Yep, that'll cover it. We are very hard to catch. I was diagnosed at 52. The (at my first visit) 75 year old doctor said "my goodness you are the worst case of adult ADHD I have ever seen. How did you possibly make it through school? " I replied " very quickly! "
As a 65 year old woman with some history of depression, who has spent a lifetime overcompensating for inattentive tendencies, who hails from a family with a high percentage of diagnosed males... have you been offered any treatment? If so, did you find it helpful? And wishing you all the best!
@@acninee strong coffee helps. Adderal helps but is a controlled substance you have to get every 30days from a Dr. It is worse for me as I live in severe pain. Pain treatment also helps. Take care!
@@humility1st strong coffee does not help! It has a diminishing effect. And drinking 10 a day (like my friend) is not healthy. Worse if you're like me and it makes you sleepy it is counterintuitive. It works as a bandage solution. Further, it makes it more difficult to sleep which actually exacerbates adhd symptoms, one of which is circadian rhythm disruption. But I'd suggest seeing your MD for other possible help if you can't get medication. Or if you can't, check out How to Adhd RUclips channel, NCBI, and Mayo. There are a lot if good resources that are free but a lot more that are just bunk.
Diagnosed grade 1, medicated since grade 2. Maybe it’s because of my family history (70%of my family has it, both male and female), but I feel like an outlier...
Very true! I didn't realise that I might be autistic until a psychologist I was speaking to mentioned it might be why I am the way I am. I didn't think that I could be be because the stereotypical autistic person is male and a socially inept genius. He told me to look at female symptoms of autism, and surprise! I have a lot! I currently have a provisional diagnosis of ASD but I have to wait a while for an official screening. I really wish someone had picked up on it when I was younger, because I very clearly had problems with social situations and making friends/knowing how to act, but it was all ignored and dismissed as my "personality". Because this was a small school in rural England in the 90s and early 00s. Honestly, just finding other women who have experienced similar things is mind-blowing and has made me feel a lot more comfortable in my idiosyncrasies! Fingers crossed more awareness is raised between the different presentations of autism and more autistic young girls get help earlier!
@@placeholdernameisplacehold7671 Funny you mentioned this. I just saw new research say that estrogen is now the suspected hormone and not testosterone.
I've had these symptoms (forgetfulness, easily distracted, a million and one un finished projects, etc) since I was a little kid in school, but I was told that I was 'lazy' and just needed to 'focus' more. Sure, at times I wasn't into it, but most other times it was purely unintentional. But because I was quiet, didn't break the rules (a girl maybe?, idk), etc. no one really thought that it was anything beyond my work ethic. Now as an adult, I'm super selfconcious of being perceived as "Lazy" when really I just zone out a lot, so I have anxiety over these things and don't really believe when people say I'm doing a good job. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and honestly it's was a relief to know that it isn't just me and it is something out of my control. Getting medication has been a challenge (still in the process), but I have more hope that it's possible now.
I was diagnosed with ADHDi 15 years ago and my relief was immense because my mom had been telling me I was lazy since I was a child. It wasn't until this year that I talked to my psychiatrist about meds, it didn't occur to me that they could help me as an adult. I stumbled upon the RUclips channel 'How to ADHD' run by a woman with ADHD and it's helped me understand myself so much better. The meds are helping, and since I'm 56, I'm thinking it's never too late to advocate for yourself, and to learn how to make life so much easier.
This is my story, both of you. Except it was my dad who convinced me I was lazy. Which is ironic because I think my dad had ADHD inattentive himself. When a counselor brought up the possibility of diagnosis, I resisted because I KNEW it was my fault I was such a scatterbrain. But she started pointing out symptoms she'd seen just in observing me during our sessions and asked some pointed questions that I could only answer yes to. Medication did nothing for me (and caffeine in the wild gives me headaches in helpful doses), which is the story of my life really. So I've been learning coping mechanisms with varying degrees of success. Unfortunately ADHD is not a valid excuse for forgetting to pay a bill.
The relief of knowing you DID have a problem all those years is indescribable. I could finally stop hating on myself, and my depression almost entirely disappeared. I'm still bitter that it took so long though.
I was one of the weird girls, I was so hyper teachers would try taping my mouth shut, or tried trying me to my seat which I just walked around with it. I did get diagnosed at age 7, but that was like 1979 or 1980. Parents didn't want me on "zombie meds" and believed it was behavioral, that I just need strong discipline. Yeah, the next school year I was in a foster home....so much for stronger discipline Parents need to be willing to address the issues, not write it off. That is the biggest reason girls are under diagnosed. Our role is to play nice, don't make a fuss, just ignore them, and so on. So everything becomes internal- hyper thoughts, hyper worry, hyper stress...40 some odd years later... I have depression, anxiety, and self medicated with either food or alcohol, thank God for my later in life diagnoses.. I was a train wreck about to happen!
RedisFun2 I’m really sorry that happened to you.... I’m so grateful to have awesome parents that knew I didn’t “need more Discipline.” And trusted doctors for meds
Didn't they have amphetamine or other stimulant medication at that time? Those don't make you a zombie. But I do get people don't want to take anti-psychotics. Doctors seem to be giving them out left and right and they basically make you a zombie that is easier to deal with. They should actually only be used for schizophrenia but now they are used for literally any disorder. I have very mild Autism Spectrum Disorder and they even tried to give me some
@@bobthegoat7090 they have been using stimulants sense at least the 1930s or 40s but not widely and they called adhd something else, it's been found in medical documents going back to early 19th century I believe. I found this info through a few sources. But by the 60s and early 70s Adderall got a bad rap. Because the super hyper kids, once on the meds, became calmer, more obedienct, so too many people mistook this as a change in the child's personality, hence the zombie metaphor.
Yup! I can’t remember my PIN number but I’ll tell you my first bank card number not a problem. That was 23 years ago ffs. Same with my student number among other things. But ask me where I put my phone- I dare you.
I'm 37, this is just becoming a reality for me as my son is being tested for ADHD, now I'm seeing the patterns in myself that I could never explain. Thought I was just going to help my son but now it looks like this will be for me also
@@samannthaswtnss9397 I can top that. I was watching a quiz show and a question came up on rowing, what it's called when a person's paddle gets stuck under water (called catching crabs). My brain remembered a snippet of commentary from 2014 when I was flipping through channels and the Oxford-cambridge boat race happened to be on TV. Of all the hours upon hours of TV, movies and YT videos I have watched over the years, my brain was able to pick up on one fact from 5 minutes of TV watching from literally 7 years ago. But I still couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast a week ago.
I cried when I watched this. I was over forty when a therapist identified my inattentive ADHD, and was therefore better able to help me cope with anxiety and depression. I demonstrated none of the aggression and disruptiveness typical for boys with ADHD, and therefore went undiagnosed and untreated my whole life.
I'm a 22-year-old woman who's only recently discovered that my (chronic) forgetfulness, motor-mouth and internal restlessness is down to ADHD! Unfortunately, the process to get confirmed for medication is a bumpy road, because I wasn't diagnosed as a child, so I'm working with counselling to start reframing how I see these 'bad habits' and keeping myself well stocked on caffeine (turns out I'd been self-medicating with cola, tea and chocolate all my life without realising it!).
I’d recommend starting slow on medication and see multiple doctors/referrals. Sorry it happened to you so late, as I was late (32) when I was diagnosed too.
I hope you find good doctors and I hope you get on the right treatment! I wish you the absolute best luck! Both my mom and I have ADHD and I was actually just recently diagnosed about 2ish months ago. I’m 16 btw, and I’m currently on Concerta (a type of Ridellan) and it’s DEFINITELY helped me personally (remember one thing that helps one person might not work for you) and yes I chug tea and lattes pretty much 24/7 (I don’t really like the taste of coffee) and that seems to help a lot too. Surprising how things that should pump us up actually calm us down/help with whatever symptoms. Many adhd drugs are actually “stimulants” but anyway I wish you luck that you get at least a little better. It will probably be super frustrating and a pain in the ass at the beginning but it’s worth it
I dont think I have ADHD, but I probably would not have finished my degree without caffeine tablets. (100 mg caffeine tablets are OTC in my country) Might work for you as well.
Wait, freaking what? I have never made this connection before. I've always said that caffeine has the opposite effect on me, I will literally make a pot just because it calms me down if I've had a bad day. I've also suspected ADHD for a looong time now. Eternally spacing on things, zoning out mid-conversation, motor-mouthed, fidgety, lots of cool ideas but cannot pick one thing to concentrate on to save my life, etc. Yeah, I think it's time to push for a possible diagnosis here. Figuring that out would be great.
I'm a woman with inattentive type ADHD and I'm convinced that ADHD is simply underdiagnosed among female-assigned individuals. I myself wasn't diagnosed until my mid-20s and I had to jump through so many hoops to get a diagnosis at all - almost all the therapists and doctors I've seen were quick to just chalk up my symptoms to my chronic depression, even though they were present long before my other mental health issues manifested and fit the diagnostic criteria for inattentive-type ADHD to a T. Thank you for tackling this issue and raising awareness!
The disruptive part is way easier to pick up on, and get sent to the doctor for. I have an eight year old female student with all the classic disruptive behaviour. So it does happen.
〝ѦƁↁεя〞 missing 50% of what is going on around you and having people tell you that it’s because you just don’t try hard enough can easily lead to depression.
Isn't it funny how the stereotypical symptoms are the ones that people are most likely to find "annoying" rather than what actually affects us the most. Sometimes it really feels like we're not noticed until we become an inconvenience.
Hence the reason why more boys are diagnosed, not because society cares more about us, but because our inhuman education system doesn't tolerate differences. "Inconvenient" is the only way school taught me to think about myself.
@@BigDaddyWes I think you misread the comment. They're talking about how they only care about how we affect others not how we're basically dying inside. If we only talk about how we feel they brush it off as anxiety and other things. Please read their comment again.
@@BigDaddyWes Hyperactivity most frequently manifest in girls in the form of talking a lot and speaking very quickly. As a little girl I was often told I sounded like an auctioneer when I spoke. Another sign is inattentiveness or what my teachers called constant daydreaming. I literally couldn’t pay attention. I remember trying so hard and tears running down my checks in 7th grade science class. I was literally bored to tears but I was trying so hard to pay attention.
Thank you so much for this video. So many women and girls are suffering with ADHD symptoms and growing up to hate themselves because we are told everything is our fault.
Well no, actually girls are held less accountable. Demonstrably so. Just read social psychologist Taina Reynolds : Men as Stereotypical Perpetrators of Harm. Where she tests this stuff.
ADHD female here. This sounds really accurated for me. I have never been hyperactive as in giving trouble at school, but since young I have always been really anxious, I never gave trouble at school, I was considered very well behaved, but internally I was incredibly anxious and my grades started to fall after entering middle school even though I seemly looked like I payed attention to every class. I didn't I couldnt concentrate at all and every the smallest things would distract me. And that's why I was only diagnosed as ADHD in my 3rd yr of college. Even my parents doubt at firls because "you are not hyperactive, you always behaved at school". Specially my mom since she was a teacher and all the kids with adhd she met were boys who wouldnt stay still, would fight often and not pay attention. But I also do think its about society. Because inside I would feel really angry sometimes, but more than that I would feel scared about what people would think of me if they saw me, a girl, behaving "like an angry boy". I would also feel a strong necessity to cry when angry and then I would use all my energy to hold everything inside so people wouldnt judge me for crying. No surprise I completely broke down years later. So I am really really glad more attentuon is being given to this. Being a female ADHD is not easy, so I want to thank you guys for giving more light on it.
