ADHD-symtoms for women

Anxiety and depression

If you have been diagnosed, you have probably had to fight recurring depression and anxiety throughout your life. You may, like me, have sought help for your problems and received help from the health care system with anti-depressant medication and psychological treatment. BUT still something is not working and the depressions and anxiety keep coming.

Self-esteem problems

We with ADHD often have problems with self-esteem. That is, "I don't feel like I'm good enough, I don't like myself." This may not be so strange if you often make mistakes, hear a lot of negative comments and are questioned. What those around you don't see, is how much you struggle to just manage the basics of life.

We have a higher risk for migraine

Research has shown that women with ADHD have migraines more often than women without the diagnosis. This can be counted as the comorbidity that can occur with the diagnosis. What could be the reason for this? I have an idea that it may be partly about our sensitivity to impressions and partly about where we are in the hormone cycle.

Difficulties in relationships

Relationships are something that challenges us throughout life. Relationships between friends, family and colleagues. If you have ADHD, and the problems that can come with the diagnosis, conflicts and misunderstandings can easily arise.

Sometimes emotions take over and you say things that you then regret.Sometimes you forget birthdays, meetings or a booked coffee with a friend.Sometimes you may be perceived as unreliable because you just forget things or that you have difficulty fitting in times.

All these things (but also a

All of these things (but also others that belong to the diagnosis) can cause your relationships to be negatively affected.

Underperforming in school

The diagnosis can cause you to underperform in school, and perhaps that's not so surprising. The demands that schools place on us today are not directly adapted to our brains. We have to handle all the stimuli that the school exposes us to: sudden noises, many people talking, messy visual environments, and so on. We also need to be able to sit still and listen while learning. Additionally, we must be able to plan our studies before exams and carry out this planning. We must be punctual and submit assignments on time.

We also need to keep track of our gym bags, all important papers from school, books, and homework. Those of us with ADHD have to put a lot of our energy into just existing in the school environment. How can we then be expected to perform well in school?

Worse PMS and PMDD

As ovulation and menstruation approach, your mood and energy levels change. Research has shown that ADHD symptoms worsen when we are approaching or are in these parts of our cycle. The effectiveness of medication also seems to decrease.

For me (with ADHD-I), it looks like this: I feel tired and lethargic. Suddenly, I realize: "I am ugly, a failure, and worthless. I have no friends." I look at myself in the mirror and truly SEE that there is something physically wrong with my face. When I think about it a bit, it's strange because it wasn't like this yesterday. That's when I usually check my cycle app and realize that I am about to, or have just, ovulated.

It's the same thing every time. Before my period, I am tired, sluggish, and unmotivated. It's much harder for me to do my job and get started on tasks. I am also a bit more scattered and disorganized. It's difficult for me to keep my home tidy and I don't have the energy to cook. I eat a lot of junk food: ice cream and candy. After two days of terrible menstrual cramps, I start to feel like myself again.

Eating disorders

Different forms of eating disorders (such as anorexia and bulimia) are more common among women and girls with ADHD. If you have severe ADHD, this can make it difficult to treat eating disorders that involve an inability to control how much you eat, binge eating, and purging.

Researchers are not entirely sure why there is a connection between ADHD and eating disorders. It is believed that impulsivity and attention problems make us less able to perceive the body's hunger and satiety signals. This, in turn, makes it difficult to eat regularly.

Researchers also believe it may be related to how our brains function, as binge eating, for example, raises dopamine levels and makes us more likely to continue the behavior. There are also thoughts that binge eating could be a form of self-medication, as its effect of raising dopamine levels is similar to the effect we get from medication for ADHD.

Great inner (and possibly external) restlessness

An inner restlessness can mean that you have many thoughts and ideas. You think very quickly and might also speak very quickly. Due to restlessness, it is common to always be moving a body part or fiddling with something. For example, shaking your leg, playing with your hair/jewelry, biting your nails, or picking at your cuticles.

If you have a lot of outer restlessness, you may find it difficult to sit still and need to move around a lot. You might walk very quickly, and as a consequence, you may occasionally stumble or accidentally bump into furniture and other objects.

Difficulties with perception of time

Are you the person who is always late for everything? This might be because those of us with ADHD have trouble with time perception.

But it can also show up the other way: you get anxious about possibly being late, so you are always a bit too early for everything.

You might also have trouble estimating how long things take, for example, getting from home to the bus stop or how long it takes to clean your home.

Difficulties starting and finishing

boring tasks

If you have something to do that feels boring, it can feel impossible to get started. If you find cleaning boring, you might just vacuum a little before losing focus and start organizing a cupboard or get stuck on your phone. The vacuum cleaner will probably stay out for a few weeks.

Difficulties maintaining order

There's chaos in your handbag/backpack, your home is messy, and your workspace is very disorganized. You probably want to keep it tidy, but when you manage to clean up, it quickly becomes messy again. Or the complete opposite: you have an almost manic orderliness to compensate for the chaos in your head.

Forgetting and loosing your stuff or important information

You forget meetings, birthdays, scheduled dinners, and doctor's appointments. You lose your phone, keys, and other things you often use.

You do what you must (e.g., paying bills and school assignments) at the last second. It's only when you start to panic (like with a bill that needs to be paid) that you do what you must. School or work assignments with deadlines are done at the last minute.

You make misstakes

You often receive comments from those around you that you are careless. This can be related to work tasks or homework if you are in school. If you are involved in a project (maybe painting at home), you get tired after a while, and the result is not very good.

Accidentally say or do inappropriate things

Sometimes you do things without thinking, and as a result, misunderstandings and conflicts arise. Or you might accidentally say something you didn't really mean. For example, you might blurt out a comment to a colleague that you immediately regret.

You start projects without thinking

them through first

It's NOW that you should start that project you've been thinking about... maybe for a few minutes. For example, you decide to start boxing. You sign up for the class and buy a lot of equipment. You go once and then realize it's not for you.

Those of us with ADHD tend to jump in and say yes, but often forget to consider the basics. Do we have time? Will this last in the long run? Can I afford it?

Difficulties to stick to a budget

You lie on the couch in the evening, scrolling on your phone. Somehow, you end up on a website and you have added 67 items to your shopping cart. You might delete some of the items, but then you buy a bunch of things that you just have to have!

But did you think through or plan that purchase? No. This is a common behavior for us with ADHD. The internet is full of sneaky traps for our brains that encourage us to spend our money.

The consequences are that we have a lot of stuff at home that we don't use, and maybe even that our account is empty before we get our next paycheck.

• Fewer symptoms according to the criteria, also fewer hyperactive and impulsive symptoms.
  

• ADHD-I is more common among girls and women.

• More often suffer from depression and anxiety.

• Less likely than men to have CD (Conduct Disorder) and ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder).

• ADHD-I and deficits in executive functions negatively affect learning ability more than hyperactive and externalizing symptoms.

• ADHD leads to more difficulties in relationships.

• Have higher social skills, which hide ADHD difficulties.

• A larger proportion of women are diagnosed in adulthood compared to men.