Its History Of High Functioning ADHD In Women
High Functioning ADHD in Women
Women who suffer from high functioning adhd may experience discontent and confusion in their relationships. The symptoms can be more severe in times of hormonal changes like the premenstrual or pregnancy cycles.
Many girls and women resorting to compensatory strategies to hide their impairments and symptoms can delay the time for referral.
This patient group has a unique set of issues that need to be considered when treating them.
1. Self-esteem issues
Women can feel depressed by the emotional and social challenges of ADHD. Even when they're successful, it is easy to feel like an failure due to things they aren't able to change. This can lead to an endless cycle of feeling like they feel overwhelmed and never satisfied which can take a toll on their self-esteem and mental health.
Girls who don't have treatment for ADHD are more at risk of chronic low self-esteem and anxiety, teen pregnancy depression, and abuse of substances. As adults, they are more likely to be single-parents of 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's crucial that women get a diagnosis as it will help them comprehend the challenges they face and manage their symptoms. Many women say that they feel more confident after receiving their diagnosis, allowing them to stop blaming themselves for the small things they cannot manage. 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 approach menopausal age, their hormone levels could change, and ADHD symptoms can become more severe. This can make it harder for them to be identified and treated since they are often misdiagnosed as anxiety or mood disorder, and the symptoms are dismissed as "hormonal" or "that time of the month."
Untreated adult ADHD can have devastating effects on self-esteem and relationships with her family and friends. Symptoms may interfere with women's daily routines, leaving her irritable and exhausted. She might feel like she can't refuse people, which causes her to become overburdened and resentful towards people who are around her. She may find it difficult to manage her work and home life, which leads to missing appointments and documents getting lost. She may be more easily angered when she is not liked, making her more likely to snap at people she likes.
2. Rejection Sensitivity
Rejection sensitivity makes you feel extremely when you're being rejected, whether real or perceived. You might be triggered by a disagreement with your partner or a negative review from a colleague at work. The brain's natural defense mechanisms are triggered which can trigger thoughts or feelings, and beliefs that could harm your self-esteem and relationships. You can also experience anxiety, depression, and mood changes due to sensitive to rejection.
Rejection sensitivity, although often linked to ADHD is actually a sign of emotional dysregulation. This affects how your brain handles emotions and how you respond to them. Other mental health issues such as borderline personality disorder may be a sign of these symptoms too.
People with RSD might see events through an eye that makes them appear more dark or dimmer than they actually are. This can lead people to interpret things as rejection related, even if they aren't. RSD can make you in a state of being unable to control your emotions. This is why it is essential to develop healthy coping strategies to manage RSD.
Check out the following articles to learn more about rejection sensitivity.
While there is try these out for RSD it is possible to manage the symptoms with the help of a mental health professional. You can employ coping strategies like cognitive behavioral therapy, which can help you modify your negative thought patterns. You can also develop mindfulness and build a community of support to reduce your risk of negative reactions to rejection. This can help you find ways to overcome your RSD, so you can live a more positive and fulfilled life. It is also crucial to avoid relationships that are toxic as they can cause symptoms to become worse. If you're in a abusive relationship, seek out counseling to learn how to get out. This will reduce the risk of experiencing feelings of rejection like depression and anxiety. You can also increase your self-esteem by developing healthy relationships. This will help you feel more confident about your abilities and provide you with an unbiased view of the world around you.
3. Sexuality
ADHD symptoms can make maintaining a healthy relationship difficult. This can cause 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 cause feelings of shame and guilt and can have a negative impact on the quality of their relationships and overall wellbeing.
In one study, people with ADHD were found to be more likely than people without ADHD to exhibit a sexual interest. Both males and women were affected. This could be due to the increased levels of impulsivity which can cause them to be more likely be influenced by sexual ideas and desires. The study revealed that females with adhd are more likely to engage in paraphilic fantasies and behaviors. This included submissive role-play, bondage and sexual relations with strangers. It was also more common for them to attend sex clubs and parties.
Both males and females with adhd had a higher risk of infidelity than those who did not have the disorder. This was due to their poor impulse control, alcohol disinhibition and sensation-seeking. This could also be a result of their higher rates of anxiety and feeling misunderstood by partners. The survey asked participants to describe their experiences with extra-partner relationships and sexual relations without contraception. Table 6 shows the results of this section.
The study also used the Hypersexuality-Symptom Inventory-19 (HBI-19), which asked participants about their problematic sexual behaviors. This questionnaire is composed of 19 items, which are divided into three subscales. Each item is scored using 5 points, ranging between 1 (never to 5 (very often)). The higher the score the more symptomatology it has. The HBI-19 was used to evaluate the sexual behavior of people with and without ADHD.
These results are important because the psychosexual experiences of people with ADHD are not well-studied. They have been connected to sexual dysfunctions such as STI's and unplanned pregnancies, relationship dissatisfaction, infidelity that begins at the onset of adulthood and adolescence and risky sexual behaviours.
4. Relationships
Many people who have high functioning ADHD have trouble in their romantic relationships. Insufficient communication and misunderstandings triggered by symptoms such as inattention and forgetfulness may lead to frustration, anger and conflict in a relationship. Maintaining healthy relationships can be helped by a network of family and friends who understand.
It is also important to remember that people with ADHD are often unable to listen. They are easily distracted by their own thoughts or impulsive behaviors that could cause them to miss out on the primary purpose of a conversation. People with ADHD are more likely to be struggling in multitasking and can cause them to become disengaged of conversations or engage in other activities while someone else talks.
These struggles can result in a vicious cycle in which the non-ADHD person becomes overwhelmed with anger and stress, and the ADHD partner feels misunderstood, and defensive. The issue can get worse from there as they become more withdrawn.
Women who have high-functioning ADHD are often exhausted and overwhelmed by their daily demands. They may be feeling low self-esteem or shame because of their impulsive, chaotic behavior. Or they might feel that they are unable to manage their bills and chores. They may also have mood swings, sensitivity to rejection and low sexual desire.
It is important that those with ADHD seek treatment and seek out help. It is also essential for their family members, especially spouses, to understand the disorder and how it affects the person they love. They can work together to set clear expectations and boundaries and then formulate a plan for how they will meet those objectives. For instance the partner who is not ADHD could take on more of the financial responsibilities, whereas the person with ADHD might be focused on completing chores and organizing the house.
Additionally, both partners should be able to communicate efficiently and clearly and establish a routine that includes regular sleeping schedules, meal times, and time to relax and rest. It is essential to find ways to simplify things for both spouses, such as dividing household tasks or outsourcing certain tasks which are challenging for people with ADHD.