Why isn’t Female ADHD Taken Seriously?

Men and women are at an equal risk of having ADHD, despite this, around 50-75% of cases of female ADHD go undiagnosed. Perhaps this is because the stigmas surrounding ADHD suggest it’s more prevalent in men as the signs of female ADHD are less obvious and visible. Moreover, girls with ADHD are diagnosed on average five years later than boys. ADHD in women tends to fall under the radar which can be harmful as it can be the gateways to many more disorders. The dangers of ADHD lie in it’s high comorbidity levels, which are particularly prevalent in undiagnosed ADHD. Additionally, traits of ADHD in women can seem quite mundane, they seem like small challenges that every individual faces. This is only if you fail to acknowledge that these symptoms are both chronic, and heightened in people with ADHD.

My personal diagnosis story falls tribute to how overlooked ADHD is for girls; My younger brother, who is the ADHD archetype, was diagnosed first. With his diagnosis I decided to research a little into ADHD, and i found that a lot of it felt familiar to me. First and foremost, I spoke to my adults who were very quick to shut it down because my symptoms weren’t as visibly noticeable as my brother’s. Eventually, I got an appointment with an ADHD clinic near me. At the clinic they measured my ADHD based off of hyperactivity which poses problems as female ADHD is often more inattentive. They sat me in front of a computer and got me to complete various tasks and puzzles independently whilst secretly measuring movements in a single blind test. They also zero’d in on how i shake and bounce my legs when i was sat for a short interview. They were so focussed on the characteristics of ADHD more common in men that it was very apparent that general, and even professional understandings of ADHD are massively androcentric. However, when i was younger, my symptoms of ADHD were a lot more physical so i managed to hover just above the radar. When i was finally diagnosed at 15, i thought the hard part was over. However, my diagnosis wasn’t taken seriously.For instance, I attended the same school as my brother who had one to one help and resources such as a laptop given to him…the most i got was three five minute rest breaks in exams. It wasn’t until the final few months leading to my A-level exams ,when I went off the grid for over a month after crashing under the overwhelming scholarly pressures, that i had any attention. Overall, i’ve experienced first hand just how difficult it is to get female ADHD to even be acknowledged let alone helped.

“Alarmingly, some studies estimate that as many as 50% to 75% of girls with ADHD are missed”- Adams, Caralee

“Worse, girls with ADHD are diagnosed on average five years later than boys–boys at age 7, girls at age 12.”- Adams, Caralee