Women and ADHD
Since I’ve become an ADHD coach, I am not only meeting people who proactively seek out my help, but also meeting people via a number of other circumstances, and even just at the pub who have either recently been diagnosed or are waiting to be diagnosed.
These people tend to be women which could be pure chance, the fact that I am a female coach, or actually just because more women are finally seeking out the help and support they need.
The real answer is complex, whilst there are more men than women who have had an ADHD diagnosis (about 3:1), there is evidence to suggest that due to the difference in women’s and men’s behaviour, that isn’t due to ADHD being more prevalent in men. Women are just incredibly good at masking to a point where they are often misdiagnosed.
The symptoms tend to show up differently in both. If you look at the differences really closely, a lot of them are due to gender role expectations and stereotypes (Source). Women tend to take on supportive, caring roles which sees them going above and beyond to help others and put their needs last. In women, some of the ADHD symptoms that show up more dominantly are lack of confidence (due to RSD, shame, etc), anxiety/overwhelm, and the need for perfectionism.
Whereas men have the more evident symptoms like hyperactivity or high-risk behaviours. In early childhood, girls also tend to be less “disruptive” than boys in school, so their ADHD just shows up completely differently and can’t be easily caught. This also means that women tend to be misdiagnosed with depression, as they are better at dealing with or overcompensating with the other more “obvious” symptoms.
I can’t help but draw comparisons to the difference in gender roles in the workplace too. It is well documented that when it comes to applying for jobs, men are more comfortable with overestimating their skills and experience, whereas women tend to be too honest. Imposter Syndrome is also said to be more prevalent in women.
In my 15 years within the marketing and creative industries (both agency and in-house) there was an obvious split between the job titles that men had vs women. Oftentimes (I realise I am generalising now) the men would either move into or be in roles that meant they didn’t have to do any of the “admin” side of the job, think Strategy Director, Creative Director or Graphic Designer. This means that once they got to mid-level seniority they never had to get into the details, do the status/meeting reports, or keep the project timeline up to date. So naturally, those account management roles would often be filled by women.
However, now that awareness and education has significantly increased, this may be the reason why I am hearing more from women who believe they have ADHD or are diagnosed. Thankfully all of the symptoms associated with ADHD are now being analysed and understood properly. Hopefully this will lead to more women seeking help and not trying to just get through it like the warriors they are.
