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accessHealthNews.net
May 2025
Volume 11 | Issue No. 96
More women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s are
receiving a diagnosis of attention-deficit/
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for the
first time. For some, the diagnosis follows
decades of being told they were anxious,
scattered, too sensitive, or simply not trying
hard enough.
ADHD is a neurological condition that
affects executive function—the brain's
ability to plan, focus, regulate emotions,
and complete tasks.
While commonly associated with
hyperactivity in children, ADHD also
presents as inattention, disorganization,
time blindness, and emotional
dysregulation—traits that are frequently
overlooked in girls and women.
As of 2022, 14.5% of boys and 8% of girls
ages 5 to 17 have been diagnosed with
ADHD, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Clinicians increasingly agree that the gap
is the result of a failure to recognize how
ADHD presents differently by gender—
not an indication that girls are less
affected. When left untreated, ADHD can
interfere with school performance, work,
relationships, and mental health.
For those girls, symptoms often continue
into adolescence and early adulthood,
but still go unrecognized. Many become
high-functioning students or professionals
who mask their difficulties through
overachievement, people-pleasing, or
meticulous organization. Their struggles
with focus, time management, and
emotional regulation are often dismissed
as stress or personality quirks.
READ MORE
"It's not uncommon for women to come in saying, 'I've
been trying to figure this out for 10 years."
Dr. Sasha Hamdani, a board-certified psychiatrist, bestselling
author, and creator of the ADHD management app FocusGenie
