Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition where you struggle with concentration and find yourself doing things impulsively. It is unknown what causes ADHD; it is suspected that it may be hereditary or due to a chemical imbalance in the brain. According to Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), in 2015 7.2% of children below the age of 18 and 3.4% of adults had ADHD [1]. However, due to sexism within research into ADHD and the different ways that ADHD affects girls and women compared with boys and men, there is a significant disparity between the genders in terms of the numbers being diagnosed (and treated) for this disorder.
Symptoms of ADHD can be categorised into those which fall under attentiveness and those which come under impulsiveness and hyperactivity.
Symptoms that come under inattentiveness include:
-
A short attention span and becoming easily distracted
-
Careless mistakes in schoolwork
-
Frequently losing things like keys or a phone
-
Difficulty sticking to tedious or time consuming tasks
Symptoms that fall under impulsiveness and hyperactivity include:
-
Acting without thinking
-
Inability to concentrate on tasks
-
Constantly fidgeting
-
Interrupting conversations
-
Excessive talking
-
Little or no sense of danger
These are some very general symptoms of ADHD. Examples of how they manifest practically can include driving dangerously on purpose, high alcohol consumption, time blindness, impulse buying and sensitivity to noise.
But despite the amount of research into the signs and symptoms of ADHD, there is a huge gender gap in diagnoses, and this is telling of a much larger problem that is by no means accidental. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, boys are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD compared to girls, with 12.9% of boys compared with 5.6% of girls being diagnosed [2]. This has led to the misguided assumption that boys are more likely to be susceptible to developing ADHD. This is not the case. It has since been proven that there is no correlation between the number of people being diagnosed and the number of people who do in fact have ADHD.
Unfortunately, this is not the only example of sexism and gender bias surrounding ADHD. Rather than just a lack of diagnosis of women and girls who exhibit symptoms of ADHD, women and girls are also being misdiagnosed, with this problem being exacerbated by an obsolete diagnostic criteria. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health disorders, ADHD can be divided into three subtypes: predominantly hyperactive, predominantly inattentive, and combined type [3]. The predominantly inattentive subtype is significantly more common in women and girls compared with men and boys who have ADHD. But not only is it the most under-researched subtype, it is also frequently misdiagnosed as mood disorders such as anxiety.
This disparity is an example of a much wider problem within ADHD diagnosis and treatment. While the signs and symptoms listed above are not gender specific, ADHD manifests very differently in men and women. The preconceived image we often have of someone with ADHD is the naughty boy in a primary school classroom who is frequently disruptive, who might be described as hyper and who can’t sit still. While there may be some truth in this, it is important to recognise that the same cannot be applied to girls. In a classroom setting, rather than being disruptive, girls with ADHD are often high academic achievers, they may also be perfectionists and have a habit of ‘spacing out.’ But differences in symptoms are not limited to childhood or adolescence – they persist in adulthood too. For example, adult women with ADHD often suffer from eating disorders, low self-esteem, and alcohol addiction. These traits are not reciprocated in adult men with ADHD.
It would be a mistake to attribute this unfairness regarding women and girls with ADHD to mere coincidence. It is important to recognise that the way symptoms manifest in women transcend – to a greater extent than men – the preconceived image that we have of someone with ADHD. Eating disorders and perfectionism do not necessarily align with the character of the misbehaving boy in the primary school classroom. Instead, the consequences for women and girls with ADHD are telling of a much larger societal problem.
The fusion of patriarchy and misogyny that all women are on the receiving end of teaches girls to be submissive and compliant from a young age. This intensifies problems for females with ADHD. Hyperactive girls are punished for supposedly ‘masculine’ qualities, being penalised for the signs and symptoms for ADHD rather than diagnosed and treated. On the contrary, the ‘masculinity’ of ADHD is in perfect alignment with what is expected of men, and so ‘boys will be boys’, who will be diagnosed and treated for their disorder rather than being misdiagnosed or never diagnosed at all.