groups of mothers persisted after child oppositional and conduct-disordered behavior were controlled.”

The study goes on to suggests that parenting is something that should be given more attention in Adult ADHD research.

I agree. There should be more studies on parenting ADHD children, after all, we study them in school, is the home environment less important?

Smoking During Pregnancy and ADHD. Which Came First?

Can you say self medication? ADHD is expensive for society to ignore. “After controlling for low birth weight of babies, poor newborn health status, young maternal age and low socioeconomic status, smoking mothers were nearly twice as likely to have children with ADHD than mothers who didn’t smoke while pregnant. Fifty-nine percent of the mothers of ADHD children smoked during pregnancy, compared to 35 percent of the mothers whose children did not have the disorder.

One important factor the researchers could not assess was whether pregnant smokers had ADHD themselves, which might make them more likely to smoke, and could be the reason for the higher number of children in this group who were diagnosed with hyperkinetic disorders.”

Special Issues for Women with ADD

Talks about how ADD can impact women and gives some practical tips on dealing with it. One good one is ” Don’t hang around women who can’t understand your problems.”

Suffering in Silence: Women With Adult ADHD

Gives an personal story about a woman with ADD that self medicated for years before getting treatment and talks about how women are affected by ADD

“That Explains Everything!” Discovering My ADHD in Adulthood

By Zoe Kessler. “Many women may cruise along until, as in my case, things start to fall apart. The unraveling often coincides with marriage and having kids. Suddenly, you have to organize not just yourself, but the kids, too. These added responsibilities can push a mom’s ‘ADHD stress-o-meter’ over the top.”

Tips For Managing Your Home and Keeping Your Sanity

Tips for women With ADD from the www.add.about.com forum

Watching Hannah Gadsby(talk about having ADHD) I had a light bulb moment

By comedian Rose Callaghan. “The cliche of ADHD has always been young, hyperactive boys who are noisy and won’t sit still. In fact it affects both sexes and is criminally underdiagnosed in girls and women. I didn’t get diagnosed until I was 32.

Like Hannah, I am a comedian. So I did my own comedy show about ADHD. It was called Attention Deficit…Ooh a Pony! By the time I took it to the next festival I got bored of the name and changed it. The irony is not lost on me.

The stuff that sticks around into adulthood? Being incapable of focusing on boring tasks, always being late, forgetting to pay bills, never finishing things, forgetting birthdays, not “seeing” mess, not doing tax returns for seven years, still being on your learners permit after 17 years (my learner’s permit is old enough to have it’s own learners permit).”

Women and Girls with ADHD are Often Undiagnosed.

“Girls present differently,” he said. “They are less aggressive, more likely to be chatty, more depressed, more internalized than boys who are externalizing, pushing, shoving, running.”Girls with ADHD, he noted, tend to engage in early sexual behavior and face a higher than normal risk of pregnancy.”

“Girls are more cognitive in symptoms. They may never be restless, hyperactive, or impulsive,” she said. “Boys tend to get more diagnosed than girls because they’re disruptive in class, their behaviors get them in trouble, while the girls are quietly zoning out (and) not bothering anyone. They are less diagnosed and at older ages than boys.”

Women’s Health Issue. Hormones and Memory

by Joyce Hair, M.D. Discusses how perimenopausal and menopausal states can effect women with ADHD.

Women, Hormones, and ADHD

By Laura Flynn Mccarthy. “ADHD manifests differently during the course of a woman’s life. Here, we outline four stages — from puberty to menopause — and describe what’s happening hormonally to impact symptoms.”

Women with ADD Presentation Notes and Links by Christine

Christine a member of our Vancouver Adult ADD Support Group did a great presentation on women with ADD here are her notes and links from the presentation. Talks about the problems of and impact of ADD in emotions, relationships, work etc

Women with ADHD in the Workplace

Juggling the Dual Responsibilities of Home and Work. “As both I and Sari Solden have repeatedly said, the job of homemaker is one of the most ADD-unfriendly jobs around. Homemaking requires women to function without external structure, juggling multiple, shifting responsibilities, to function despite frequent and often unavoidable interruptions, and to remain focused in a highly distracting environment.”

Women with Adult ADHD. Spinning Out Of Control. What happens when the A in ADHD stands for Adult? Finally a Guide for Grown-ups

I was quoted in this 3 page article written by Zoe Kessler who has ADHD. It was published in More Magazine. Talks about Zoe’s personal story with ADHD, fighting stigma, finding help, how to manage Adult ADHD, and lists web resources for Adult ADHD.