Why is ADHD missed in girls?

Pedro_P

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Many more boys get diagnosed with ADHD than girls. But more girls may have the condition than we think – and their struggle to receive a diagnosis can affect their whole lives.


▼ Emily Johnson-Ferguson’s mind has been racing for as long as she can remember. The eating disorders she began suffering from as a teenager were her attempt to slow down her brain. Doctors tried to blame them on family problems and stress, but she knew that wasn’t it.
It was only last year, aged 42, that she finally got to the root of her problems: ADHD.
Johnson-Ferguson is not alone. Though the stereotypical image of ADHD is a boy bouncing around a classroom, that’s not the whole picture. Girls can have ADHD, too – and many go without diagnosis, and without treatment that could change their lives.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that comes in three types: inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive, or a combination of both. People with inattention may forget things, struggle to get organised, and find themselves easily distracted. Those with hyperactivity and impulsivity might struggle to stay sitting down, constantly fidget, and interrupt conversations.
The condition is usually first diagnosed in childhood, but most people don’t grow out of it. For those whose symptoms are missed as children, living with undiagnosed ADHD as they move into adulthood causes problems.
“When I was left to my own devices at university I just couldn't concentrate at all,” says Johnson-Ferguson. She switched courses, but it didn’t help. Her bulimia persisted throughout university, and for the next 20 years she also used alcohol, caffeine, and sugary drinks to self-medicate – common among adults with ADHD.
As her marriage broke down, she started to find life even more difficult. In an effort to start afresh, Johnson-Ferguson gave up her bad habits, but found no respite from her symptoms; instead, they got worse. At her lowest point she was spending days on end in bed. “At that time I couldn’t focus on anything,” she says.
Attention deficit
There is a concrete difference between the prevalence of ADHD in boys versus girls. In one study of 2,332 twins and siblings, Anne Arnett, a clinical child psychologist at the University of Washington, found that a sex difference in  diagnosis could be explained by  differences in symptom severity: boys tended to have more extreme symptoms, and a broader distribution of symptoms, than girls.
“It's an actual neurobiological difference that we're seeing,” says Arnett. It’s not clear why that’s the case, but it could be that girls have a protective effect at the genetic level, she says.
But the true size of the difference is unclear.
When it comes to real-world diagnoses, boys far outweigh girls. In studies that look at who meets ADHD criteria in the population as a whole, however, (▪ ▪ ▪)

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Manikant Kant

Very informative post.  Something which diagnosis of which should not be missed in childhood itself.  Thanks for the post..