Part 1 of 3 | Estimated read: 5 minutes
By Kia Bishop (Psychologist)
For every woman who was told she was “too sensitive,” “too scattered,” or “just a bit anxious.”
Here’s a scenario that plays out in therapy rooms more often than you might think.
A woman in her thirties or forties sits down and somewhere between describing her anxiety, her exhaustion, her inability to finish tasks she actually cares about, and the crushing feeling that she is fundamentally failing at adult life, she mentions that her child was recently diagnosed with ADHD.
“Do you think you might have it too?” the clinician asks.
And something shifts.
ADHD in women and girls is often characterised by different symptoms compared to their male counterparts. ADHD in women and girls is one of the most missed, misunderstood, and misdiagnosed presentations in mental health. Not because it’s rare — but because for decades, we weren’t even looking.
Why Women with ADHD Go Undiagnosed
ADHD research has historically been conducted almost exclusively on young, Caucasian boys. The hyperactive, disruptive, can’t-sit-still child who derails classrooms — that was the template for diagnosing ADHD. Diagnostic criteria were built around that profile. And girls with ADHD, by and large, didn’t fit it.
That’s not because ADHD in girls don’t exist; in fact, signs of ADHD in women and girls are often overlooked. And this is because ADHD in girls tends to present differently. And because girls are socialised — often from a very young age — that often masks the signs of ADHD.
Research published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry found that women with ADHD experience, on average, a nearly four-year delay in receiving a diagnosis compared to men, despite having high rates of prior contact with the mental health system (Skoglund et al., 2023; Agnew-Blais, 2024). They were already seeking help for conditions like anxiety and depression. They just weren’t being seen clearly.
Girls are less likely to be referred for ADHD assessment even when presenting with the same level of impairment as boys — and part of this is because teachers tend to compare girls’ behaviour to their male classmates, rather than evaluating it on its own terms (Quinn & Madhoo, 2014).
Mood and anxiety disorders, can often mask the symptoms of ADHD in women. Although real, anxiety and depression are often secondary to the undiagnosed ADHD. Though the anxiety and depression becomes the focus of treatment, while the ADHD underneath stays hidden.
A 2026 Monash University study found that the gap in diagnosis rates between men and women likely reflects systemic misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis of females with ADHD, not a genuine male disposition to the condition.
In short: the system wasn’t built for women and girls. And that is not your fault; many women with ADHD experience similar feelings of frustration and confusion.
ADHD Misdiagnosis in Women: What’s Actually Happening
When a woman finally reaches a clinician, the presentation they bring — anxiety, exhaustion, emotional overwhelm, difficulty completing tasks — maps almost perfectly onto depression, generalised anxiety, or burnout. Clinicians treat what they see.
The problem is that these are often secondary conditions: real, absolutely — but downstream of an unidentified ADHD nervous system that has been working overtime for decades.
Treating the anxiety or depression without identifying the ADHD underneath is a bit like addressing the smoke without looking for the fire. Symptoms may improve temporarily, but the root cause remains unaddressed.
Women with undiagnosed ADHD reported medical professionals using their age, their success, or their ability to have “survived this long” as reasons to dismiss their concerns (Scientific Reports, 2025). This pattern — of being dismissed, redirected, and under-treated — is not uncommon. It is systemic.
📖 Continue reading: Part 2 — What ADHD Actually Looks Like in Women (And Why You May Have Missed It)
At The Wellness Emporium, our psychologist Kia works with a neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed lens and has experience supporting women through ADHD assessment, late diagnosis, and the complex emotional territory that often follows. You don’t have to keep figuring this out on your own.
To speak with one of our psychologists about ADHD assessment or support, get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.
References
Agnew-Blais, J. C. (2024). Hidden in plain sight: Delayed ADHD diagnosis among girls and women. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 65(10), 1398–1400.
Quinn, P., & Madhoo, M. (2014). A review of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in women and girls. The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders, 16(3).
Scientific Reports. (2025). Adverse experiences of women with undiagnosed ADHD and the invaluable role of diagnosis. Nature.
Skoglund, C., et al. (2023). Time after time: Failure to identify and support females with ADHD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
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