Why ADHD Is Often Missed in Women Growing Up ♀️🧠 #adhd #women #mentalhealth

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[autumn]

“Inconsiderate” was the one that always stabbed me to the core, especially when I was beating myself up about every little failure or inconvenience I caused. 😭

[Ahrpigi]

I was a boy with the same "quiet, well behaved but actually dying inside" symptoms, and also got ignored and shamed about it. It's crazy how ADHD is only "real" when it presents as a kid running around screaming. Hell, this misunderstanding is so damaging that when my little brother had a more hyperactive presentation, his diagnosis was dismissed because "well his brother is fine, so that can't be it."

[aaloha]

Thank you for addressing this 🙏🏼🌺
They blamed me for my daughter’s ADHD symptoms as a solo mom. But I had not been treated or diagnosed properly for ADHD, Autism traits nor c-PTSD myself. I ‘just’ had to ‘know’ how to live with it and raise my child without support network.
It just blows my mind how society shames women for the inadequacies of the health system and absence of family support. I’m glad I used my intuition and let her hop from one leg to another during dinner, instead of forcing her to sit ‘properly’. I’m glad I let her go to dance training up to 4 times a week during High school, among other things.
🙏🏼🌺

[orieking]

No one suspected I had ADHD: not my parents, teachers, doctors, school counselors, therapist nor my psychiatrist thought I had anything "going on" beyond PTSD/OCD spectrum/anxiety/depression. Even when I suspected I had ADHD at age 21 my doctor, therapist and psychiatrist believed I was wrong. I sought out a specialist who said I had TEXTBOOK ADHD, and that I am in the top 10% of people most severely impacted by their ADHD. After that, my psychiatrist respected and believed my diagnosis, and my therapist realized she herself had undiagnosed ADHD and that's why she didn't see it in me. If my parents were still around, I know they'd be shocked, even though they too likely had undiagnosed ADHD. I'm now proudly an ADHD coach for kiddos and get to see the amazing progress that's possible with early treatment!

[annamiller]

For years, I felt like I had imposter syndrome, because I didn’t think I deserved the things I had, or I suspected nobody - not even myself - would understand my brain. It was last year that I was diagnosed with ADHD.

In some aspects, I still do feel this way sometimes, but having the diagnosis was legitimately one of the greatest things that happened to me. Not just for the medication, but to better understand myself and to therefore have others better understand me. ♥️

Highly recommend the full video

[cococreates]

Was diagnosed as an 11yo kid with depression, and was put on a high dose of antidepressants. Was only as an adult (32yo) that I was diagnosed with adhd+autusm, and finally came off of the antidepressants. Was really hard being 32 and experiencing emotions for the first time - crying at a sad film etc, even getting goosebumps!

[dylikestories]

Not a woman and not taking away from this cause I know it’s a vastly more common experience for women but I totally understand this. Went through this my whole life thinking that I was just lazy or irresponsible or messy. Just got diagnosed at 24 and it feels amazing to have that answer

[McWowy]

I was just told that it didn't matter if I had it, because I got excellent grades in school. Finally received my diagnosis studying biomedical equipment and realized how much it affected so many other aspects of my daily life!

[jdak]

Males without hyperactivity also seem to be under diagnosed for ADHD. Showing signs of being "gifted" also might make the ADHD be dismissed. I'm sure that my interest in school caused me to self-accommodate in many ways. My inattentive ADHD caught up with me in many ways in adulthood, so I finally got diagnosed.

[tomschultz]

We were fortunate. Our adopted daughter actually had a doctor that knew what they were doing, and caught it when she was nine. When I came into her life, she was already being treated for it, and she had a strong support system in place. I learned so much from her, and I will be forever grateful to her.

[FeistyLibrarian]

Turns out school (especially classes I liked) was my hyperfocus. Diagnosed with and treated for anxiety and depression when I was 23... It wasn't until I started grad school when I was 36 and I found myself reading and rereading the same paragraph and not comprehending/retaining any of it that I got assessed for ADHD. That diagnosis turned my grad school experience around, and I graduated with my MLIS with a 3.98 GPA.

[gingerauburnredhead]

Mine was missed until my mid-twenties. Then they put me on stimulants and I had seizures (the medicine reduces your seizure threshold, dosage may have been too high). Plus I wasn’t caring for myself, too much exercise, anxiety, and not enough sleep. Then I got meds that helped for a year (Daytrana slow-released patches) until insurance wouldn’t cover it any more. Then years of meds incompatible with my body (increased heart rate, higher anxiety, still ongoing depression). Got in a high stress job and eventually burnt out and started advocating for myself. Hardest thing I’ve done in the past year is trying to help myself. Thanks for starting me va on this journey. Thanks also to YT HealthyGamerGG, ADHDLove, and Therapy In A Nutshell, and more. ❤

[SharonSpinkActor]

Yeah, I looked like a model pupil as a kid. At 56 I'm finally getting the results next week, of my ADHD assessment.

[imrielbissnette]

Oh my gods, as an AFAB child, the amount of comments I would get for being forgetful, especially when I felt rushed to leave the house or something. I didn't quite realize how bad it was until a few weeks ago I lost something I had JUST come in the house with and I started panicking that I wouldn't find it before my husband realized I had lost it as well. :/

[Jos_Dj_Ke]

My partner and I went through this and now we are able to live together embracing our differences and similarities of ADHD.She is my soulmate.

[joanneduval]

Very interesting. I was also misdiagnosed for decades. Until I moved and received treatment from a different doctor who listened to me. Finally by the time I reached 50, I was diagnosed with ADHD. What a life changing difference. ❤

[annazitterl]

I'm 37 and was diagnosed about two and a half months ago with ADD. I question myself a lot and it's hard for me if people don't believe me, even if some traits are more than obvious. Your videos help me a lot to understand myself and to help myself, to explain my struggles to other people (even though they don't believe me sometimes) and to advocate for myself. Thank you so much for that! ☀️

[sandworm]

Just officially diagnosed at 57 😕 - though I suspected it for a few years prior. I so wish the inattentive type had been recognized when I was a kid.

[rebeccajesse]

Yes. Add in that ADHD shares a strong genetic link and you are likely dealing with an ADHD child raised by un-diagnosed ADHD parents who can’t tell that their child’s home behaviors aren’t “normal” because the parents have them as well and was just told to deal with it and try harder so their kid must need to just try harder as well. It can lead to quite a bit of generational shame and trauma. I had a best friend who was hyperactive ADHD and female so I thought “that’s what ADHD looks like, I must not have it” and my parents told me I was normal because they had the same problems and taught me ways to compensate and cope. I was diagnosed at 29 and my mom got diagnosed a year later at 60. This channel, specifically your "wall of awful" (which i initially thought was so helpful/relatable due to my anxiety alone) started this journey that helped improve my entire family's mental health and quality of life. thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[eddyr]

I'm inattentive type and I'm smart too...
Really go unnoticed since always good grades as a child except for thing that need constant attention 😅...❤