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ADHD

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 86 Budding Regular
Hi everyone I just wanted everyone's thoughts about what they think about many young females being misdiagnosed as having anxiety or autism when they really have ADHD? I think this is a big problem and I would love to hear your thoughts. I think this is because most of the research regarding ADHD is based on males and the symptoms in females are very different.

Comments

  • independent_independent_ Community Champion Posts: 9,051 Supreme Poster
    It’s definitely an issue I’d say. I often wonder if I have something like ADHD (at least the inattentive part) but not sure. I think there definitely needs to be more awareness of how it can affect females, especially into adulthood. There’s lots of info about ADHD in young boys, but not so much for adult women especially
    “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.”
  • Millie2787Millie2787 Community Champion Posts: 5,202 Part of The Furniture
    edited November 2021
    I would say the issue is more largely around it being misdiagnosed as anxiety when really we have ADHD/Autism .. it can be largely difficult to distinguish between autism and ADHD due to the fact there is such a large cross over in symptoms and signs in both genders actually

    I was actually someone who was misdiagnosed with anxiety for years and it actually turned out to be Aspergers . Anxiety was the main focus for many many years with me when actually it turned out to be I was expecting anxiety as a result of some of my autistic traits I had.

    But your right research often does focus on boys and there’s a statistic that’s something like for every 4 makes diagnosed with ASD/ADHD only 1 female is diagnosed
    Sometimes all you need is one person to believe in you , for you to begin to believe in yourself.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,327 Wise Owl
    @Zoya_Jungkook I think this is a very complex issue and a really great one to be brought up actually.

    It seems like a lot of women in particular are misdiagnosed with many different illnesses that turn out to be ADHD. I think because the benchmark has been based around young boys having ADHD, and the lack of awareness that girls can have it too, but we all just respond differently. Symptoms vary between each individual and I think the problem is that diagnoses have checklists that are very strict, and so, when girls don't fit into these they are often diagnosed as having autism or anxiety instead.

    I think more training is needed for this definitely. I mean a lot of girls and women are diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder when they actually should be diagnosed as autistic, this is becoming quite common too, which is upsetting because it means they're not able to access the right support services to help them.

    It's just becoming so common for different disorders or illnesses to be misdiagnosed as others either due to the strict symptoms associated with each one, but also because a lot of the symptoms individuals show can be put into more than one diagnosis, and because of the lack of funding for mental health services such as psychiatrists, they only really have one hour with individuals to determine the diagnosis which is far too little. Plus the waiting lists are months to years for a diagnosis from a psychiatrist so by this point, other symptoms i.e. self-harm behaviours or suicidal feelings come into play, and with just one hour, it can really make it difficult to provide a thorough assessment and a correct diagnosis.

  • MaisyMaisy Deactivated Posts: 701 Part of The Mix Family
    I think this is really interesting.

    I have a friend who was diagnosed with BPD and went to therapy for years. It later turns out they are autistic. I thought I might have BPD too, but I realised I'm more likely to be autistic. I think it's easy to be misdiagnosed with anxiety, BPD etc., not only because of the symptom overlap but also because autistic individuals are vulnerable and more likely to go through trauma e.g. bullying or abuse, which in turn affects mental health, and then a misdiagnosis of BPD might happen because of the trauma while autism/ADHD might get missed in the process.
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  • AislingDMAislingDM Moderator Posts: 1,666 Extreme Poster
    Such important points raised by all! And I am glad to see so many people referencing how so many mental health needs and examples of neurodivergence overlap with one another, not just in terms of symptoms but also in terms of co-morbidity (having two mental health needs at once e.g., anxiety and depression). In many ways a huge issue is a lack of exploration from professionals of the different potential causes of symptoms in individuals. Sometimes if you can make 1 label stick then there is little effort made to consider other 'options'. Given that healthcare is predisposed to care more about cis men's experiences of mental health needs and neurodivergence, it's hardly surprising, albeit very sad, to see lots of misdiagnosis for people of other genders. Another thing to consider is that whilst we may see 'more accurate' diagnosis in cis white men, this is significantly less likely to be the case for men of marginalised races. I think all of this reinforces how we should always try to learn as much as we can about different symptoms and how they can be perceived differently depending on who is expressing them. Thanks for talking about such an important issue, everyone <3
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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 86 Budding Regular
    It’s definitely an issue I’d say. I often wonder if I have something like ADHD (at least the inattentive part) but not sure. I think there definitely needs to be more awareness of how it can affect females, especially into adulthood. There’s lots of info about ADHD in young boys, but not so much for adult women especially
    @independent_

    Okay, so I want to start off by saying thank you for your response! I am planning to do more investigating around this topic and hopefully start a project soon! I will keep you updated! Also, I'm glad you feel the same :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 86 Budding Regular
    Millie2787 wrote: »
    I would say the issue is more largely around it being misdiagnosed as anxiety when really we have ADHD/Autism .. it can be largely difficult to distinguish between autism and ADHD due to the fact there is such a large cross over in symptoms and signs in both genders actually

    I was actually someone who was misdiagnosed with anxiety for years and it actually turned out to be Aspergers . Anxiety was the main focus for many many years with me when actually it turned out to be I was expecting anxiety as a result of some of my autistic traits I had.

