ADHD in Women – Diagnosis & Support

May 9, 2025

ADHD in Women- commonly missed and misunderstood

Dr. Millia, First Psychiatry Clinic, Dubai is a Consultant Psychiatrist with 25 years of experience in the field of Mental Health. She is a Senior Trauma therapist in Dubai with advanced expertise in Internal Family Systems and EMDR Therapy.

Why ADHD in Women Often Goes Unnoticed

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often perceived through a male-centric lens—hyperactive boys who can’t sit still in classrooms. But for women and girls, ADHD can present very differently. It is frequently missed, misunderstood, or misdiagnosed, often until adulthood.

Instead of visible impulsivity or restlessness, many women with ADHD internalise their struggles, masking their ADHD symptoms, but appearing anxious, quiet, or overwhelmed. These symptoms are often misattributed to anxiety, depression, or personality issues. And so, they go untreated.

What ADHD Looks Like in Women and Girls

Girls with ADHD

Be daydreamers, often lost in thought
Be described as “overly sensitive” or “emotional”
Have difficulty focusing but try to mask it
Work extra hard to compensate and avoid criticism

Because they’re less disruptive than boys, their symptoms are often overlooked by teachers and parents. Teens with ADHD can display impulsive and high-risk behaviours. These often can add to the trauma and make one more prone to traumatic experiences.

ADHD in Adult Women

Chronic overwhelm, despite being high-functioning
Perfectionism masking internal chaos
Shame around missed deadlines or poor time management
Emotional reactivity or “meltdowns” that feel disproportionate
People-pleasing as a coping mechanism to hide disorganisation

These women often carry a deep sense of “something’s wrong with me”, even though they’re deeply capable, creative, and resilient.

Common Signs of ADHD in Women

Disorganisation, especially around paperwork, time, or belongings
Procrastination despite motivation or intelligence
Overthinking and emotional flooding
Difficulty following through on long-term goals
Rejection sensitivity or feeling easily criticised
Masking and exhaustion from trying to “hold it all together”

Many of these traits are invisible to others, but internally exhausting for the person experiencing them.

ADHD & PMDD (Pre-menstrual Dysphoric Disorder)

The five symptoms of PMDD:

Severe Mood Swings
Heightened emotional sensitivity
Being excessively irritability or angry
Depressed mood
Feelings of hopelessness
Anxiety

Premenstrual symptoms are much more exaggerated in those with ADHD. This might be related to being more sensitive in general or something about hormonal changes, which lowers the brain dopamine levels further down, is not clear.

ADHD & Menopause

When estrogen level starts to drop around menopause, the dopamine levels also seem to fall. The three separate issues are:

Menopause can bring ADHD-like symptoms and be mistaken for ADHD- Forgetting easily, feeling irritable, anxious, and on edge are common conditions.
ADHD symptoms that were there all along may intensify around menopause and bring awareness to the issues.
Masking for decades may be harder to do when menopause takes over.

ADHD & Post-Pregnancy

Pregnancy can be protective in many ways for many mental and emotional health issues, including calming ADHD symptoms. Post-pregnancy, when the reality, responsibilities, hormones, transitions and many challenges all start at the same time, many women struggle.

There are many overlaps between having ADHD and Post-Partum Anxieties.

Feeling anxious
Overwhelmed with multiple demands,
Tasks paralysis- not knowing where to start
Feeling pressure of multi-tasking
Being disorganised
Forgetting, brain fog

While many of these are common after delivery, women with ADHD may struggle with changes in responsibilities and emotional adjustments to transitions.

New Swedish study shows women with ADHD are six times more likely than neurotypical mothers to experience Post-Partum Depression

Misdiagnosis: Anxiety, Depression, or ADHD?

Because of masking and emotional sensitivity, many women are diagnosed with:

Generalised Anxiety Disorder
Depression
Borderline Personality Disorder
Bipolar II
Burnout or fatigue syndromes

While some of these may co-exist with ADHD, they can also be symptoms of untreated neurodiversity, particularly when women are coping with overwhelming demands in silence.

Why So Many Women Are Diagnosed Late

There are three main reasons:

Girls are taught to be polite, quiet, and emotionally attuned—traits that help them mask symptoms.
Early ADHD research focused on hyperactivity in boys.
Many women develop a narrative that they’re simply lazy, emotional, or “not trying hard enough.”

This leads to late diagnoses, often after years of burnout, misdiagnosis, or failed therapy attempts.

The Emotional Toll of Missed ADHD

When ADHD is undiagnosed:

Women feel invisible, even to themselves.
They may overfunction in some areas and collapse in others.
Relationships can suffer due to miscommunications or emotional volatility.
Self-esteem may be damaged from decades of criticism, comparison, and misunderstanding.

Many women report feeling an immense relief and grief when they finally receive an ADHD diagnosis—relief at understanding themselves, and grief for the years lost in confusion or self-blame.

How ADHD in Women Can Look Like “High Functioning Anxiety”

Many women with ADHD:

Appear organised on the outside but are mentally exhausted
Stay up late catching up after a day of masking
Experience constant guilt for not doing “enough”
Use perfectionism to avoid criticism or failure

This creates a constant pressure to perform, which can lead to burnout, especially during life transitions (e.g. motherhood, career changes, menopause).

Strengths of ADHD Women

Despite the challenges, women with ADHD often possess powerful gifts:

Deep empathy and sensitivity
Creative, intuitive problem-solving
Fierce loyalty and passion for justice
Ability to hyperfocus on meaningful causes
Emotional attunement and insight into others

With the right support, these strengths can become the foundation for thriving—personally, professionally, and emotionally.

Diagnosis and Support in Dubai

If you resonate with these patterns, it’s important to seek an ADHD assessment from a psychiatrist experienced in adult and gender-specific presentations of ADHD. Both Locals and Expats are Welcome!

At First Psychiatry Clinic in Dubai, I provide:

ADHD evaluations
Support for late-diagnosed women
EMDR therapy and Internal Family Systems therapy to work on secondary impacts on self-worth and masking. Learn more about EMDR- https://milliabegum.ae/emdr-therapy-faq-dubai/
Learn more about IFS therapy- https://milliabegum.ae/internal-family-systems-therapist-dubai/
Alternatively, click here for a guide on choosing therapies in Dubai
Medication management when appropriate

🔍 Book an ADHD Assessment in Dubai with an experienced mental health therapist in Dubai

Additional Resources

Contact Details

Dr Millia

Dr. Millia is a Level 3 Advanced Internal Family Systems therapist trained with world’s leading trainers Dr Richard Schwartz and others. Dr Millia is based at the First Psychiatry Clinic.

Consultant Psychiatrist & EMDR & IFS Therapist
First Psychiatry Clinic
- Villa 975 Municipality 363856
- Al Manara, Umm Suqeim 2
- Dubai, UAE
Office Number: +971 4 221 6000
E-mail: info@firstpsychiatryclinics.com