Satsu Jin Relate deeply to your story.... aside from ADHD, I have Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) which makes carrying a conversation so difficult 😢
I relate to this. My brother was diagnosed with adhd and treated at a young age, based on my mom's (an RN) pushing. Despite struggling with school, commitment, focus, depression, emotional regulation, anger, and even some hyperactivity, i was only diagnosed last fall after visiting a series of doctors over years, at my own request. My mom said she never even noticed and she thought my struggles were due to laziness or being overly emotional. I also think that so much of ADHD is impacted from society. For instance, if society was built in a way that's more accepting and inclusive of non-neurotypical minds, heavy medication would be much less necessary. I feel you. We're here.
I was a violent child until I started elementary school. After that I was only angry on the inside as well, just like you. I still am. Some times I fear I will have a violent outburst, because it's difficult to keep it in for so many years.
Oh my goodness! Your story sounds so much like mine! I held so much inside and I don't know how I survived middle school or early high school. I lucked out and was diagnosed in high school, but with me the distractability was really obvious as I got older, so that is what likely helped in it being caught earlier. I would tell people that I couldn't hear them because someone else nearby was talking too loud.
I was a talkative child, almost incessantly. I could remember my mother's favorite perfume brand and scent 5 years after she told me, but couldn't remember where I put my glasses 5 minutes ago. I didn't get diagnosed until I was 18 and life started falling apart and I couldn't figure out what was going on.
Thaaats me. Lol. It's nice to meet so many similar ladies. Hope you have been fairing ok. Edit. I have not done all the BS to get diagnosed. Red tape gives me ogeta.
oh remember something similar I remember parts of a movie that I watched when I was 3 and I only watched it once, yet when I walk into a room I forgot what I was doing
sunshine6997 Yup I know that look. Even had people say “you can’t have adhd” but hey, they obviously aren’t a good person to have in our lives *highfives!*
I'm a guy with a type of adhd that more resembles what's more common in girls. Some of my teachers didn't believe me at all, when I told them, because usually the boys with it would be the biggest "troublemakers" while I was the most quiet child in class. I just couldn't focus on like anything longer than 3 seconds, made a ton of little errors (I still do, I just look out for them better) and my spelling was bad (OK it still is)
@@melonlord1414 my late husband was also inattentive type but never got diagnosed, cause he was quiet, always behaved. They thought he was mentally slow for years, even had him and special education classes through high school. When I met him years later I knew he was not slow minded at all but he just seemed to struggle with organization and finishing tasks.
"for some reason" socialization. It's generally seen as acceptable for males to be disruptive, aggressive, disobedient, etc. Females (overall) are socialized to be docile, please others, poised, etc. People who see a boy that's acting up might say "maybe he has ADHD." People who see a girl who's acting up might say "oh she's just emotional" and the disorder gets missed. The same thing happens with autism.
Yes but there's also just an innate difference, as a trans girl with ADHD/autism my symptoms were often female aligned even in childhood, they were certainly shaped by socialisation, but it's not the main cause.
We are “ditzy”, “flighty”, “quirky” etc. Not a big deal to society 🤷🏻♀️ It’s a problem when boys have those symptoms though because how will they become a CEO???
Haha that is exactly the thought I had, and wrote my comment before watching or reading any others. Now I'm cynically wondering if the title was tailored towards getting data points.
Thank you for this topic. I was just diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. It was always anxiety and depression that were the concern in my childhood. I can look back and see all the signs that were ignored because I was so quiet and anxious. Hopefully the medical community will pay more attention in the future.
@@lancewalker2595 Women are told to suppress their anger a lot more, if we get angry and it's visible we're labelled as emotional, irrational, asked if it's that time of the month, etc. We're not allowed to be angry, but we're allowed to express sadness, which seems to be what men are told to restrain. Since, you know, it's a feminine emotion. Except we all feel sadness and anger, and should be allowed to express it.
@@lancewalker2595 Oh, so it doesn't make sense to you because you haven't experienced it, and therefore don't believe it? Got it. I guess by that logic, not being a male, I should counter with no, men aren't as policed as women, that doesn't make sense.
THANK YOU. I was put on antidepressants and anti anxiety medications through high school and in college, feeling like a damn zombie the while time, and then finally when i was put on my stimulant medication, i made deans list for the first time. Girls have ADHD, we're just told to sit down, shut up, and "act like a lady" so much that it internalizes as shame. This is SO IMPORTANT.
Yes! We need more research about autism in females. At least for people on the higher functioning end of the spectrum, women and girls hide it so much more/better than men and boys so it's often misdiagnosed.
@@ncskitty Yes! that what happened to me. I finally got diagnosed with autism at 19 years old. My previous diagnoses consisted of bipolar disorder, anxiety, and OCD. Unfortunately, I had been on medications since I was 10 years old that I didn't even need. I don't even want to think about the unnecessary side effects the meds gave me. Luckily, now that I know im autistic I have been able to get off my meds, I just wish I knew sooner. I actually displayed a lot more aggressive behavior as a kid. Im sure that if I was a cis boy, I would have been diagnosed correctly early on
@@placeholdernameisplacehold7671 That's true, but it highlights the difference between someone like 'Rainmen' and someone who doesn't have it to that extent. I don't like it when I get compared with the debilitating side of ASS, I am a high functioning autist. And at the time of my diagnosis it was still Asperger's syndrome.
I was just coming to comment on this. It points to the male bias in science today. I'm not saying it's intentionally sexist. I'm talking about how it's predominantly males in the sciences still, and it never occurs to them, in general, that things can show up differently for females. It happens all the time with drug trials too, where they don't break up the prevalence of certain side-effects between male and females, despite some having a higher or lower incidence in each population. If 25% of men experience a side-effect, but only 1% of women do, if you add the whole population together, it's going to look like it's uncommon for both. That's bad for everyone. And it's so sad, because we'd be so much further along with understanding physiology without this bias. It's caused untold suffering, with thousands of women finally getting diagnosed in their 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. It took the internet and forums to cause them to reach out to doctors to say "Uhhh, this explains pretty much everything". And that involves untold hurdles, where doctors are resistant because they weren't diagnosed as kids. *smh*
*waves in diagnosed as adult* And my husband and I manifest our ADHD differently. He also has autism, but I only got diagnosed because he was concerned about how much I had in common with his ADHD issues.
i definitely agree about the way girls are socialised. boys are 'allowed' to misbehave, whereas young girls are taught to be quiet and unobtrusive, so for those who had a female childhood (inc. trans men like myself) we end up presenting symptoms of ADHD (and autism for that matter) in less obvious ways, so we don't get diagnosed until later in life. the major example in my family is that my brother and i are both on the spectrum and we initially had similar symptoms, but while my brother could have his meltdown in peace, i got told to shut up and 'act my age', so i learned to suffer in silence. as a result, my brother got diagnosed at age 7 (and the classroom support that comes with it) while im still trying to get a diagnosis (for learning support so i dont have a meltdown mid-exam again)at age 19
Place holder name is place holder Often psychiatrists have specialties so the same person that diagnosis gender dysphoria might not be an expert in diagnosing adult autism and refer you to a different psychiatrist that specializes in it. Often it harder for adults to get an autism diagnosis because there’s so few people who do evaluations for adult autism.
@@placeholdernameisplacehold7671 I'm only out online. my parents are pretty transphobic, so I can't start any kind of transition until I'm completely independent from them, so no referral yet
@@placeholdernameisplacehold7671 oh i've already done that; i'm UK too. the issue now is waiting 1-2 years to actually GET that diagnosis. the NHS is massively underfunded, especially for adult mental health etc. i'm hopeful i'll have things sorted by next summer, but it's really just a waiting game now
Evan I act out anyway my brain is sometimes like let's just ignore the fact ur are male but I know that I'm lesss hyper. than the boys but more hyper than the average ADHD girl
*Watching this with ADHD, opens 5 different tabs, looks at art, looks at twitter, closes twitter, opens another youtube video, then realizes i should just watch this 5 minute episode. all before the half way mark* This is fine.
@@megaplasma1942 are you my psychiatrist? No? Then shush. My very expensive diagnosis is pretty accurate to my life experience and I cannot for the life of me understand why you'd assume that people would lie about their neurotype in the RUclips comments section?
@KC ???? You're choosing to come into the comments section of a psychology channel to argue with people about psychology and whether their illness is real, and you're comparing the dsm V to astrology. Why are you doing this?
ADHD is with all the other female effected issues. Ie ignored. I had PTSD for 29 years. Took my Dr 15 to diagnosed me. He also refused to frefer me for test for ADD or ADHD. I got a new Dr.
Interestingly, I actually had the inverse problem, but led to me getting a new doctor after a couple of years, too. He'd insisted that I had ADHD, GAD, and depression, and refused to treat me for anything but, even after I'd had other professionals diagnose me with bipolar, and I have a dad that's been known to be bipolar for a couple decades. He did a lot of other things that were good, but the guy had his head up his ass about reading situation honestly. He only saw me for small bursts of time, and I had little I could do to describe the volumes of time between our appointments. Ditched his ass and got a new one. Some doctors just don't listen, or lock themselves to a singular idea.
Wow I was in the same boat as you, but it only took my 4 years to be diagnosed with ptsd, and during that time I was tested for adhd without me asking about it and I was diagnosed. This was a psychiatrist though, and I was only referred to her because my doctor said that I had an eating disorder even though I was just violently sick from medication she gave me. The system is flawed for sure
It's not ignored. It's because schools cater to girls so much. Read Christina Hoff Sommers war against boys if you think your problems are ignored in the slightest. Sometimes, tho, these female advocates who ignore gender differences do harm girls too. But only as a side effect.
@@SlyNine which school do you go to that caters to girls? Mine only cares about us when our bra straps show. The boys here have access to a school therapist whereas we just go to detention when doing anything unwanted in class. I hate it here. But maybe it's my country, though.
Hello!! I was diagnosed with ADD young but didn’t get much help from teachers or anything because I’m a very quiet person and not disruptive. It’s the same reason my bipolar II disorder took 3 years to diagnose after initially going to a psychiatrist. The only one disrupted by my symptoms was me because I’m so quiet and non-disruptive. Having resources available to me through the internet empowering and informing me enough to take care of myself helps a lot though. :)
Shana Tries RUclips mostly. There’s a channel called “How to ADHD” that is very helpful with ADHD-specific tips. I also used to use a mental health message board called “Health Unlocked” but i haven’t used that one in a while. There’s lots of stuff if you know where to look :)
A close friend of mine who has been diagnosed with adhd, had to switch doctors due to insurance changes, the doctor didnt believe that she had adhd and wouldn't continue perscribing her medication. I hope with time the inattentive symptoms, and the issues they cause, become more well understood by clinicians and the general public.
Hi, I'm here! I was tested at age 8 and "failed" their tests. Retested at age 28 and confirmed by a psychologist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner. It explains so much about my difficulties in school.
As a female who got diagnosed with ADHD at 27, after thinking i might have it for years until depression slammed everything out of me; Yeah. Yeah, this sounds about right.