    But your right research often does focus on boys and there’s a statistic that’s something like for every 4 makes diagnosed with ASD/ADHD only 1 female is diagnosed

    @Millie2787
    Okay, so I want to start off by saying thank you for your response! I am planning to do more investigating around this topic and hopefully start a project soon! I will keep you updated!

    That's really interesting, I'll keep that in mind when researching, thank you :)

    Woah that is really interesting, I would love to talk to you about it just for my own research if that is okay? I won't use it anywhere else and if you're up for it later then I could get consent for a written piece? Although, if you didn't want to then that would also be fine

    Thank you so much
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 86 Budding Regular
    Brookee wrote: »
    @Zoya_Jungkook I think this is a very complex issue and a really great one to be brought up actually.

    It seems like a lot of women in particular are misdiagnosed with many different illnesses that turn out to be ADHD. I think because the benchmark has been based around young boys having ADHD, and the lack of awareness that girls can have it too, but we all just respond differently. Symptoms vary between each individual and I think the problem is that diagnoses have checklists that are very strict, and so, when girls don't fit into these they are often diagnosed as having autism or anxiety instead.

    I think more training is needed for this definitely. I mean a lot of girls and women are diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder when they actually should be diagnosed as autistic, this is becoming quite common too, which is upsetting because it means they're not able to access the right support services to help them.

    It's just becoming so common for different disorders or illnesses to be misdiagnosed as others either due to the strict symptoms associated with each one, but also because a lot of the symptoms individuals show can be put into more than one diagnosis, and because of the lack of funding for mental health services such as psychiatrists, they only really have one hour with individuals to determine the diagnosis which is far too little. Plus the waiting lists are months to years for a diagnosis from a psychiatrist so by this point, other symptoms i.e. self-harm behaviours or suicidal feelings come into play, and with just one hour, it can really make it difficult to provide a thorough assessment and a correct diagnosis.

    @Brookee

    Okay, so I want to start off by saying thank you for your response! I am planning to do more investigating around this topic and hopefully start a project soon! I will keep you updated!

    That is extremely eye-opening, thank you!

    I agree completely and will take that into account when researching, thank you :>

    That is so true, I also need to research that!

    You made really good points that I didn't even consider- thank you so much
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 86 Budding Regular
    Maisy wrote: »
    I think this is really interesting.

    I have a friend who was diagnosed with BPD and went to therapy for years. It later turns out they are autistic. I thought I might have BPD too, but I realised I'm more likely to be autistic. I think it's easy to be misdiagnosed with anxiety, BPD etc., not only because of the symptom overlap but also because autistic individuals are vulnerable and more likely to go through trauma e.g. bullying or abuse, which in turn affects mental health, and then a misdiagnosis of BPD might happen because of the trauma while autism/ADHD might get missed in the process.

    @Maisy
    Okay, so I want to start off by saying thank you for your response! I am planning to do more investigating around this topic and hopefully start a project soon! I will keep you updated!

    Woah that is very useful. Thank you so much for sharing with me? Could we talk more about this for my own research, if you feel comfortable to?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 86 Budding Regular
    AislingDM wrote: »
    Such important points raised by all! And I am glad to see so many people referencing how so many mental health needs and examples of neurodivergence overlap with one another, not just in terms of symptoms but also in terms of co-morbidity (having two mental health needs at once e.g., anxiety and depression). In many ways a huge issue is a lack of exploration from professionals of the different potential causes of symptoms in individuals. Sometimes if you can make 1 label stick then there is little effort made to consider other 'options'. Given that healthcare is predisposed to care more about cis men's experiences of mental health needs and neurodivergence, it's hardly surprising, albeit very sad, to see lots of misdiagnosis for people of other genders. Another thing to consider is that whilst we may see 'more accurate' diagnosis in cis white men, this is significantly less likely to be the case for men of marginalised races. I think all of this reinforces how we should always try to learn as much as we can about different symptoms and how they can be perceived differently depending on who is expressing them. Thanks for talking about such an important issue, everyone <3

    @AislingDM

    Okay, so I want to start off by saying thank you for your response! I am planning to do more investigating around this topic and hopefully start a project soon! I will keep you updated!

    Thank you so much for raising such an important point, I will make sure to consider this in my research!
  • AislingDMAislingDM Moderator Posts: 1,666 Extreme Poster
    I love this and I love your replies to us all, really appreciate that =) I'd love to hear more throughout the research process as I feel we can all learn much from this!!
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