7 Common & Overlooked ADHD Signs In Adult Women

Not sure if you or an important woman in your life struggles with ADHD? The following overlooked adhd signs in adult women could be a life changer.

 

 
ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder oftentimes isn’t taken seriously, in particular with regard to women. ADHD was thought to mainly affect men because most symptoms of ADHD in women tend to be less socially disruptive.

Many women with undiagnosed ADHD struggle for years with the different symptoms of adhd without receiving the proper help and management skills. This is mostly because of the lack of awareness of the ADHD signs in adult women. 

I have summarized some of the main signs of ADHD in adult women that will help you better understand where you stand and if needed get a proper adhd diagnosis.

This post is all about common ADHD signs in adult women.

 ADHD SIGNS In Adult Women

1. TROUBLE REMEMBERING THINGS – 

ADHD has three primary presentations: inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive, or the two combined. Women are more likely to have inattentive ADHD presentations.

 Women with ADHD are often very forgetful and have trouble remembering things or doing them on time. This is primarily because of the way people with ADHD process information. With ADHD distractions can prevent you from taking in information or can cause you to store it in a disorganized manner. 

This sign of adhd in adult women can come into play in a lot of different ways such as: forgetting where you put your phone, not being able to recall significant conversations, forgetting to go to an important event, and more.

2. DISTRACTED EASILY-

You may find it very difficult or even impossible to focus on one specific task and find yourself jumping from one thing to the other.

Sudden noises, thoughts, ideas, or other tasks will often cause you to stop what you’re doing and lose your trail of thought. This is especially true if you are doing something of no true interest to you, due to a lack of stimulation.  

Men are more likely to have the hyperactive presentation of ADHD causing them to distract or interrupt other people from their tasks. Because women mostly have inattentive ADHD them being unfocused usually doesn’t affect other people, thus people overlook this ADHD sign in adult women.

3. ADHD HYPER FIXATION-

Women with ADHD and people with inattentive ADHD, in general, tend to hyper-fixate on subjects that interest them. 

Hyperfixation is when an individual focuses intensely on a specific subject or task. They may block out whatever is going on around them. This may occur for hours at a time while doing something that is usually of interest to them. 

Sometimes this results in people with ADHD missing out on important tasks or commitments. When hyper-fixated you are completely distracted from the outside world, nothing matters except what you are doing at this moment.

People commonly mistake ADHD as having a short attention span but it causes more of an unregulated attention “system”.  Thus women with ADHD may be able to be extremely focused in certain situations but may also get easily distracted and lose focus in others. 

{Related Post-9 No Nonsense ADHD Tips For Adults]

4. SOCIAL ISOLATION-  

Social isolation is a key adhd sign in adult women. You may have a hard time comprehending societal cues and rules. This may cause you to feel overwhelmed in social situations. In addition, you may have trouble focusing and engaging in conversations which may come across as rude, and cause you to ultimately avoid social interactions to minimize hurting other people’s feelings.

In addition women with ADHD usually have a hard time multitasking. The inability to complete day-to-day tasks can drain them mentally. This can get to the point where they don’t have the energy to take part in social interactions by the time they finish work. 

5. OVERWHELMED-

More times than not adult women with ADHD are in a consistent state of feeling overwhelmed. 

Women’s societal role expects them to be organized, plan and remember things, such as birthdays and special events. As well as usually being the primary caregiver at home while also maintaining a job.

These expectations are much harder to achieve for women with ADHD brains rather than those with neurotypical(“normal”) brains. 

ADHD makes it much more difficult to multi-task and handle stress. Oftentimes you drown in the sea of expectations that you can’t handle.

6. LOW SELF-ESTEEM 

 ADHD in women is usually diagnosed if at all in a later stage of life.

This can cause very challenging life experiences. You try extremely hard to grasp control of your life with no success. You don’t understand why you can’t function like those around you and you get blamed for ADHD behaviors. This makes you feel inferior and you develop low self-esteem.

You feel as though you are incapable of achieving greatness or success and you develop a lack of motivation due to feeling incompetent. 

7. OTHER MENTAL ISSUES

The last  ADHD sign in adult women is co-occurring mental conditions.                                          Other than the fact that studies suggest that there are genetic components that make the probability of having other mental health issues higher when you have adhd there is also the social factor.

Women with adhd often spend years masking adhd symptoms, the effort of masking ADHD symptoms alongside dealing with day-to-day life can cause a lot of mental stress and take a toll on one’s mental health. Furthermore, living with unmanaged ADHD traits and habits can make life very difficult and strain one’s mental health. 

Some common co-occurring mental conditions and issues of women with ADHD are-

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Eating Disorders
• Substance abuse

 

THIS POST WAS ALL ABOUT ADHD SIGNS IN ADULT WOMEN.