I didn't realize I was ADHD until I took speed the first time. Curled up in a ball and fell asleep while my friends were up all night. So much for using that to write a term paper
...been down that rabbit hole. Self-medication has often seemed far more reliable than the doctor/diagnostic dartboard. Sometimes, it feels better to just accept that I'm not actually "broken and need to be fixed" but rather, I'm fantastic, and it's just the world that should learn to accept me. ;) Still... there's definitely something to be said for that... _quiet moment_ huhn.
Mistress1337 me too! I was diagnosed with ADD first before they told me that it’s all just ADHD now. And I have too much anger!! Wow, I thought I was kind of alone!
Actually most females default to anger with ADD/ADHD. it's a well known.. symptom? Rong word, but we'll go with it. It's part of trouble with processing emotion and social stuff since your brain is going faster than a million ferets on crack. It doesn't keep up so it takes the easy route and anger is easy. What's REAL fun is SEVERE ADHD and high functioning Asperger's. You don't "get" social things and you can't process the interactions and emotions well...Years of behavior therepy goes so far so now my social interactions are the equivalent of computer programming:. If z then y. At least it's gotten easier to figure out empathy, morals and concern as I got older (yay logic) even know f I suck at expression there of or apparently tact..
Throw jello at that person who says it can't be ADHD because you are too quiet. ADHD doesn't need to have hyperactivity. And remember ADHD ALWAYS comes with lots of smarts. You can be smart and not have ADHD, but you can't have ADHD without being smart! Isn't that great! 😁
@@amaryllisnightingale6309 I know it's been like a year but I want to correct this so that nobody gets the wrong idea: ADD is outdated terminology. It is still accurate to refer to what was formerly known as ADD as ADHD, specifically ADHD Inattentive. People still use the term ADD, since that was the term for years, but it isn't wrong to say that someone who doesn't have primarily hyperactive symptoms has ADHD.
I have severe combined type , my hyperactivity is my brain! It never stops and leads to things like insomnia. I do not jump around and I never have and I was extremely quiet at school I've also never been in trouble with the police etc.
Present! Right here! I was diagnosed at age 27, and was first seeking treatment for anxiety and depression. :) When I told my friends months later, one of them go, "Isn't that for kids?" And she's a nurse. Which only goes to show that there's a lot we don't know as a society about ADHD.
I was diagnosed at the age of 42. It was my third time seeking a diagnosis. The first two times I was in my 20s. The first two doctors said since I wasn’t jumping around the office and playing with their equipment I was fine. 🙄
I'm glad to hear the societal parts addressed! As a kid I sometimes struggled with feeling like if I was hyper people would say I needed to calm down, but if it was a boy being hyper, he was just behaving like "any other boy". My family was better about that, though!
Here! Diagnosed in adulthood. Let's say my attention was so bad during my time with my therapist that she assigned me to a Psychiatrist for medication the second time we met. He diagnosed me soon after. I was always told that I was just dizzy head as a child... nothing to worry about 😏 til I got to college and was unable to cope. 😒
You guys say it like you would have preferred to have been methed up as a child. (Adderall and the equivalent meds are basically low doses of meth) Is that what you’re getting at, or are you saying you wanted therapy? I only know of one female who was drugged as a child because of adhd and she does not look back on it fondly. Does anybody have any positive experiences with that?
@@towjam37 Because "methed up" and "drugged" aren't stigmatizing at all nor do they misrepresent what's occurring for most the people who are prescribed the medication 🙄... I know that the video is about females, but I don't see why your question limits to only younger girls given the comments before. I had a classmate who was diagnosed with ADHD in 7th grade. Her medicine allowed her to focus and not constantly talk; she went from barely being able to pass and having few friends to being an A/B student and forming a social circle.
I was one of those rare six year old girls where everyone just knew. My case was incredibly obvious and there was zero question whether or not I had ADHD. I actually consider myself really lucky for that reason. I think that such an early diagnosis really helped me get far in life with college and my career.
Thank you for this content! Most of my family has ADHD. I feel very grateful to have been properly diagnosed, because my ADHD is vastly different when compared to my brother's. His showed up with school, disruptiveness, and being easily distracted, while mine has led to multiple times of locking keys in the car, disorganization, and even disordered eating for a time. I hope that more girls can get what they need ❤️
Yup...I was diagnosed in my late 30s. Inattentive type ADHD. I always did well in school, through sheer willpower and at the expense of a LOT of stress and anxiety. Low dose medication has made ALL the difference. Being unmedicated is like driving down the road during a very bad storm at night. You can keep the car on the road if you grip the steering wheel with all your might, but it’s difficult and you have to focus every ounce of your being on not ending up in a ditch. Exhausting. On medication, it’s like driving the car on a sunny day and in good weather...pretty much effortless. Medication isn’t for everyone, of course, but for many people it can be very helpful
I'm right here! Luckily I was diagnosed as a little girl...in the late 80's. Sadly that ment lots of crazy meds in the 90's and being used as a lab rat.
I have an inability to stop talking, can’t stand still or focus on a task for a long time, but my parents used my brother as an example and insisted I didn’t have the disorder. I was always wondering what was wrong with me until I started to research ADHD and realized that I did have it and a therapist confirmed.
Thank you for covering this. I was misdiagnosed until my early 20s, although all the signs were there since childhood - messy room, losing things, difficulty finishing projects, distractable, energetic. However, since I did well in school, no one thought anything of it. The difficulties ADHD caused depression, which has traveled with me into adulthood. I still feel that much of my depression stems from the ADHD and my struggle with 'adulting,' though I have compensated for much of it. My house is still a mess though ;)
i really appreciate the subtle use of words like cisgender, transgender, pregnant people not pregnant woman, etc in all of your channels. small steps like that is what makes diversity seen, heard and acknowledged.
I'm still mid video so it might be addressed somewhere, but there's also potential for just how we raise the different sexes. Girls are punished if they act out, where boys are somewhat dismissed as just "boys will be boys". I think this part of the video is coming up as I type, but I think that would have a lot more to do with the differences. The same is shown in autism, it's much harder to diagnose girls with autism because they are taught to process their behaviors and emotions differently than boys just socially. Because of that, symptoms can be missed entirely because the kid has learned to display them differently just on a base level.
I'm female & was diagnosed in the 5th grade, leading to diagnoses of my mom & sister. I wasn't quiet by any means, but definitely anxious since early childhood, severe anger problems in middle school, and anxiety/depression as a young adult into adulthood. Luckily I was able to avoid medication until adulthood because of behavior therapy. Would be fine now if some other non related health issues hadn't happened. I had learned how to manage & harness my 'symptoms' for good!
I was diagnosed with regular ADD without the H in the mid 90's, and definitely my symptoms were very much on the inattentive side. I would just stare at the flickering lights and be lost in my thoughts, and was the very bottom student in the class. My first day on ritalin, i finished all my work before everyone else, which was proof i understood the material, and just didn't have the attention for repetitive tasks. Unfortunately i think giving stimulants to kids has some bad side effects too, and probably led to my later struggles with drug abuse too. It's interesting, and I'm not sure what the best approach would be. I think if i had individual teaching adjusted to my pace and understanding, i could have gotten further with my education, even without ritalin. But that's just not feasible for a regular working family, i guess.
My guess is because girls mature faster and education carters more to girls learning styles. Since adhd is a developmental delay it makes sense. I can talk in length about how boys are discriminated against. Explicitly and the policies that do it. From the bad studies done by the short changed girl campaign, and the feminist advocates that pushed them, to the equity in education act, and much more.
@@SlyNine I'm sure you can talk ad nauseum about the subject, unfortunately your words will fall on deaf ears. No one cares holmes, just gotta move on.
If school caters to girls learning then why aren’t women being diagnosed with ADHD? ADHD if a learning disability. If the school system is biased towards girls then logically girls should be the first to get diagnosed.
I embraced my "weirdness" years ago. I remember being told in middle school on the bus that I was weird. I told the boy, "Thank you for the complement." It was SO freeing. Being weird is more interesting by far. 😊 ADD and quiet, depression and anxiety under control now.
@@teresaellis7062 I'd take it as a compliment as well, and I would certainly prefer that label to "violent". I know now what I knew at the age 7, violent people go to prison, so you can imagine being called violent wasn't exactly conducive to my mental health.
Before watching this: HERE! I AM RIGHT HERE. I was first diagnosed @ 1990. Women aren't quite as fidgety as men, and so for many of us the diagnosis comes late or never. I actually may have been fortunate to be SUCH A mess, since I was diagnosed in 7th grade, and early in the ADHD years. My son is also ADHD. We actually share a behavioral therapist. She is excellent and very professional, so it ends up beneficial to all that she helps us both. I sincerely hope that others of any and all genders with this issue find the assistance they need. Being left to one's own devices with ADHD is NOT fun.
This reminds me of an interesting documentary I watched about autism. Males are diagnosed 4 times more often as females, but they now believe both gender groups are equally likely to be autistic. The reason it's not often detected in females is because they're much better at mimicking the social behaviours of others from a young age, and basically 'teaching themselves to act normally'.
Got diagnosed w/ ADHD 5 months ago (I'm 22) and this video sums up my experience perfectly. Would make a huge difference if doctors, counselors, and even educators were better prepared to notice the different signs in female patients/students, it would have saved me and others a lot of trouble :(
mine started around age 7, and i wasn't diagnosed until i was about 59. i can't help but wonder how different my life would have been if i would have known sooner. it sure would have prevented a lot of very serious problems if i had known sooner.
Oh we’re here, but no one is paying attention to us! We’re just considered flakey, ditzy, spacey, fruity, and ‘not trying hard enough’. Thankfully I received a diagnosis at 19, but it would ideally have been better to get one earlier. I’ve learned to work with it and embrace it as I’ve gotten older. Life definitely would be more boring without my ADHD!
My hypothesis is that part of the reason the disease manifests differently is socialization. I've thought I've had adhd for a while but have not sought a diagnosis. I was socialized as a female, and my symptoms present the usual feminine way. But I'm transitioning and on testosterone, and it hasn't affected my symptoms at all. I wish more studies would utilize trans subjects to test the "socialization vs hormones" question for all sorts of things.
I think its the internalized mysogyny in the medical community. So many doctors take males much more seriously than females. Males are believed at face value where as females are disbelieved and told its mostly in their heads. This is gaslighting and also likely as to why females tend to internalized most of their symptoms. They do not believe what they are feeling is real because they are told it is not. This issue should have been addressed in this video and i'm kinda sad that it wasn't
As a woman with all that lovely hyperactive nonsense, yeah it was practically beaten out of me. None of my teachers wanted me in class, my peers thought I was weird and too loud, and my parents barely kept up with me. I was always so angry too, because whole gaggles of boys would do the same things, and if I pointed it out it was always "that's what boys do" or "they're just having fun"
School is honestly a nightmare. I have inattentive ADHD, and school literally made me so stressed I got sick. (Not just a common cold sick, I'm talking stomach flu stuff every month, if not every two weeks that lasted for 2 days to 2 weeks with high fevers, vomiting, etc.) As soon as I left school, I stopped getting sick. No joke. I also got MUCH healthier and happier. All I needed was a different setting.
I'm right here. Anytime you see a woman with a "very messy" house- she probably has and. She'll have 15 unfinished projects, "wild" kids, and a grand plan that would work if only she would "apply" herself . But it's like living in the eye of a storm. Everything is whizzing by and you only catch half of it. The world just swirls around you and you adapt. You weed out what's not critical and focus on just surviving. Simplicity & practicality are best. Yes, I was the quiet type. Meds were hell.
