Learn More About ADHD Symptoms For Women While You Work From Home

ADHD Symptoms For Women

Women suffering from ADHD experience emotional instability and sensitivity to rejection. They might also experience insomnia and poor quality sleep, which may cause symptoms to get worse.

Women and girls often mask their ADHD symptoms better than males by employing coping strategies to meet social expectations and norms. This could lead to misdiagnosis and delay in treatment.

1. Difficulty Focusing

Concentration is the most difficult issue for many women with ADHD. Symptoms of this neurodevelopmental disorder may make it difficult to remain focused at school, at meetings at work, or when reading or listening to other people's conversations. It can be challenging to complete daily tasks like keeping track of appointments or taking medications.

Difficulty focusing is one of the most common adhd symptoms for girls and women, regardless of their gender identity or whether they have hyperactive/impulsive or inattentive adhd in adult women. According to CHADD women who suffer from the inattentive version of the attention deficit disorder in adult women may struggle with organizing their homes and their desk. They might also find it hard to prioritize their tasks. These issues can lead them to miss appointments, arrive in the wrong place at the correct time or fail to follow through on their tasks. They may make them feel ashamed of themselves and blame themselves for their shortcomings and think they are incompetent or forgetful.

Inattention ADHD symptoms can make it difficult to stay on top of obligations, resulting in poor school or work performance as well as the accumulation of debt. They are often caused by stress or other mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression that often co-occur with ADHD in women, according to CHADD.

Teachers and parents may be biased towards males and girls, leading to some girls and women to be underdiagnosed. They may not be able to express their ADHD symptoms as well, especially the hyperactive/impulsive ones, and may have difficulty finding treatment that works for them.

Hormonal changes can also exacerbate symptoms in women who suffer from ADHD. For instance, they could be more evident during menstrual cycles, or during perimenopausal transition, the period leading up to menopausal, when estrogen levels decrease and can cause emotional issues such as mood swings and irritation.

Adults suffering from ADHD may benefit from stimulant medications to improve their focus but it won't treat the condition. Other strategies, such as lifestyle changes, mindfulness training, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help with focus and organization. Some schools and workplaces have accommodations that can help with these issues as well.

2. Forgetting Things

Inattention can make it difficult to stay on top of daily activities or take care of responsibilities. You may struggle to remember important information about events or people particularly when they occur in a noisy or busy environment. You may also end up not remembering appointments or being late to work or school. Forgetting to pay bills or reply to emails is common among women with ADHD, which can create financial stress and make you feel overwhelmed. You might have trouble working in a noisy or crowded office, and may zone out during conversations. This could cause the other person to feel unimportant or misunderstood.

Many girls and women who suffer from ADHD also struggle to keep friendships. They also run the risk of being pushed into unwanted sexual behavior or becoming intimate partner violence victims. This is because they have a difficult to manage their emotions and are more likely to be overwhelmed. They may also have issues with self-esteem, and may be more inclined to see their difficulties as "personal flaws" instead of acknowledging the fact that their behavior is correlated to their ADHD symptoms.

Girl and women who suffer from ADHD are also often overlooked because of gender bias because their symptoms are less evident than those of males and females. They might be more likely to camouflage their symptoms with mood disorders or anxiety which could lead to being misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated.

ADHD symptoms can differ based on the fluctuation in hormone levels. This is especially evident during puberty, as hormone levels decrease and progesterone levels increase. This can result in a wider range of symptoms, making it more difficult to diagnose and treat ADHD.

When diagnosed and treated, you will learn to manage ADHD symptoms. You can also change your lifestyle, such as eating an appropriate diet and avoiding stimulants like sugar, caffeine and drinks with sugar that can worsen symptoms. It is also possible to practice meditation and mindfulness techniques to calm your mind, decrease restlessness and impulsiveness and improve your emotional regulation. A mental health professional could be able to help you by discussing possible accommodations that can assist you in managing ADHD symptoms at school or at work.

3. Disruptive Behavior

Women with ADHD tend to experience more inattentive than hyperactive or the symptoms of impulsivity. This could be because women and girls have different brains than men and boys. It could also be due to the level of brain activity areas that control impulsive behavior.

It can be difficult for doctors to identify ADHD in women. Many women devise strategies to disguise their symptoms. Some of these are healthy, however others are unsustainable and can result in other health issues. Women, for instance, turn to excessive alcohol and other drugs to deal with their problems. They may also become depressed or suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety. These unhealthy coping strategies may make it more difficult for someone to recognize that they are suffering from a condition and may delay a correct diagnosis.

Disruptive behavior is a typical adhd symptom that affects women and can impact school or work performance and relationships. They typically involve not being focused on a task, ignoring important events or tasks, and becoming easily distracted by other things in their environment or in their thoughts. They may fidget, shake their hands or feet or squirm. They may also speak out loudly or yell, and they could be disruptive.

Women who have the inattentive subtype can have difficulty concentrating during lectures or conversations and juggling schoolwork writing, reading, or reading assignments, following directions in the classroom or at work, and juggling daily tasks. They may be disorganized, forgetful, and messy. It can be challenging for them to stick with commitments or tasks. They are more likely to lose or misplace items such as keys, wallets and eyeglasses.

Having the predominantly hyperactive/impulsive type of adhd can disrupt work or school, cause social problems, and create relationship challenges. This type of disorder can cause issues at home, at work, and at school, and it can cause feelings of restlessness or boredom. They have a difficult waiting to be called upon at home, school or in the workplace and often interrupt others. They are prone to be reckless and are not able to control their behavior.

4. Anxiety

Girls and understanding women with adhd with high functioning adhd in women may find it harder to manage their issues. This is largely due to societal expectations that insist that mothers and wives be the primary caregivers of their children and their household. When a woman with ADHD is unable to keep up with her responsibilities, she can experience heightened feelings of anxiety that can cause low self-esteem. This makes it more difficult for her to seek treatment.

In addition, women with ADHD frequently have a difficult time getting diagnosed since their symptoms aren't as pronounced as those of boys and men. They may present with primarily inattentive symptoms, which do not have the same outward appearance as hyperactive/impulsive ADHD symptoms, making them less likely to receive a referral for treatment from teachers and parents. They are more likely to develop coping strategies which mask their ADHD symptoms. For example the excessive fidgeting or forgetfulness can be misinterpreted as signs of anxiety disorders.

Symptoms of ADHD in women can differ at different times during the woman's lifetime. For instance, during periods of hormonal changes, such as menstrual cycles or pregnancy, a woman may notice her ADHD symptoms to become more intense. This could result in her being misunderstood or dismissed as an overly emotional woman and can cause a feelings of frustration.

The information in this article is based on research about how ADHD affects people based on their sex. Verywell Health acknowledges that sex refers to biology: hormones, chromosomal makeup and anatomy. whereas gender is a subjective sense of being a woman, man or a nonbinary. This distinction is crucial because it allows us to better comprehend the ways and reasons ADHD manifests differently in men and women. For this reason, throughout this article we refer to males and those assigned to male at birth (AMAB) as boys and men as well as women and people assigned to female at birth (AFAB) as girls and women. This terminology is used in many research studies. To learn more, read the Verywell Health guide to gender and sex.