High Functioning ADHD in Women
Women who have high functioning adhd are prone to frustration and misunderstandings in their relationships. The symptoms can become more severe during times of hormonal change, like the pre-menstrual period and pregnancy.
Many girls and women resorting to compensatory strategies in order to cover their impairments and symptoms can delay the time for referral.
This group of patients has particular challenges that must be considered when treating them.
1. Insecurities about self-esteem
Women can be depressed due to the emotional and social challenges of ADHD. Even when they're successful, it is easy to feel like failing because of the things they can't change. This can lead to an endless cycle of feeling overwhelmed and not good enough. This can have a negative impact on their mental well-being.
Girls who aren't treated for ADHD are at higher risk of having low self-esteem for a long time, anxiety, teen pregnancy, depression, and abuse of substances. As adults, they are at greater risk of being single-parents to a child with ADHD and facing financial hardship or underemployment. They're also more likely than other people to be afflicted by eating disorders and pass their bad habits onto their children.
It is crucial for girls to get an assessment, as it will provide them with an understanding of their struggles and help them manage their symptoms more efficiently. Many women report feeling confident after receiving an diagnosis. They can stop berating themselves over things they cannot control. It helps them to see their struggles as strengths and help them focus their attention on what matters most (Waite 2010,).
As women age and move towards menopause the hormone levels of their bodies change, and ADHD symptoms can become more severe. This makes it more difficult to diagnose and treated since they are often misdiagnosed as anxiety or mood disorder, and their symptoms are viewed as "hormonal" or "that time of the month."
Untreated adult ADHD can have devastating consequences on self-esteem of women, and her relationships with family and friends. Symptoms may interfere with the woman's daily routine which can make her angry and exhausted. She may feel that she cannot turn down people, leading her to be overwhelmed and angry with people who are around her. It can be difficult to manage her work and home life, which leads to delayed appointments and lost documents. She may be more prone to being angered when she is not liked which makes her more likely to lash out at people she loves.
2. Rejection Sensitivity
Rejection sensitivity causes you to feel extremely hurt when you are rejected. It could be real or perceived. You could be triggered by a disagreement with your partner or a negative comment from a coworker at work. Your brain's natural defense mechanisms become overwhelmed and the thoughts emotions, feelings, and beliefs that result can hurt your self-esteem and relationships. There are also depression, anxiety and mood changes due to sensitive to rejection.
Rejection sensitivity, which is often linked to ADHD is actually a sign of emotional dysregulation. This affects how your brain processes emotions and how you respond to them. Other mental health disorders such as borderline personality disorder can also show these symptoms.
People with RSD may view events through a filter that makes them appear more dark or dimmer than they really are. This can cause them to interpret and interpret events as rejection-related, even when they're not. RSD can also cause you to have a harder to control your emotions which is why it is important to have coping strategies that are healthy to deal with this.
Check out the following articles to find out more about rejection sensitivity.
While there is no cure for RSD it is possible to manage the symptoms with the help of a mental healthcare professional. You can utilize coping techniques like cognitive behavior therapy to change your negative thinking patterns. You can also create a support network and practice mindfulness to reduce the chance of reacting negatively to rejection. This will help you overcome your RSD to live a more fulfilled and happy life. It is also important to avoid toxic relationships as they can make your symptoms worse. If you are in an abusive relationship, seek counseling to learn how to safely leave. This can reduce your risk of experiencing feelings of rejection like depression and anxiety. You can also improve your self-esteem by focusing on creating healthy relationships. This will help you feel more confident in your abilities, and will give you an objective view of the world around you.
3. Sexuality
ADHD symptoms can make maintaining a healthy relationship challenging. This can result in sexual dysfunctions and risky sexual behavior. Research suggests that women suffering from high functioning adhd are at a greater risk of experiencing these sexual problems than their non-ADHD counterparts. These behaviors can also cause feelings of guilt and embarrassment and can negatively impact their relationships and wellbeing.
In one study, people with ADHD were found to be more likely than those without ADHD to exhibit a sexual fascination. Both genders were affected. This could be due to the greater impulsivity levels that can make them more likely act on their sexual ideas and desires. In particular, the study showed that women with adhd were more likely to engage in paraphilic masturbation fantasies and behaviours. This included submissive roles, bondage and sexing with strangers. They also attended sex parties and clubs more often.
Both men and women with adhd were more likely be in a relationship than those who didn't have the disorder. This was due their poor impulse control and alcohol disinhibition. This is likely due to their greater levels of anxiety, and feeling misunderstood or misjudged by their partners. The survey asked respondents about their experiences with extra-partner affairs and sexual relations without contraception. Table 6 shows the results of this section.
The study also utilized the Hypersexuality-Symptom Inventory-19 (HBI-19) which asked participants to discuss their problematic sexual behaviors. The questionnaire consists of 19 items, and is divided into three subscales. Each item is scored using a 5-point scale, from 1 (never to 5 (very often)). The higher the score, the more symptomatology is evident. The HBI-19 was used to compare the sexual behaviours of adults with and without ADHD.
These findings are significant, because the psychosexual results for adults with ADHD were not studied as often. They have been linked with sexual dysfunctions such as unwanted pregnancy and STIs, relationship dissatisfaction and adult-onset infidelity, as well as risky sexual behaviors.
4. Relationships
Many people who have high functioning ADHD have issues with their relationships with loved ones. Lack of clarity in communication and misunderstandings due to symptoms like inattention and forgetfulness can lead to anger, resentment, and conflict in the relationship. Maintaining healthy relationships can be assisted by a supportive network of friends and family members who understand.
It is also important to remember that people suffering from ADHD are often unable to listen. They can be interrupted easily by their impulsive behavior, or their own thoughts, which can cause them to miss the point of an exchange. People with ADHD might also have difficulty multitasking, which can lead them to mute conversations or do something else while other people are talking.
These struggles can result in a vicious cycle in which the non-ADHD person becomes overwhelmed with stress and resentment, and the ADHD partner feels misunderstood, and defensive. The issue could escalate in the meantime as they become more distant.
Women who have high functioning ADHD often feel overwhelmed and exhausted by the demands of daily life. They may experience feelings of shame and low self-esteem because of their chaotic and impulsive behavior, or feel that they're unable to keep up with their bills and chores. They might also have mood swings, sensitivity to rejection and a lack of sexual desire.
It is crucial that people with ADHD seek treatment and seek assistance. adult female adhd symptoms is also crucial for family members particularly spouses to understand the disorder and how it affects their loved ones. They can collaborate to establish the right expectations and boundaries and then formulate a plan of how they can achieve those objectives. For example the partner who is not ADHD could be more involved in the financial responsibilities, while the person with ADHD might be focused on completing chores and organizing the house.
Both partners should strive to improve communication and establish an established routine that includes regular sleeping patterns, meal times and time for relaxation and rest. It is essential to find ways to simplify things for both spouses, such as sharing household chores or outsource certain tasks that are difficult for someone with ADHD.