Yyyyyup. When I was in middle school, my teacher thought that I might have ADHD (this was almost 20 years ago, so good for her!!) She told my parents that this might be why I struggle so much with certain aspects of school but do so well in others. Did my parents listen? NOPE. They decided that they would tell the school to hold me back a year to teach me a lesson. They could do this because it was a small private school and money talks. Hopefully fewer little girls have to go through stuff like this thanks to research and reporting of said research. Thank you for all that you do SciShow!!!
Thank you for being so inclusive ❤ I'm trans female and recently got diagnosed with adhd as an adult, symptoms of Inattentive, silent, calm, anxiety, relating very similarly to my also recently diagnosed sister. We both grew up with these symptoms though not being diagnosed until older where as my hyper brother was diagnosed at age 9. I believe from my own experience that adhd is different due to brain structure and not societal pressure or from hormones. 😊
Auby Bear as an AMAB NB, I came here expecting to be invalidated, but was surprised to discover the symptoms I present are (appropriately) something of a mix of the two expected subsets: high anxiety, frequent depression, quietly inattentive, sometimes restlessly hyperactive, occasional incidents of aggression... Not saying I’m trans, but yeah...
@@AnkhAnanku That's awesome, not saying your symptoms are awesome, but that they fall very on both sides. It's honestly interesting and would be interesting to see continued research in this.
I remember being taken off the waiting list for a diagnosis because my doctor thought I had severe anxiety and prescribed me antidepressants. So I wasn't diagnosed until I went private which made me SO broke as I cleared out all my savings and worked multiple jobs whilst studying but knowing you aren't going crazy is worth it. Underdiagnosis is a real problem
As an afab nonbinary, the mention of how we don't recognize how things are in trans people made me nearly cry. I love psychology and whenever trans people are recognized it makes me so happy.
Hey I´m here, recently diagnosed ADD adult high functioning woman of 53. My diagnosis explained a lot but I had a great life, travelled a lot, moved countries, did many brave and crazy things in my life, 10 relationships, 2 marraiges but it all worked out ok in the end. I diagnosed myself in the end after various psychologists missed it. It was always there, I always ran everywhere, fidgeted, doodled and stared at clouds in class. I have also been very late my whole life. Glad we are finding ourselves finally!
I went out looking for videos about the disorder I was just diagnosed with not to long ago, went of track and to the list of new videos by subscribed chanals, and I found what I came looking for. How cool is that!
When I was little, I’d impulsively say things in class, and then I realized that that wasn’t ok, so I’d try my hardest not to talk, which would result in me never actually paying attention, but I could still somehow recite EXACTLY a what my teacher said to me, without knowing what they were even talking about
Here I am. This is me. There's no where else on earth I'd rather be Here I am; it's just me and you. Tonight we make our dreams come true It's a NEEEW WOOORLD, IT'S A NEEEW STAAAART. .....I'm sorry, What were we talking about?
PANS OUT. 35yrs old & just got diagnosed a few months ago. Had been told all my life I just had anxiety & depression and was treated for that, but it never really helped. I still made careless mistakes in school, still spaced out a lot, & forgot important dates. Finally it came to ahead when I was diagnosed w/severe post-partum after my daughter was born. Years later, after the depression had been managed, I discovered I was WAY more clumsy, forgetful, & just generally unable to take care of myself, let alone my kid & had almost zero motivation to do so. Got meds & started sleeping better, then went and cleaned my WHOLE house, 10yrs worth of built up STUFF mind you, out in about 2-3weeks. Now tasks that I would have had to put a show on to do (folding laundry, or doing the dishwasher) are easily done multiple times a day, & I don't feel constantly mentally, physically & emotionally exhausted.
My 3 young nieces have hyperactive adhd, the same as their brother though he also has dyslexia. My other sister has adhd, and I have it as well. I'm fidgety but with the inattentive.
I have ADHD-Inattentive Type, and, while I am usually quiet, I fidget and space out in situations that are dull or unengaging. However, when I get really passionate, angry, or excited about something, I talk a mile a minute, and it's really hard for me to be mindful of what the other person is thinking or feeling. I sometimes even unintentionally interrupt others without thinking about it because I tend to just unintentionally blurt out my feelings when I feel really strong about what they're trying to say. So, when I recognize that I'm getting worked up during an important conversation, I pull out a tissue box, and whoever has the tissue box gets to talk, meaning I have to ride the intense urge to say what I want to say until the other person gives me the tissue box.
There are actually three different presentations of ADHD. - Hyperactivity - Inattentive - Combined - when a person has symptoms from the two presentations above. This is actually the most common. Also, on the whole “women don’t tend to get diagnosed” thing, it’s mostly because all the studies on ADHD and the symptoms involved were done on boys at school since ADHD started being researched in the 1900’s. It’s only been in the last decade or two that people have realised that ‘school boys’ are not indicative of a whole population. Hank touched on this but I wanted to say it again.
Oh, she's fantastic!! I love her. She ends up echoing everything my psychiatrist tells me, heh. I've recommended her to my psychiatrist, who also has ADD.
I've always suspected that I had ADHD since high school. Right now, I am trying to get an evaluation and it is taking a long time to just get that appointment set up, mostly because of the pandemic at this point. However, when I told my family that I thought I had ADHD, they dismissed me and told me it was just my anxiety and depression. Yet, I was made fun of by them growing up that I never listened and was told I had "selective hearing". I got so upset so many times because they would remind me of something they told me and I wouldn't even remember that conversation. Even now as a woman in her late 20's, I have a hard time processing what people say to me, I lose my train of thought, and get distracted so easily. I really hope I can get evaluated soon so I can get some answers.
I was mis-diagnosed with /Bipolar 2/ disorder and am now being re-evaluated for ADHD, which according to all the research I've done and the information from my new neuropsychologist makes *far* more sense than Bipolar 2. Poor women getting mis-diagnosed with mood disorders all over the place, which really greatly affect our lives (life and health insurance, obtaining a job, etc.) in a very negative way. Bless all of us women out here with ADHD. I'm so glad SciShow Psych did this video!
The social aspect of ADHD manifestation is very interesting. I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 28 (late diagnosis is women is common). As a very small child (2-4 years old) I was very mischievous and tough and constantly caused trouble or would get into fights with other kids, but it was quickly beaten out of me and I became a shy and introverted child instead. Boys of the same age were given the freedom to continue being loud and cause trouble and adults laughing at their behaviour was even a form of encouragement. They were all diagnosed with ADHD very early on. I never looked at it this way but it makes a lot of sense.
Symptoms of heart attack are different between males & females, so it doesn't surprise me that ADHD symptoms can differ, too. Likely there are many other diseases/disorders where symptoms differ between the sexes. I Celebrate Diversity! ;-)
I never would have been diagnosed with inattentive ADHD if my counselor in college hadn't suggested it. I always just assumed it was/had been diagnosed with depression. She pretty much saved my life 💜
The science for the longest time, was biased. I was originally diagnosed at 17, mom said that I'd grow out of it. New at 42 I finally got diagnosed. I work 2 jobs and go to college. I don't have depression or anxiety. Treating my ADHD is awesome. Feels good to have a better brain.
Not a better brain...it’s just that your brain is working as it’s supposed to, with appropriate neurotransmitter levels! (But I get what you’re saying) :-)
Yep, that'll cover it. We are very hard to catch. I was diagnosed at 52. The (at my first visit) 75 year old doctor said "my goodness you are the worst case of adult ADHD I have ever seen. How did you possibly make it through school? " I replied " very quickly! "
As a 65 year old woman with some history of depression, who has spent a lifetime overcompensating for inattentive tendencies, who hails from a family with a high percentage of diagnosed males... have you been offered any treatment? If so, did you find it helpful? And wishing you all the best!
They said that eh.
@@acninee strong coffee helps. Adderal helps but is a controlled substance you have to get every 30days from a Dr. It is worse for me as I live in severe pain. Pain treatment also helps. Take care!
@@humility1st strong coffee does not help! It has a diminishing effect. And drinking 10 a day (like my friend) is not healthy. Worse if you're like me and it makes you sleepy it is counterintuitive. It works as a bandage solution. Further, it makes it more difficult to sleep which actually exacerbates adhd symptoms, one of which is circadian rhythm disruption.
But I'd suggest seeing your MD for other possible help if you can't get medication. Or if you can't, check out How to Adhd RUclips channel, NCBI, and Mayo. There are a lot if good resources that are free but a lot more that are just bunk.
Diagnosed grade 1, medicated since grade 2. Maybe it’s because of my family history (70%of my family has it, both male and female), but I feel like an outlier...
Autism also manifests very differently in women. It's very tricky to spot in comparison and often gets misdiagnosed or missed entirely.
Very true! I didn't realise that I might be autistic until a psychologist I was speaking to mentioned it might be why I am the way I am. I didn't think that I could be be because the stereotypical autistic person is male and a socially inept genius. He told me to look at female symptoms of autism, and surprise! I have a lot! I currently have a provisional diagnosis of ASD but I have to wait a while for an official screening. I really wish someone had picked up on it when I was younger, because I very clearly had problems with social situations and making friends/knowing how to act, but it was all ignored and dismissed as my "personality". Because this was a small school in rural England in the 90s and early 00s. Honestly, just finding other women who have experienced similar things is mind-blowing and has made me feel a lot more comfortable in my idiosyncrasies! Fingers crossed more awareness is raised between the different presentations of autism and more autistic young girls get help earlier!
It's very often misdiagnosed as being BPD
Truth...I was only just diagnosed this year at the age of 35.
I was about to comment this. There’s a lot of similarities between the two
@@placeholdernameisplacehold7671 Funny you mentioned this. I just saw new research say that estrogen is now the suspected hormone and not testosterone.
I've had these symptoms (forgetfulness, easily distracted, a million and one un finished projects, etc) since I was a little kid in school, but I was told that I was 'lazy' and just needed to 'focus' more. Sure, at times I wasn't into it, but most other times it was purely unintentional. But because I was quiet, didn't break the rules (a girl maybe?, idk), etc. no one really thought that it was anything beyond my work ethic. Now as an adult, I'm super selfconcious of being perceived as "Lazy" when really I just zone out a lot, so I have anxiety over these things and don't really believe when people say I'm doing a good job. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and honestly it's was a relief to know that it isn't just me and it is something out of my control. Getting medication has been a challenge (still in the process), but I have more hope that it's possible now.
I was diagnosed with ADHDi 15 years ago and my relief was immense because my mom had been telling me I was lazy since I was a child. It wasn't until this year that I talked to my psychiatrist about meds, it didn't occur to me that they could help me as an adult. I stumbled upon the RUclips channel 'How to ADHD' run by a woman with ADHD and it's helped me understand myself so much better. The meds are helping, and since I'm 56, I'm thinking it's never too late to advocate for yourself, and to learn how to make life so much easier.
This is my story, both of you. Except it was my dad who convinced me I was lazy. Which is ironic because I think my dad had ADHD inattentive himself. When a counselor brought up the possibility of diagnosis, I resisted because I KNEW it was my fault I was such a scatterbrain. But she started pointing out symptoms she'd seen just in observing me during our sessions and asked some pointed questions that I could only answer yes to. Medication did nothing for me (and caffeine in the wild gives me headaches in helpful doses), which is the story of my life really. So I've been learning coping mechanisms with varying degrees of success. Unfortunately ADHD is not a valid excuse for forgetting to pay a bill.
@Kilanna Literally everything you said sounds like me.
