HOUSTON — Anxiety, self doubt, and self criticism. Brittany Morris says all of those feelings are exacerbated by her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
"The “shoulding” on myself - I should be able to do everything, the same way everybody else does," Morris said.
The postdoctoral fellow at UTHealth Houston, said she was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, but continues to deal with it as an adult.
"It affects my executive function, and those difficulties show up in my ability to keep my house clean, and even my ability to remember to answer all the emails that need answering."
More and more women are being diagnosed with the neurodivergent disorder in adulthood.
In March of 2023, Epic Research published a study showing the number of women diagnosed with ADHD between the ages of 23 to 49 years old nearly doubled in a two-year span, from 2020-2022.
"People still think of ADHD as a little boy's condition," Ann Rogers, the General Manager of ADDitude Magazine, said.
She said that while the diagnostics used to pinpoint the condition are evolving, it's still hard for many women to learn what's causing their issues.
"They’ll get responses from their doctor like, 'You can’t possibly have ADHD - you graduated from college,'" Rogers told us. "But we know there is no correlation between IQ and ADHD, and women are very good with coming up with coping mechanisms and masking their symptoms."
Rogers said not being properly diagnosed – or worse, a misdiagnosis – can have significant effects. For example, Rogers said a misdiagnosis could mean a patient receives treatment for depression or anxiety, when instead there might be an ADHD medication that can better treat their symptoms.
If you think you may have ADHD, speak with your family doctor about your symptoms.