“ADHD Is Too Often Overlooked in Women. This Needs to Change.”
“Undiagnosed ADHD in women has far-reaching consequences that can impact every area of life. While an early diagnosis is best, a diagnosis at any age can start a woman on a new path that will change her life for the better.”
5 Comments: “ADHD Is Too Often Overlooked in Women. This Needs to Change.”
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I know this is unrelated, but I can’t seem to find anyone talking anywhere about how trying to conceive affects women with ADHD. What was anyone else’s experience like? I’m currently trying to conceive, I’m 8 months in and I am so stressed, worried, obsessive at times. I’m worried that all my worrying is actually hindering me. I decided not to start my medication again as I was concerned that it could have an affect on the baby or my eggs. I know I’d be handling things a lot better if I was on meds right now. Things are really pilling on top of me and I’m trying my best not to drown right now. I’m 37 and I really worry about my age too…. I’ve been checked at the doctors and he said there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to get pregnant naturally. Every month now feels like a roller-coaster… analysing every symptom and getting my hopes up… its awful. I’m over emotional anyway and this is sending me over the edge! I can’t focus on much else atm, I’m completely consumed by it.
Does anyone have any advice on how to chill the f@%k out?
I’m going to post this comment on a few of the articles in the hope that someone will reply and can help…. or that Additude may have advice on this and do an article to help. As there is little advice of what a female with ADHD should do about meds when TTC or how to manage the stress etc.
How do I get diagnosed in Canada? Very few Dr’s seem to acknowledge adhd in adults is a thing.
For so many of us there was NO DIAGNOSIS available. And drs now are acting as though somehow WE are the problem. That there is something wrong with us when we get overwhelmed by our partners diagnosis, managing two special needs kids, and a full time job. I just get so mad!
I see so many kids today, the boys? They get the dx and the meds. The girls get told they are defiant and need counseling. Or that they will end up pregnant because they aren’t listening or are “low and slow.” UGH.
I don’t hear Hallowell and Ratey getting on the bandwagon, as the big names. But maybe instead of pushing for a different name, they can help out with getting actual studies going for women!
We exist, and we deserve better!
Thank you for this article. It should be spread far and wide, but sadly I don’t know how much difference it will make. I currently have Kaiser insurance, and they cling very tight to the DSM-5 symptoms. I am currently being evaluated and the clinician with whom I am dealing, told me point blank that I will need to have demonstrated (per the DSM-5) symptoms present by age 12 or I don’t have it. The guy I am seeing is the head psychiatrist of Kaiser’s Assessment Clinic in Roseville, CA. So, for all the millions of people Kaiser serves, no woman in that system will get an unbiased examination. I had to fight hard for almost 3 months, calling Kaiser multiple times on a daily basis. At one time, I even filed a Sexism and Ageism grievance against them, considering I am 52 and in 1982 when I turned 12, there has only been one study asking whether or not females could even have ADD (as it was called then). The likelihood I would have been diagnosed as almost nonexistent. I finally got a call a couple of weeks ago, they were going to assess me. But still, I have to “fudge” my symptoms as a kid. I was a “weird” girl and played hard with the boys any chance I got. I did OK in school, but my report cards always had comments like: “If Dee would apply herself more, she could do better.” “If Dee would follow directions fully and pay attention to details, she could improve her grades.” Yadda yadda. But I don’t have my elementary school report cards, and I am not even sure these details would be enough. They want to see disruption from me. Causing problems in classrooms and the like. I can demonstrate I have ADHD, including Hyperactivity/Impulsivity currently, and that is has become worse since I hit perimenopause and all my coping skills I developed no longer work. I tick off 7 symptoms for the Inattentiveness, and 5 for the Hyperactivity/Impulsivity, with many examples from 30 years of my life and how they have evolved, even how starkly different my attempt at college in my late teens/early 20’s went (GPA 1.69) to my college experience at age 38 with 18 years of improving my coping skills (GPA 3.89). But Kaiser is not interested in any of that. They only care about the DSM-5 age of diagnosis, 12 years old. It’s like deciding my mental health future comes down to ONE SINGLE YES/NO QUESTION: Were you diagnosed by age 12? <<Anyone who thinks that is good psychological care is a joke. We need to change the DSM-5. Who's working in it now? Who's on the working group for ADHD? Hopefully more than one expert on Women with ADHD. How do those people get picked? I want Stephen P. Hinshaw, Kathleen Nadeau and Ellen Littman. we should get to vote on who is on that committee. After all, it's the people who have to live with the results.