@@elizabethhannah6836 I was diagnosed with adhd at 5yo and every time my aunt gave me the medication she told me I was just lazy.
The relief of knowing you DID have a problem all those years is indescribable.
I could finally stop hating on myself, and my depression almost entirely disappeared.
I'm still bitter that it took so long though.
I was one of the weird girls, I was so hyper teachers would try taping my mouth shut, or tried trying me to my seat which I just walked around with it. I did get diagnosed at age 7, but that was like 1979 or 1980. Parents didn't want me on "zombie meds" and believed it was behavioral, that I just need strong discipline. Yeah, the next school year I was in a foster home....so much for stronger discipline
Parents need to be willing to address the issues, not write it off. That is the biggest reason girls are under diagnosed. Our role is to play nice, don't make a fuss, just ignore them, and so on. So everything becomes internal- hyper thoughts, hyper worry, hyper stress...40 some odd years later... I have depression, anxiety, and self medicated with either food or alcohol, thank God for my later in life diagnoses.. I was a train wreck about to happen!
RedisFun2
I’m really sorry that happened to you.... I’m so grateful to have awesome parents that knew I didn’t “need more Discipline.” And trusted doctors for meds
Didn't they have amphetamine or other stimulant medication at that time? Those don't make you a zombie. But I do get people don't want to take anti-psychotics. Doctors seem to be giving them out left and right and they basically make you a zombie that is easier to deal with. They should actually only be used for schizophrenia but now they are used for literally any disorder. I have very mild Autism Spectrum Disorder and they even tried to give me some
I used to get sent outside to "talk to the trees" for hours on end so teachers didn't have to deal with me. That was 80s/90s Australia.
@@bobthegoat7090 they have been using stimulants sense at least the 1930s or 40s but not widely and they called adhd something else, it's been found in medical documents going back to early 19th century I believe. I found this info through a few sources. But by the 60s and early 70s Adderall got a bad rap. Because the super hyper kids, once on the meds, became calmer, more obedienct, so too many people mistook this as a change in the child's personality, hence the zombie metaphor.
@@Skittenmeow I almost wish that was me, but I'm sure I would have been climbing rather then talking. :)
For me, ADHD in a nutshell is just:
“Oh sorry, I forgot what you told me 2 minutes ago because I was busy reciting entire music scripts in my head”
Yup! I can’t remember my PIN number but I’ll tell you my first bank card number not a problem. That was 23 years ago ffs. Same with my student number among other things. But ask me where I put my phone- I dare you.
Mine is 3-5 seconds till I forget.
I can remember songs without a problem but giving me instructions for something else and I ha e to repeatedly ask for clarification 😅😅
I'm 37, this is just becoming a reality for me as my son is being tested for ADHD, now I'm seeing the patterns in myself that I could never explain. Thought I was just going to help my son but now it looks like this will be for me also
@@samannthaswtnss9397 I can top that. I was watching a quiz show and a question came up on rowing, what it's called when a person's paddle gets stuck under water (called catching crabs). My brain remembered a snippet of commentary from 2014 when I was flipping through channels and the Oxford-cambridge boat race happened to be on TV. Of all the hours upon hours of TV, movies and YT videos I have watched over the years, my brain was able to pick up on one fact from 5 minutes of TV watching from literally 7 years ago. But I still couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast a week ago.
I cried when I watched this. I was over forty when a therapist identified my inattentive ADHD, and was therefore better able to help me cope with anxiety and depression. I demonstrated none of the aggression and disruptiveness typical for boys with ADHD, and therefore went undiagnosed and untreated my whole life.
That seems even harder to handle. so glad for you that you found a doc who saw through the typical diagnosis to help you find what you needed!
I'm a 22-year-old woman who's only recently discovered that my (chronic) forgetfulness, motor-mouth and internal restlessness is down to ADHD! Unfortunately, the process to get confirmed for medication is a bumpy road, because I wasn't diagnosed as a child, so I'm working with counselling to start reframing how I see these 'bad habits' and keeping myself well stocked on caffeine (turns out I'd been self-medicating with cola, tea and chocolate all my life without realising it!).
I’d recommend starting slow on medication and see multiple doctors/referrals. Sorry it happened to you so late, as I was late (32) when I was diagnosed too.
I hope you find good doctors and I hope you get on the right treatment! I wish you the absolute best luck! Both my mom and I have ADHD and I was actually just recently diagnosed about 2ish months ago. I’m 16 btw, and I’m currently on Concerta (a type of Ridellan) and it’s DEFINITELY helped me personally (remember one thing that helps one person might not work for you) and yes I chug tea and lattes pretty much 24/7 (I don’t really like the taste of coffee) and that seems to help a lot too. Surprising how things that should pump us up actually calm us down/help with whatever symptoms. Many adhd drugs are actually “stimulants” but anyway I wish you luck that you get at least a little better. It will probably be super frustrating and a pain in the ass at the beginning but it’s worth it
I dont think I have ADHD, but I probably would not have finished my degree without caffeine tablets. (100 mg caffeine tablets are OTC in my country)
Might work for you as well.
Be prepared for it to take up to 10 years for a diagnosis. 8-10 for any physical or mental illness is the norm for woman in Canada.
Wait, freaking what? I have never made this connection before. I've always said that caffeine has the opposite effect on me, I will literally make a pot just because it calms me down if I've had a bad day.
I've also suspected ADHD for a looong time now. Eternally spacing on things, zoning out mid-conversation, motor-mouthed, fidgety, lots of cool ideas but cannot pick one thing to concentrate on to save my life, etc.
Yeah, I think it's time to push for a possible diagnosis here. Figuring that out would be great.
I'm a woman with inattentive type ADHD and I'm convinced that ADHD is simply underdiagnosed among female-assigned individuals. I myself wasn't diagnosed until my mid-20s and I had to jump through so many hoops to get a diagnosis at all - almost all the therapists and doctors I've seen were quick to just chalk up my symptoms to my chronic depression, even though they were present long before my other mental health issues manifested and fit the diagnostic criteria for inattentive-type ADHD to a T.
Thank you for tackling this issue and raising awareness!
The disruptive part is way easier to pick up on, and get sent to the doctor for. I have an eight year old female student with all the classic disruptive behaviour. So it does happen.
Right in those feels.
My story is almost exactly the same.
〝ѦƁↁεя〞 missing 50% of what is going on around you and having people tell you that it’s because you just don’t try hard enough can easily lead to depression.
Same!!
Isn't it funny how the stereotypical symptoms are the ones that people are most likely to find "annoying" rather than what actually affects us the most.
Sometimes it really feels like we're not noticed until we become an inconvenience.
Hence the reason why more boys are diagnosed, not because society cares more about us, but because our inhuman education system doesn't tolerate differences. "Inconvenient" is the only way school taught me to think about myself.
How are you going to diagnose someone with ADHD if they don't present disruptive symptoms? You aren't.
@@BigDaddyWes I think you misread the comment. They're talking about how they only care about how we affect others not how we're basically dying inside.
If we only talk about how we feel they brush it off as anxiety and other things.
Please read their comment again.
@@BigDaddyWes Hyperactivity most frequently manifest in girls in the form of talking a lot and speaking very quickly.
As a little girl I was often told I sounded like an auctioneer when I spoke.
Another sign is inattentiveness or what my teachers called constant daydreaming. I literally couldn’t pay attention. I remember trying so hard and tears running down my checks in 7th grade science class. I was literally bored to tears but I was trying so hard to pay attention.
This!!
Thank you so much for this video. So many women and girls are suffering with ADHD symptoms and growing up to hate themselves because we are told everything is our fault.
Well no, actually girls are held less accountable. Demonstrably so. Just read social psychologist Taina Reynolds : Men as Stereotypical Perpetrators of Harm. Where she tests this stuff.
ADHD female here. This sounds really accurated for me. I have never been hyperactive as in giving trouble at school, but since young I have always been really anxious, I never gave trouble at school, I was considered very well behaved, but internally I was incredibly anxious and my grades started to fall after entering middle school even though I seemly looked like I payed attention to every class. I didn't I couldnt concentrate at all and every the smallest things would distract me.
And that's why I was only diagnosed as ADHD in my 3rd yr of college. Even my parents doubt at firls because "you are not hyperactive, you always behaved at school". Specially my mom since she was a teacher and all the kids with adhd she met were boys who wouldnt stay still, would fight often and not pay attention.
But I also do think its about society. Because inside I would feel really angry sometimes, but more than that I would feel scared about what people would think of me if they saw me, a girl, behaving "like an angry boy". I would also feel a strong necessity to cry when angry and then I would use all my energy to hold everything inside so people wouldnt judge me for crying. No surprise I completely broke down years later.
So I am really really glad more attentuon is being given to this. Being a female ADHD is not easy, so I want to thank you guys for giving more light on it.
Satsu Jin Relate deeply to your story.... aside from ADHD, I have Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) which makes carrying a conversation so difficult 😢
Oh my this sounds like me
I relate to this. My brother was diagnosed with adhd and treated at a young age, based on my mom's (an RN) pushing. Despite struggling with school, commitment, focus, depression, emotional regulation, anger, and even some hyperactivity, i was only diagnosed last fall after visiting a series of doctors over years, at my own request. My mom said she never even noticed and she thought my struggles were due to laziness or being overly emotional. I also think that so much of ADHD is impacted from society. For instance, if society was built in a way that's more accepting and inclusive of non-neurotypical minds, heavy medication would be much less necessary. I feel you. We're here.
I was a violent child until I started elementary school.
After that I was only angry on the inside as well, just like you. I still am.
Some times I fear I will have a violent outburst, because it's difficult to keep it in for so many years.
Oh my goodness! Your story sounds so much like mine! I held so much inside and I don't know how I survived middle school or early high school. I lucked out and was diagnosed in high school, but with me the distractability was really obvious as I got older, so that is what likely helped in it being caught earlier. I would tell people that I couldn't hear them because someone else nearby was talking too loud.
I was a talkative child, almost incessantly. I could remember my mother's favorite perfume brand and scent 5 years after she told me, but couldn't remember where I put my glasses 5 minutes ago.
I didn't get diagnosed until I was 18 and life started falling apart and I couldn't figure out what was going on.
Thaaats me. Lol. It's nice to meet so many similar ladies. Hope you have been fairing ok. Edit. I have not done all the BS to get diagnosed. Red tape gives me ogeta.
oh remember something similar I remember parts of a movie that I watched when I was 3 and I only watched it once, yet when I walk into a room I forgot what I was doing
Thank you! People still always respond with a skeptical look when I talk about my adhd. More awareness is definitely needed, so I appreciate this!
sunshine6997
Yup I know that look. Even had people say “you can’t have adhd” but hey, they obviously aren’t a good person to have in our lives *highfives!*
sunshine6997 I’ve never met a girl who says she has ADHD but I don’t think I’d doubt if I did.
KC are you tryna say ADHD isn’t really? My brother has ADHD it’s real.
I'm a guy with a type of adhd that more resembles what's more common in girls. Some of my teachers didn't believe me at all, when I told them, because usually the boys with it would be the biggest "troublemakers" while I was the most quiet child in class. I just couldn't focus on like anything longer than 3 seconds, made a ton of little errors (I still do, I just look out for them better) and my spelling was bad (OK it still is)
@@melonlord1414 my late husband was also inattentive type but never got diagnosed, cause he was quiet, always behaved. They thought he was mentally slow for years, even had him and special education classes through high school. When I met him years later I knew he was not slow minded at all but he just seemed to struggle with organization and finishing tasks.
