ADHD in Girls: The Symptoms That Are Ignored in Females

8 Comments: ADHD in Girls: The Symptoms That Are Ignored in Females

1. I have read most of the comments and they all have a valid point based on the commenters personal experience. The article was very informative and validated many of my personal struggles both academically and in my career. There are many articles about ADHD in male vs female to be scrutinized however this specific article was concerned with female issues. Which is great because that was what I was looking for- not one that dealt with ADHD issues in general. The first comment were disappointed that the article was specific for female issues. The title should have been an indication just like if I read an article titled “Swimming” I should not expect to see information on “Kayaking”! There are probably 10 general articles to every 1 that deals with female ADD/ADHD issues. No offense intended! THANK YOU for the very informative article!!

2. I was drowned out by loud people at home and at school. I was also bullied and teased a lot, too, and I’m just now pondering this duality between both standing out and being drowned out. Teachers told my mom I daydreamed a lot, and also that I was “a real chatterbox,” at least in elementary school. Which was it? Could I be both? Incidentally, I was finally tested for ADHD this summer, and the results didn’t support a neurological basis for my symptoms. In other words, the tests didn’t confirm that I had ADHD of any type. Frankly, I find this hard to believe :). So I’m really struggling with this article. Anyway, thanks for putting some focus on the topic.

3. I have many of the symptoms of adhd like daydreaming in class then getting in trouble by the helper because i didnt pay “attention” but i get easily distracted, another symptom is definitly being shy i cant talk to the lunch room ladies, the teachers or other people , i cant make eye contact with people at all, i cant close my mouth of a reason i have to keep it open or smiling, i do pick my skin A lot thats why i used fake nails to stop biting and picking, i am a perfectionist nut once i turn it in i realize its all wrong and i have to do it all over again, Nut it frustrates me and i cry in my head because i got made fun of my 3rd grd teacher because i needed a bunch of help and since that i began hiding my real personality because i used to be bullied a lot but my real personality is acting like a little kid and watching peppa pig,spongebob,bubble guppies, but i have to hide my real personality or ill get bullied and i cry very easy but instead i cry in my head like once in my high school like 2 weeks ago my science teacher told me ill have to talk to him if i didnt have anyone to help me and i began crying in my head for no reason. i dont like being mean to people but thats the personaitly i have to be in school because im scare the teachers and students r going to make fun of me at my school aka high school rn..,

4. luki_riesen and rothl4444

   It was extremely helpful for me as a mom to a young girl to come to this page. I had just come from the page describing behaviors of ADD, ADHD and the inattentiveness subversion. For each list I could see more that were not true than were true.

   It linked here. On this list and the linked to quiz about girls behaviors I see more than 2/3 of the descriptions sound like my daughter. As well as the comments about the higher incidence of a linked mood disorder.

   Please don’t let your whataboutism cloud the fact that for someone with little experience with these types of behaviors will find these generalizations very helpful in deciding to get help for our kids, ourselves or our loved ones.

5. I hope not to sound too ‘whataboutish’ but for me as a man suffering exactly the symptoms described as the ‘girly’ type of ADHD, an additional step was needed to get correctly diagnosed, the step of realizing that this is my type of ADHD and these are the means I need to fight my condition no matter of the gender.
   Unfortunately I don’t know how we can best tackle that issue, but for any boy suffering from anything that’s considered a ‘girls’ issue (vice-versa), don’t let that stop you from getting the help you need.

   1. came down to comments section to say much the same thing – really I think over time we will see that it’s not got a lot to do with gender. I don’t like the stereotypes here – IMO it should be an article about how PEOPLE with visible hyperactive traits drown out PEOPLE with invisible inattentive traits…

      I don’t think you should hesitate to put forward such an opinion as that shown by your comment. Bravo!

      1. I do agree that there should be more attention given to boys with ADHD that have the inattentive subtype. But as a 28 yr old woman with that very subtype, I think it’s irresponsible to say that doctors should ignore the gender predisposition. Yes of course boys and men experience this too. It just happens to happen far more frequently in girls than boys. It’s the very reason why we get undiagnosed. I was diagnosed sometime earlier this year by my therapist that my husband suggested I see for my negative childhood, which I was diagnosed with PTSD as well. I have had issues most of my life, I struggled in school because I was sitting in my chair twirling my hair or drawing, and daydreaming. I’d also put everything off until the last minute. In fact, once in 5th grade I didn’t complete a math test, so my teacher sat me down and didn’t let me leave for recess until I did the test. I sat there not doing it, she left to go to the bathroom eventually, and when she came back I was gone, test was finished, all answers were correct. Ever since I started going to school when I was 5, my mom knew there was something up with me. She asked teacher after teacher, adhd parent after adhd parent, none of them said I should be evaluated. One school however had me evaluated by their counselor, they said I didn’t have adhd. So I went completely undiagnosed, untreated through my childhood and part of my adulthood. My mom also grew up with the classic 70’s midwestern republican blue collar “my way no highway option” parenting. Guess what I got. Combine the concept that a child should always do what a parent tells them without question, and that it’s completely ok to tell an adolescent girl that they’re fat with a girl with adhd, you have a recipe for disaster. There was all kinds of different arguments, screaming matches, getting slapped across the face, punched in the stomach, being told you’re worthless, and that you should just die so that you can stop wasting the earth’s air that would have been spared if my mom just got me diagnosed. I’m sorry for the rant, but sure a small handful of boys have my kind of adhd that gets unnoticed at first. But Luki_riesen was still diagnosed a lot sooner than I was. Sure it sucks that it took a little longer, but be thankful you didn’t suffer a hellish childhood before you were diagnosed.

      2. Thanks for your reply. I appreciate what you said and the energy it took to say it. I don’t think making comparisons or assumptions is healthy and I can’t respond in that manner when I wanted to point out the objectivity of the prejudice – I’m not talking about individual cases cos I’d be here all day… and you say for me to be thankful that I didn’t suffer a hellish childhood before I was diagnosed… well you don’t know me so please let’s keep the anecdotes objective if we want them to be useful to other parties.