A study, reported in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, suggested the major symptoms of ADHD appear similar in both genders, but girls with the disorder are less likely to have accompanying disruptive behaviors. That may be one reason for their lower rate of diagnosis
It’s a common myth that ADD is mainly a condition that occurs in boys and men. Not true. It’s often more noticed in males because they are more likely to have the hyperactive impulsive version of ADD that’s more easily noticed than the inattentive version of ADD that women usually (though not not always) have.
“There are three to five boys picked up with ADHD for every girl,” said Robert Resnick. He is professor of psychology at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., and former president of the American Psychological Association.
“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.
Donna Palumbo, director of the Strong Neurology ADHD Program says that
“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.”
Some studies estimate as many as half to three-fourths of all girls with the disorder go undiagnosed. Other researchers speculate that may be one reason more girls, and women, are diagnosed with depression than are men.
Girls with ADHD also had high rates of other psychiatric disorders, such as behavioral, mood and anxiety problems as well as an increased risk for drug and alcohol abuse. The rates of mood disorders were similar in both genders, but girls had less of a tendency than boys to be affected by disruptive conditions, such as oppositional defiant disorder, the authors reported.
It’s too bad, but it seems that a main determining factor of whether a person gets diagnosed with ADD or not is whether they’re causing problems for others. How much the person is suffering themselves seems secondary. I think women with ADD get shortchanged by this attitude.
I personally know 2 women that were treated with therapy for depression for more than 10 years and they even suggested to their therapists that they might have ADD and those suggestions were quickly dismissed. Turns out they did have ADD and after getting treated for ADD, their depression went away. That being said you can have both depression and ADD together, and ADD is not always the cause for depression.
I wonder how many women out there with depression or anxiety have untreated ADD?
If you’re a women with ADD, how did you first discover that you had it?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I actually do not KNOW whether I have Adult ADD… but just about every one of the symptoms has been present, and bothering me since childhood… with the exception of physical, disruptive behavior.. But, I was the one kid in class, that the teacher had to ask to stop answering all the questions… and I still had to sit on my hands to keep from raising my hand…..
It occurred to me to research this because 2 of my children have ADD, and possibly the third does too…. and many of my siblings also exhibit the same behaviors.
Interestingly enough, I have been treated for depression for the past 12 years… and I still can’t seem to organize myself to do the tasks that I want to do in my home! I’m going to pursue this with my doctor.
Hi Virginia,
ADD is the #2 genetically inherited condition after height, 80%.
So probably a good idea to talk to you doctor about it, make sure they know enough about ADD to diagnose it.
I have 18 years worth of periodical treatment for anxiety & depression & ptsd, starting at the age of 19. When a psychiatrist 5 years ago asked me if I had been dx’d w/ ADD, I stated that it was “a boy’s disorder”. Her suspicions were very helpful later to justify pursuing the ADD dx as it’s very expensive.
The test came back positive for moderate ADD.
I’m now attending the university & understanding why I didn’t succeed the first time I attended 17 years ago has been so essential for me to find forgiveness for myself & my past shortcomings.
It’s still hard as when I worked with a prof who is my age & has accomplished many things I’ve wanted to do, like having a family & a degree.
However, bloom where you’re planted.
The amount of discipline it takes to succeed as a student w/ learning issues means that my extra years of emotional growth (versus doing this at 18) have proved very essential.
Never give in to this.
Well, I haven’t been diagnosed yet, but I’m pretty sure I have ADD.
I took one of the online tests and it came back 80% likely.
I first discovered that I might have ADD when I received an email from my brother. It was a joke actually, called ” I have AAADD-Age Aquired ADD. When I started reading, and it was talking about starting one thing and then moving on to something else because of getting sidetracked, I thought ” that is me!!”
And so I decided to do some more research, and found that I exibit many of the symptoms.
I’ve also been in couples counceling with my husband for a few months, and I just had a baby. And one of our main problems we discuss in counceling is how I don’t remember conversations my husband and I have had. This of course was making me feel like there was something wrong with me. And it only made my husband angry.
I also take Zoloft because I was getting so stressed and I was afraid that I’d end up with post partum depression. So I talked to my doctor about it.
And now I’m going to talk to my doctor about ADD. Because I truly feel I’ve had it for a long time and now I’m 37 and I want to stop feeling like I’m losing my mind.
I also have a three year old, who is so hyper at times, and his mouth never stops, so I’m beginning to think he may have ADHD.
And I’m pretty sure my mom does too.
I’m ready to take back control of my life.
I am feeling amazed and hopeful, having just stumbled upon something that describes the shameful secret problem I’ve been hiding for most of my life. I’m 37 and discovered ADD last night, as I was trying to read more about anxiety. ADD is making bells go off in my head, I can hardly believe the things I’m learning, I feel like crying. I am not alone! There may be another way to approach myself, some new ideas for how to manage living like this. I’m reading a lot and thank everyone who posted for being part of this WOW experience. May we all learn to thrive and forgive ourselves. My whole life and family memories is seeming to make more sense, considered in this new frame and light. If I had health insurance, I would make an appointment with a doctor tomorrow. I hope I can find some sort of fee-free group in Oakland. My mind is blowing right now. This new information makes so much sense to me. I suddenly feel the hope that maybe I’m not just a sad, stressed, mal-adapted loser…a flicker of hope that I could feel better eventually. Wow.
I just read Christy’s comment and that is how I am now feeling…HOPEFUL. I was diagnosed with ADD one week ago and I am 53 years old. Five years ago I was diagnosed with clinical depression and have been treated successfully since then with anti depressants. Since beginning the anti depressants, the anxiety I had felt most of my life left me and I had not even realized it had been there till it was gone. Since it left ,my life long struggles with organization, focus and procrastination just bloomed into an over whelming mess, on my desk, in my car, in my house and even in my pants pockets. I had been using the anxiety I felt to at least get me to take care of bills etc, but when the anxiety lifted, I became personally aquainted with several bill collectors and I knew that if, when I came home and there was a red tag hanging from my front door, that some vital utility had been cut off. I was so ashamed to let eny one know about that.
Since I work with kids with special needs, I was well aware of what ADD and ADHD look like. I just took some (lots of) introspection to figure out that I might be one of those kids. I knew I have always had compassion for the kid with the messy desk, because that was me, then and now.
I am now taking medication and the jury is still out on how it will work for me. I can tell you that last week I sat through a meeting lasting 1 hr and 30 mins and when it was over I realized that I had heard everything that everyone had said and I did not need to shift around on my chair once, not once. There were no holes in my memory what was discussed and I did not need to poke my neighbor to ask what was just said or to make some off topic comment. When I was told “yes you have ADD and yes we can help you” it was truly one of the happiest days of my life. No more blaming myself for being stupid and incapable, perhaps no more refusing to invite people over because of the state of my house (my sister used to tease me that I would do great in a house with no horizontal surfaces), and most importantly maybe I will get over the paralysis I feel when trying to start a project and the guilt for not finishing it. I am an artist and now my talent and creativity with not be rotting in the back of the fridge like that lettuce I bought last month.
Hey did I mention that creativity and hyperfocus can be assets that come from ADD. Were it not for the ADD I may never have know how creative I am. There are blessings in everything if you know where to look. Good luck to all of you.