"for some reason" socialization. It's generally seen as acceptable for males to be disruptive, aggressive, disobedient, etc. Females (overall) are socialized to be docile, please others, poised, etc. People who see a boy that's acting up might say "maybe he has ADHD." People who see a girl who's acting up might say "oh she's just emotional" and the disorder gets missed. The same thing happens with autism.
Yes but there's also just an innate difference, as a trans girl with ADHD/autism my symptoms were often female aligned even in childhood, they were certainly shaped by socialisation, but it's not the main cause.
RIGHT HERE! With anxiety and depression! And ADD
welcome in the club soul mate human (plus personality disorder - whatever that means)
HEY
Same here
Dudemyguy same! Diagnosed at 26!
Diagnosed as a kid! Diagnosed with anxiety later. And Aspergers.
We are “ditzy”, “flighty”, “quirky” etc. Not a big deal to society 🤷🏻♀️
It’s a problem when boys have those symptoms though because how will they become a CEO???
Oh man....ditzy.....my dad was always calling me a "blonde"
^ THIS! All of the THIS! ^
@@bellerella36 Do you have ADHD or a low IQ?🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Danielle Ford this is hilarious and sad because it’s so friggin spot on :*)
Imagination is fun. You've let feminist myths create a false reality.
didn’t even watch it yet but my dumb ass just said “RIGHT HERE” in the locker room when I read the title
theicedragon248 I haven’t watched it yet but my adhd brain scrolled down first thing to be like RIGHT HERE but damn adhd be like that
Same. Then straight to the comments. 🙋🙋🙋
SAME 🙋
Haha that is exactly the thought I had, and wrote my comment before watching or reading any others. Now I'm cynically wondering if the title was tailored towards getting data points.
SAME UGH
Thank you for this topic. I was just diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. It was always anxiety and depression that were the concern in my childhood. I can look back and see all the signs that were ignored because I was so quiet and anxious.
Hopefully the medical community will pay more attention in the future.
Not just in the United States Hank.... girls are told to suppress their feelings across the world.
What!? Really? Male expression of emotion is more tolerated than female emotional expression? In what universe?
Men are too. This world sucks.
@@lancewalker2595 Women are told to suppress their anger a lot more, if we get angry and it's visible we're labelled as emotional, irrational, asked if it's that time of the month, etc. We're not allowed to be angry, but we're allowed to express sadness, which seems to be what men are told to restrain. Since, you know, it's a feminine emotion. Except we all feel sadness and anger, and should be allowed to express it.
@@katzmeow78 Ehhh, I'm not sure of that. It simply wouldn't make sense for women's emotions to be as policed as men's emotion.
@@lancewalker2595 Oh, so it doesn't make sense to you because you haven't experienced it, and therefore don't believe it? Got it. I guess by that logic, not being a male, I should counter with no, men aren't as policed as women, that doesn't make sense.
THANK YOU. I was put on antidepressants and anti anxiety medications through high school and in college, feeling like a damn zombie the while time, and then finally when i was put on my stimulant medication, i made deans list for the first time. Girls have ADHD, we're just told to sit down, shut up, and "act like a lady" so much that it internalizes as shame. This is SO IMPORTANT.
Same situation for autism. Thank you for talking about it!!! I have ADD, got my diagnosis at 12.
Indeed, I got diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at age 7.
Yes! We need more research about autism in females. At least for people on the higher functioning end of the spectrum, women and girls hide it so much more/better than men and boys so it's often misdiagnosed.
@@ncskitty Yes! that what happened to me. I finally got diagnosed with autism at 19 years old. My previous diagnoses consisted of bipolar disorder, anxiety, and OCD. Unfortunately, I had been on medications since I was 10 years old that I didn't even need. I don't even want to think about the unnecessary side effects the meds gave me. Luckily, now that I know im autistic I have been able to get off my meds, I just wish I knew sooner.
I actually displayed a lot more aggressive behavior as a kid. Im sure that if I was a cis boy, I would have been diagnosed correctly early on
@@placeholdernameisplacehold7671 That's true, but it highlights the difference between someone like 'Rainmen' and someone who doesn't have it to that extent.
I don't like it when I get compared with the debilitating side of ASS, I am a high functioning autist.
And at the time of my diagnosis it was still Asperger's syndrome.
I was just coming to comment on this. It points to the male bias in science today. I'm not saying it's intentionally sexist. I'm talking about how it's predominantly males in the sciences still, and it never occurs to them, in general, that things can show up differently for females.
It happens all the time with drug trials too, where they don't break up the prevalence of certain side-effects between male and females, despite some having a higher or lower incidence in each population. If 25% of men experience a side-effect, but only 1% of women do, if you add the whole population together, it's going to look like it's uncommon for both. That's bad for everyone.
And it's so sad, because we'd be so much further along with understanding physiology without this bias. It's caused untold suffering, with thousands of women finally getting diagnosed in their 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. It took the internet and forums to cause them to reach out to doctors to say "Uhhh, this explains pretty much everything". And that involves untold hurdles, where doctors are resistant because they weren't diagnosed as kids. *smh*
*waves in diagnosed as adult*
And my husband and I manifest our ADHD differently. He also has autism, but I only got diagnosed because he was concerned about how much I had in common with his ADHD issues.
i definitely agree about the way girls are socialised. boys are 'allowed' to misbehave, whereas young girls are taught to be quiet and unobtrusive, so for those who had a female childhood (inc. trans men like myself) we end up presenting symptoms of ADHD (and autism for that matter) in less obvious ways, so we don't get diagnosed until later in life.
the major example in my family is that my brother and i are both on the spectrum and we initially had similar symptoms, but while my brother could have his meltdown in peace, i got told to shut up and 'act my age', so i learned to suffer in silence. as a result, my brother got diagnosed at age 7 (and the classroom support that comes with it) while im still trying to get a diagnosis (for learning support so i dont have a meltdown mid-exam again)at age 19
Place holder name is place holder Often psychiatrists have specialties so the same person that diagnosis gender dysphoria might not be an expert in diagnosing adult autism and refer you to a different psychiatrist that specializes in it. Often it harder for adults to get an autism diagnosis because there’s so few people who do evaluations for adult autism.
@@placeholdernameisplacehold7671 I'm only out online. my parents are pretty transphobic, so I can't start any kind of transition until I'm completely independent from them, so no referral yet
@@placeholdernameisplacehold7671 oh i've already done that; i'm UK too. the issue now is waiting 1-2 years to actually GET that diagnosis. the NHS is massively underfunded, especially for adult mental health etc. i'm hopeful i'll have things sorted by next summer, but it's really just a waiting game now
I had the same thing happen in my family, but without the autism. It's so frustrating and I'm sorry you have to go through that.
Evan I act out anyway my brain is sometimes like let's just ignore the fact ur are male but I know that I'm lesss hyper. than the boys but more hyper than the average ADHD girl
*Watching this with ADHD, opens 5 different tabs, looks at art, looks at twitter, closes twitter, opens another youtube video, then realizes i should just watch this 5 minute episode. all before the half way mark*
This is fine.
😂😂😂 Why you calling me out like that?
Lol so relatable I’m not even paying attention just scrolling
I've watched this video before. Lol
99.99% of the comments
*_I'm right here_*
Megaplasma1 or maybe you’re just an ass.
They want their moment in the spotlight... Or magic internet points.
@@megaplasma1942 are you my psychiatrist? No? Then shush. My very expensive diagnosis is pretty accurate to my life experience and I cannot for the life of me understand why you'd assume that people would lie about their neurotype in the RUclips comments section?
@@IlyanaFan Idk man I think there are better places to look for your spotlight moment of fame in the comments of a sci show psych video
@KC ????
You're choosing to come into the comments section of a psychology channel to argue with people about psychology and whether their illness is real, and you're comparing the dsm V to astrology.
Why are you doing this?
ADHD is with all the other female effected issues. Ie ignored. I had PTSD for 29 years. Took my Dr 15 to diagnosed me. He also refused to frefer me for test for ADD or ADHD. I got a new Dr.
Interestingly, I actually had the inverse problem, but led to me getting a new doctor after a couple of years, too. He'd insisted that I had ADHD, GAD, and depression, and refused to treat me for anything but, even after I'd had other professionals diagnose me with bipolar, and I have a dad that's been known to be bipolar for a couple decades. He did a lot of other things that were good, but the guy had his head up his ass about reading situation honestly. He only saw me for small bursts of time, and I had little I could do to describe the volumes of time between our appointments. Ditched his ass and got a new one. Some doctors just don't listen, or lock themselves to a singular idea.
Wow I was in the same boat as you, but it only took my 4 years to be diagnosed with ptsd, and during that time I was tested for adhd without me asking about it and I was diagnosed. This was a psychiatrist though, and I was only referred to her because my doctor said that I had an eating disorder even though I was just violently sick from medication she gave me. The system is flawed for sure
It's not ignored. It's because schools cater to girls so much.
Read Christina Hoff Sommers war against boys if you think your problems are ignored in the slightest.
Sometimes, tho, these female advocates who ignore gender differences do harm girls too. But only as a side effect.
Good.
@@SlyNine which school do you go to that caters to girls?
Mine only cares about us when our bra straps show. The boys here have access to a school therapist whereas we just go to detention when doing anything unwanted in class.
I hate it here. But maybe it's my country, though.
Hello!! I was diagnosed with ADD young but didn’t get much help from teachers or anything because I’m a very quiet person and not disruptive. It’s the same reason my bipolar II disorder took 3 years to diagnose after initially going to a psychiatrist. The only one disrupted by my symptoms was me because I’m so quiet and non-disruptive.
Having resources available to me through the internet empowering and informing me enough to take care of myself helps a lot though. :)
what kind of resources do you use online?
Shana Tries RUclips mostly. There’s a channel called “How to ADHD” that is very helpful with ADHD-specific tips. I also used to use a mental health message board called “Health Unlocked” but i haven’t used that one in a while. There’s lots of stuff if you know where to look :)
A close friend of mine who has been diagnosed with adhd, had to switch doctors due to insurance changes, the doctor didnt believe that she had adhd and wouldn't continue perscribing her medication. I hope with time the inattentive symptoms, and the issues they cause, become more well understood by clinicians and the general public.
Maybe have your friend show this video to her doctor. "Continuing education"
@@teresaellis7062 she no longer sees that doctor.
Hi, I'm here! I was tested at age 8 and "failed" their tests. Retested at age 28 and confirmed by a psychologist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner. It explains so much about my difficulties in school.
My psychologist told me the tests were designed around white BOYS hence the likely missed diagnosis.
As a female who got diagnosed with ADHD at 27, after thinking i might have it for years until depression slammed everything out of me; Yeah. Yeah, this sounds about right.
You sound almost exactly like me, except for the woman part.
Here I am! I have ADHD. I was diagnosed officially and observed throughly in 4th grade. I have the inattentive type.
I didn't realize I was ADHD until I took speed the first time. Curled up in a ball and fell asleep while my friends were up all night. So much for using that to write a term paper
...been down that rabbit hole. Self-medication has often seemed far more reliable than the doctor/diagnostic dartboard. Sometimes, it feels better to just accept that I'm not actually "broken and need to be fixed" but rather, I'm fantastic, and it's just the world that should learn to accept me. ;) Still... there's definitely something to be said for that... _quiet moment_ huhn.
