For my post, I choose to watch the TEDxTalk by Martha Barnard-Rae titled "ADHD in Girls and Women". In her talk, she shared her own personal experiences and the struggles she faced up until her own ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) diagnosis at the age of 39. Even with undiagnosed ADHD, she went on to attain two degrees and start her own company without ever realizing that her brain worked much differently than other people's. It was until she had her children that she realized something was off within her day-to-day life. After what she thought would be a regular checkup, her doctor realized that there was an underlying condition that was causing her to have symptoms such as anxiety and gastrointestinal problems; shortly after that, she found out she had been living with ADHD.
But how could this be? Martha Barnard-Rae is a successful woman who is married with children and even owns her own business; so could someone like her have a condition like ADHD? This very thought process is what led to millions of women throughout history being misdiagnosed or ignored when it came to having issues with attention, memory, or even mental illness such as anxiety or depression. Personally, up until recently, I had never given much thought to how this disorder presents itself in women. When I thought of ADHD, I pictured the rowdy boys from elementary school who would never sit still in their seats or would throw things across the room. I never considered how this would have looked for the girls that were in that class struggling with the same condition but never got the help they needed because their symptoms did not present themselves the same way. In women, ADHD will lead to symptoms such as difficulty with time management, disorganization, feeling overwhelmed, anxiety, depression, etc. versus the stereotypical symptoms seen in boys that were listed previously in this blog (webmd.com, 2023). Another common aspect of ADHD in women is "masking" their symptoms, as shown in the graphic below. Women will take part in this behavior in order to look "normal" and hide the shame they feel for being different from their peers.
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| Retrieved from:https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/four-signs-of-adhd-in-women-different-adhd-men-anxiety-depression-diagnosis/135332/ |
After watching the video, I went down the Google search wormhole (never a good idea) about different types of ADHD and how many women do not know they are living with this condition until later in life. I choose this topic because I personally have been experiencing some of these symptoms and I am eager to learn more about how Attention Deficit Disorders impact the female brain from a neurological and cognitive standpoint. In relation to the course content, this video coincides with the information we have briefly covered so far in class and has left me ready to learn more about different executive function disorders and how they manifest differently between men and women. Martha Rae-Barnard's TEDxTalk was a wonderful resource for students just beginning to learn about neurological disorders or even for seasoned practitioners looking to enhance their knowledge on the subject.
Sreenivas, S. (2023, May 23). ADHD in women. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/adhd-in-women
TEDxTalks. (2022, May 18). ADHD in Girls and Women | Martha Rae-Barnard [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybk2IzwV6Zg
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