I'm a female but my ADHD presented more like male ADD, and I've always had anger problems.
Same, but as a child. Now it’s restlessness and lack of concentration.
Mistress1337 me too! I was diagnosed with ADD first before they told me that it’s all just ADHD now. And I have too much anger!! Wow, I thought I was kind of alone!
The emotionality is the thing, the emotions felt are dependent on your experiences.
Actually most females default to anger with ADD/ADHD. it's a well known.. symptom? Rong word, but we'll go with it. It's part of trouble with processing emotion and social stuff since your brain is going faster than a million ferets on crack. It doesn't keep up so it takes the easy route and anger is easy.
What's REAL fun is SEVERE ADHD and high functioning Asperger's. You don't "get" social things and you can't process the interactions and emotions well...Years of behavior therepy goes so far so now my social interactions are the equivalent of computer programming:. If z then y.
At least it's gotten easier to figure out empathy, morals and concern as I got older (yay logic) even know f I suck at expression there of or apparently tact..
Same! I was originally dxed with "Quiet ADD". Which is apparently no longer a thing.
I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 19 . I’m 20 now. I was told it’s just anxiety and that I’m too quiet for ADHD.
Throw jello at that person who says it can't be ADHD because you are too quiet. ADHD doesn't need to have hyperactivity. And remember ADHD ALWAYS comes with lots of smarts. You can be smart and not have ADHD, but you can't have ADHD without being smart! Isn't that great! 😁
@@teresaellis7062 without hyperactivity it's called ADD ^^
@@amaryllisnightingale6309 I know it's been like a year but I want to correct this so that nobody gets the wrong idea: ADD is outdated terminology. It is still accurate to refer to what was formerly known as ADD as ADHD, specifically ADHD Inattentive. People still use the term ADD, since that was the term for years, but it isn't wrong to say that someone who doesn't have primarily hyperactive symptoms has ADHD.
I have severe combined type , my hyperactivity is my brain! It never stops and leads to things like insomnia. I do not jump around and I never have and I was extremely quiet at school I've also never been in trouble with the police etc.
Most if the symptoms here are the childhood presentations.
Also a male here with the inattentive strand.
Captain Anopheles same!
Well, kinda NB but yeah, same!
Present! Right here! I was diagnosed at age 27, and was first seeking treatment for anxiety and depression. :) When I told my friends months later, one of them go, "Isn't that for kids?" And she's a nurse. Which only goes to show that there's a lot we don't know as a society about ADHD.
I was diagnosed at the age of 42. It was my third time seeking a diagnosis. The first two times I was in my 20s. The first two doctors said since I wasn’t jumping around the office and playing with their equipment I was fine. 🙄
I'm glad to hear the societal parts addressed! As a kid I sometimes struggled with feeling like if I was hyper people would say I needed to calm down, but if it was a boy being hyper, he was just behaving like "any other boy". My family was better about that, though!
Here! Diagnosed in adulthood. Let's say my attention was so bad during my time with my therapist that she assigned me to a Psychiatrist for medication the second time we met. He diagnosed me soon after. I was always told that I was just dizzy head as a child... nothing to worry about 😏 til I got to college and was unable to cope. 😒
I need my Ritalin if I ever want the ability to do the thing*.
*The thing must still meet specific, yet indeterminable criteria in order to be done.
*Criteria subject to change
SAME!
My favorite term for adhd meds is they help me focus.
On what, is still completely out of my control.
Answer: undiagnosed and suffering
Natalia Watson 👆this
YES I just got diagnosed 2 months ago (im 25) and my life is a mess. Would have been great if i had help with it earlier in my life.
+
You guys say it like you would have preferred to have been methed up as a child. (Adderall and the equivalent meds are basically low doses of meth) Is that what you’re getting at, or are you saying you wanted therapy?
I only know of one female who was drugged as a child because of adhd and she does not look back on it fondly. Does anybody have any positive experiences with that?
@@towjam37 Because "methed up" and "drugged" aren't stigmatizing at all nor do they misrepresent what's occurring for most the people who are prescribed the medication 🙄...
I know that the video is about females, but I don't see why your question limits to only younger girls given the comments before. I had a classmate who was diagnosed with ADHD in 7th grade. Her medicine allowed her to focus and not constantly talk; she went from barely being able to pass and having few friends to being an A/B student and forming a social circle.
I was one of those rare six year old girls where everyone just knew. My case was incredibly obvious and there was zero question whether or not I had ADHD. I actually consider myself really lucky for that reason. I think that such an early diagnosis really helped me get far in life with college and my career.
Thank you for this content! Most of my family has ADHD. I feel very grateful to have been properly diagnosed, because my ADHD is vastly different when compared to my brother's. His showed up with school, disruptiveness, and being easily distracted, while mine has led to multiple times of locking keys in the car, disorganization, and even disordered eating for a time. I hope that more girls can get what they need ❤️
Yup...I was diagnosed in my late 30s. Inattentive type ADHD. I always did well in school, through sheer willpower and at the expense of a LOT of stress and anxiety. Low dose medication has made ALL the difference. Being unmedicated is like driving down the road during a very bad storm at night. You can keep the car on the road if you grip the steering wheel with all your might, but it’s difficult and you have to focus every ounce of your being on not ending up in a ditch. Exhausting. On medication, it’s like driving the car on a sunny day and in good weather...pretty much effortless. Medication isn’t for everyone, of course, but for many people it can be very helpful
I'm right here! Luckily I was diagnosed as a little girl...in the late 80's. Sadly that ment lots of crazy meds in the 90's and being used as a lab rat.
flame gremlin thank you for bearing though it and you are awesome
Ya, that experiment never ended... * squeak * squeak
yes... as a father with an adhd daughter nice to see this focus...
Got diagnosed with anxiety and depression disorder at age 11. Didnt get diagnosed with ADHD until I was 21. Wow, this is painfully accurate.
I was diagnosed with the "girls type" of adhd as a teenager. I'm a guy. It was a quite strange information for my parents.
I have an inability to stop talking, can’t stand still or focus on a task for a long time, but my parents used my brother as an example and insisted I didn’t have the disorder. I was always wondering what was wrong with me until I started to research ADHD and realized that I did have it and a therapist confirmed.
Thank you for covering this. I was misdiagnosed until my early 20s, although all the signs were there since childhood - messy room, losing things, difficulty finishing projects, distractable, energetic. However, since I did well in school, no one thought anything of it. The difficulties ADHD caused depression, which has traveled with me into adulthood. I still feel that much of my depression stems from the ADHD and my struggle with 'adulting,' though I have compensated for much of it. My house is still a mess though ;)
i really appreciate the subtle use of words like cisgender, transgender, pregnant people not pregnant woman, etc in all of your channels. small steps like that is what makes diversity seen, heard and acknowledged.
I'm still mid video so it might be addressed somewhere, but there's also potential for just how we raise the different sexes. Girls are punished if they act out, where boys are somewhat dismissed as just "boys will be boys". I think this part of the video is coming up as I type, but I think that would have a lot more to do with the differences. The same is shown in autism, it's much harder to diagnose girls with autism because they are taught to process their behaviors and emotions differently than boys just socially. Because of that, symptoms can be missed entirely because the kid has learned to display them differently just on a base level.
I'm female & was diagnosed in the 5th grade, leading to diagnoses of my mom & sister. I wasn't quiet by any means, but definitely anxious since early childhood, severe anger problems in middle school, and anxiety/depression as a young adult into adulthood. Luckily I was able to avoid medication until adulthood because of behavior therapy. Would be fine now if some other non related health issues hadn't happened. I had learned how to manage & harness my 'symptoms' for good!
I was diagnosed with regular ADD without the H in the mid 90's, and definitely my symptoms were very much on the inattentive side. I would just stare at the flickering lights and be lost in my thoughts, and was the very bottom student in the class. My first day on ritalin, i finished all my work before everyone else, which was proof i understood the material, and just didn't have the attention for repetitive tasks.
Unfortunately i think giving stimulants to kids has some bad side effects too, and probably led to my later struggles with drug abuse too. It's interesting, and I'm not sure what the best approach would be. I think if i had individual teaching adjusted to my pace and understanding, i could have gotten further with my education, even without ritalin. But that's just not feasible for a regular working family, i guess.
Oh physiatrist now just add in the H
ADD and ADHD have been found to be the same.
Yah, my guess is there's definitely a significant societal component. Especially having to do with prejudices clouding the diagnosis.
My guess is because girls mature faster and education carters more to girls learning styles. Since adhd is a developmental delay it makes sense.
I can talk in length about how boys are discriminated against. Explicitly and the policies that do it. From the bad studies done by the short changed girl campaign, and the feminist advocates that pushed them, to the equity in education act, and much more.
@@SlyNine I'm sure you can talk ad nauseum about the subject, unfortunately your words will fall on deaf ears. No one cares holmes, just gotta move on.
If school caters to girls learning then why aren’t women being diagnosed with ADHD? ADHD if a learning disability. If the school system is biased towards girls then logically girls should be the first to get diagnosed.
To all the “weird” AD/HD girls in the comments: SAME
and also I
I embraced my "weirdness" years ago. I remember being told in middle school on the bus that I was weird. I told the boy, "Thank you for the complement." It was SO freeing. Being weird is more interesting by far. 😊
ADD and quiet, depression and anxiety under control now.
7 year-old me, drugged out of his mind and longing for positive attention, would have preferred what you had.
@@teresaellis7062 I'd take it as a compliment as well, and I would certainly prefer that label to "violent". I know now what I knew at the age 7, violent people go to prison, so you can imagine being called violent wasn't exactly conducive to my mental health.
I am standing with you all
Before watching this: HERE! I AM RIGHT HERE. I was first diagnosed @ 1990. Women aren't quite as fidgety as men, and so for many of us the diagnosis comes late or never. I actually may have been fortunate to be SUCH A mess, since I was diagnosed in 7th grade, and early in the ADHD years. My son is also ADHD. We actually share a behavioral therapist. She is excellent and very professional, so it ends up beneficial to all that she helps us both. I sincerely hope that others of any and all genders with this issue find the assistance they need. Being left to one's own devices with ADHD is NOT fun.
This reminds me of an interesting documentary I watched about autism. Males are diagnosed 4 times more often as females, but they now believe both gender groups are equally likely to be autistic. The reason it's not often detected in females is because they're much better at mimicking the social behaviours of others from a young age, and basically 'teaching themselves to act normally'.
Thank you for that little recognition of GNC folks, even if there's not any literature on it. Really appreciate that :)
Got diagnosed w/ ADHD 5 months ago (I'm 22) and this video sums up my experience perfectly. Would make a huge difference if doctors, counselors, and even educators were better prepared to notice the different signs in female patients/students, it would have saved me and others a lot of trouble :(
Assigned female, ID as nonbinary, dx with ADHD very young, totally the spacey-type. (I wish I had the energy of a bouncy-type ADD-er.)
But as adults, that constant hypernes tends to turn inward, and honestly leaves me exhausted, i can't sleep properly... It's a double edged sword.
It's fun right up until your fingers start to bleed because you've been chewing on them without even noticing you were doing it.
I was diagnosed at 25. It answered so many questions, and I was so happy to finally know why I was the way I was.
mine started around age 7, and i wasn't diagnosed until i was about 59. i can't help but wonder how different my life would have been if i would have known sooner. it sure would have prevented a lot of very serious problems if i had known sooner.
Oh we’re here, but no one is paying attention to us! We’re just considered flakey, ditzy, spacey, fruity, and ‘not trying hard enough’. Thankfully I received a diagnosis at 19, but it would ideally have been better to get one earlier. I’ve learned to work with it and embrace it as I’ve gotten older. Life definitely would be more boring without my ADHD!
My hypothesis is that part of the reason the disease manifests differently is socialization. I've thought I've had adhd for a while but have not sought a diagnosis. I was socialized as a female, and my symptoms present the usual feminine way. But I'm transitioning and on testosterone, and it hasn't affected my symptoms at all. I wish more studies would utilize trans subjects to test the "socialization vs hormones" question for all sorts of things.
I’d be interested to see a similar video on women on the autistic spectrum!!!
I think its the internalized mysogyny in the medical community. So many doctors take males much more seriously than females. Males are believed at face value where as females are disbelieved and told its mostly in their heads. This is gaslighting and also likely as to why females tend to internalized most of their symptoms. They do not believe what they are feeling is real because they are told it is not. This issue should have been addressed in this video and i'm kinda sad that it wasn't
As a woman with all that lovely hyperactive nonsense, yeah it was practically beaten out of me. None of my teachers wanted me in class, my peers thought I was weird and too loud, and my parents barely kept up with me. I was always so angry too, because whole gaggles of boys would do the same things, and if I pointed it out it was always "that's what boys do" or "they're just having fun"
Aww man I'm so sorry. U did not deserve all that. I hope mote attention to your condition is given. And you feel better soon♡
School is honestly a nightmare. I have inattentive ADHD, and school literally made me so stressed I got sick. (Not just a common cold sick, I'm talking stomach flu stuff every month, if not every two weeks that lasted for 2 days to 2 weeks with high fevers, vomiting, etc.) As soon as I left school, I stopped getting sick. No joke. I also got MUCH healthier and happier.
All I needed was a different setting.
I'm right here. Anytime you see a woman with a "very messy" house- she probably has and. She'll have 15 unfinished projects, "wild" kids, and a grand plan that would work if only she would "apply" herself . But it's like living in the eye of a storm. Everything is whizzing by and you only catch half of it. The world just swirls around you and you adapt. You weed out what's not critical and focus on just surviving. Simplicity & practicality are best.
Yes, I was the quiet type. Meds were hell.
"and a grand plan that would work if only she would "apply" herself" that's me and it's heartbreaking
Yyyyyup. When I was in middle school, my teacher thought that I might have ADHD (this was almost 20 years ago, so good for her!!) She told my parents that this might be why I struggle so much with certain aspects of school but do so well in others. Did my parents listen? NOPE. They decided that they would tell the school to hold me back a year to teach me a lesson. They could do this because it was a small private school and money talks. Hopefully fewer little girls have to go through stuff like this thanks to research and reporting of said research. Thank you for all that you do SciShow!!!
Thank you for being so inclusive ❤
I'm trans female and recently got diagnosed with adhd as an adult, symptoms of Inattentive, silent, calm, anxiety, relating very similarly to my also recently diagnosed sister. We both grew up with these symptoms though not being diagnosed until older where as my hyper brother was diagnosed at age 9. I believe from my own experience that adhd is different due to brain structure and not societal pressure or from hormones. 😊
Auby Bear as an AMAB NB, I came here expecting to be invalidated, but was surprised to discover the symptoms I present are (appropriately) something of a mix of the two expected subsets: high anxiety, frequent depression, quietly inattentive, sometimes restlessly hyperactive, occasional incidents of aggression...
Not saying I’m trans, but yeah...
@@AnkhAnanku That's awesome, not saying your symptoms are awesome, but that they fall very on both sides. It's honestly interesting and would be interesting to see continued research in this.
I remember being taken off the waiting list for a diagnosis because my doctor thought I had severe anxiety and prescribed me antidepressants. So I wasn't diagnosed until I went private which made me SO broke as I cleared out all my savings and worked multiple jobs whilst studying but knowing you aren't going crazy is worth it. Underdiagnosis is a real problem
As an afab nonbinary, the mention of how we don't recognize how things are in trans people made me nearly cry. I love psychology and whenever trans people are recognized it makes me so happy.
Hey I´m here, recently diagnosed ADD adult high functioning woman of 53. My diagnosis explained a lot but I had a great life, travelled a lot, moved countries, did many brave and crazy things in my life, 10 relationships, 2 marraiges but it all worked out ok in the end. I diagnosed myself in the end after various psychologists missed it. It was always there, I always ran everywhere, fidgeted, doodled and stared at clouds in class. I have also been very late my whole life. Glad we are finding ourselves finally!
1:33 why you gotta call me out like that Hank?
I went out looking for videos about the disorder I was just diagnosed with not to long ago, went of track and to the list of new videos by subscribed chanals, and I found what I came looking for. How cool is that!
Well, they said they'd meet us by the fountain, but... they seem to have wandered off.
But I was there 2 o'clock.
At the fountain down the road!
Which fountain were you at?!
Not gonna lie, but did make a huge effort to get out of the house on time and one would think after a year my routine would be there by now.
When I was little, I’d impulsively say things in class, and then I realized that that wasn’t ok, so I’d try my hardest not to talk, which would result in me never actually paying attention, but I could still somehow recite EXACTLY a what my teacher said to me, without knowing what they were even talking about
Here I am.
This is me.
There's no where else on earth I'd rather be
Here I am; it's just me and you.
Tonight we make our dreams come true
It's a NEEEW WOOORLD, IT'S A NEEEW STAAAART.
.....I'm sorry, What were we talking about?
I LOVE THAT MOVIE!
PANS OUT. 35yrs old & just got diagnosed a few months ago. Had been told all my life I just had anxiety & depression and was treated for that, but it never really helped. I still made careless mistakes in school, still spaced out a lot, & forgot important dates. Finally it came to ahead when I was diagnosed w/severe post-partum after my daughter was born. Years later, after the depression had been managed, I discovered I was WAY more clumsy, forgetful, & just generally unable to take care of myself, let alone my kid & had almost zero motivation to do so. Got meds & started sleeping better, then went and cleaned my WHOLE house, 10yrs worth of built up STUFF mind you, out in about 2-3weeks. Now tasks that I would have had to put a show on to do (folding laundry, or doing the dishwasher) are easily done multiple times a day, & I don't feel constantly mentally, physically & emotionally exhausted.
Anecdotally... when I swapped hormones I first thought my ADD/HD went away... till I learned about a "girl's" ADHD.
Thanks for doing an episode about this, I learned this info 7-8 years ago but for some reason a lot of people still aren't aware of it.
Sounds awfully similar to all the female children with Autism who are also misdiagnosed/undiagnosed.
Thank you so much for not making 10+ minute videos just to cash in. It's so nice to get thorough, but succinct content these days!
My 3 young nieces have hyperactive adhd, the same as their brother though he also has dyslexia. My other sister has adhd, and I have it as well. I'm fidgety but with the inattentive.
I have ADHD-Inattentive Type, and, while I am usually quiet, I fidget and space out in situations that are dull or unengaging. However, when I get really passionate, angry, or excited about something, I talk a mile a minute, and it's really hard for me to be mindful of what the other person is thinking or feeling. I sometimes even unintentionally interrupt others without thinking about it because I tend to just unintentionally blurt out my feelings when I feel really strong about what they're trying to say. So, when I recognize that I'm getting worked up during an important conversation, I pull out a tissue box, and whoever has the tissue box gets to talk, meaning I have to ride the intense urge to say what I want to say until the other person gives me the tissue box.
God damn thank you. "There's no way you could have ADHD you don't act like my brother" -genius mother
meanwhile these videos know me personally
There are actually three different presentations of ADHD.
- Hyperactivity
- Inattentive
- Combined - when a person has symptoms from the two presentations above. This is actually the most common.
Also, on the whole “women don’t tend to get diagnosed” thing, it’s mostly because all the studies on ADHD and the symptoms involved were done on boys at school since ADHD started being researched in the 1900’s. It’s only been in the last decade or two that people have realised that ‘school boys’ are not indicative of a whole population. Hank touched on this but I wanted to say it again.
RIGHT HERE HELLO with bonus depression and anxiety.
I'm going to recommend the channel How to ADHD, run by a woman WITH ADHD!
She helped me a lot especially since I can't officially get diagnosed at the moment. Great Channel!
Oh, she's fantastic!! I love her. She ends up echoing everything my psychiatrist tells me, heh. I've recommended her to my psychiatrist, who also has ADD.
I've always suspected that I had ADHD since high school. Right now, I am trying to get an evaluation and it is taking a long time to just get that appointment set up, mostly because of the pandemic at this point. However, when I told my family that I thought I had ADHD, they dismissed me and told me it was just my anxiety and depression. Yet, I was made fun of by them growing up that I never listened and was told I had "selective hearing". I got so upset so many times because they would remind me of something they told me and I wouldn't even remember that conversation. Even now as a woman in her late 20's, I have a hard time processing what people say to me, I lose my train of thought, and get distracted so easily. I really hope I can get evaluated soon so I can get some answers.
Ummm HERE! And my mom starting 50 years ago and her mom before her!
Meow Holly Meow some say ADHD or ADD is genetic sooo not unsurprising. My mom has ADHD and I do as well
I was mis-diagnosed with /Bipolar 2/ disorder and am now being re-evaluated for ADHD, which according to all the research I've done and the information from my new neuropsychologist makes *far* more sense than Bipolar 2. Poor women getting mis-diagnosed with mood disorders all over the place, which really greatly affect our lives (life and health insurance, obtaining a job, etc.) in a very negative way. Bless all of us women out here with ADHD. I'm so glad SciShow Psych did this video!
IM RIGHT HERE!! (not getting diagnosed until I'm 25)
Sophia Neilsson me 26 ! Same!
Crazy interesting video! Good job.
RIGHT HERE! Bonus - anxiety and NVLD
Katherine Lynch NVLD?
@@purpleapron4603 NonVerbal Learning Disorder
The social aspect of ADHD manifestation is very interesting.
I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 28 (late diagnosis is women is common). As a very small child (2-4 years old) I was very mischievous and tough and constantly caused trouble or would get into fights with other kids, but it was quickly beaten out of me and I became a shy and introverted child instead. Boys of the same age were given the freedom to continue being loud and cause trouble and adults laughing at their behaviour was even a form of encouragement. They were all diagnosed with ADHD very early on.
I never looked at it this way but it makes a lot of sense.
Symptoms of heart attack are different between males & females, so it doesn't surprise me that ADHD symptoms can differ, too.
Likely there are many other diseases/disorders where symptoms differ between the sexes. I Celebrate Diversity! ;-)
I never would have been diagnosed with inattentive ADHD if my counselor in college hadn't suggested it. I always just assumed it was/had been diagnosed with depression. She pretty much saved my life 💜
At least it's in HD.
I find people with ADHD interesting and like to spend time with them. Even I'm the exact opposite (very calm, introvert)
The science for the longest time, was biased. I was originally diagnosed at 17, mom said that I'd grow out of it. New at 42 I finally got diagnosed. I work 2 jobs and go to college. I don't have depression or anxiety. Treating my ADHD is awesome. Feels good to have a better brain.
Not a better brain...it’s just that your brain is working as it’s supposed to, with appropriate neurotransmitter levels! (But I get what you’re saying) :-)
@@jennismith2 thanks! When I went for testing recently, I told the Psychologist, I want all the TVs in my brain to be on the same channel!!!😊