The emotional and social fallout of ADHD can be very serious. Girls with ADHD sometimes struggle to make and keep friends. Many also experience low self-esteem, depression or anxiety. They also have higher rates of self-harm, substance abuse, and suicide attempts than other girls.
“Challenges with processing emotions start in the brain itself. Sometimes the working memory impairments of ADHD allow a momentary emotion to become too strong, flooding the brain with one intense emotion.” Thomas Brown, Ph. D., explains why (and how) ADHD sparks such intense anger, frustration, and hurt.
Some women diagnosed with ADHD are also emotionally sensitive. This includes sensitivity to criticism, deep empathy toward others' feelings, and reacting to situations with quick temper out of left field, leaving others hurt and confused.
A girl with ADHD may have impulsivity and be hyper-talkative. She may be verbally impulsive, interrupt others, talk excessively, or change topics repeatedly during conversations. She might even blurt out words without thinking about their impact on others. Girls with ADHD can also be overly sensitive.
Research is showing that the symptoms of ADHD often intensify for girls during puberty when estrogen increases in their bodies. 3 As you already know, puberty is a time of great change in a girl's life as she begins the transition from childhood into adulthood.
Women with ADHD, compared to men with ADHD, struggle more with socialization. Women are often overwhelmed with the demands of relationships and tend to have fewer meaningful relationships as a result. They rarely initiate friendships, and have trouble maintaining them. Isolation protects from discomfort and confusion.
ADHD symptoms
Inattentive only: The person has difficulty paying attention but does not tend to be disruptive. Hyperactive and impulsive: A person's hyperactive and impulsive behavior can cause disruptions. Combined inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive: The person has all the above symptoms.
People who have ADHD frequently experience emotions so deeply that they become overwhelmed or “flooded.” They may feel joy, anger, pain, or confusion in a given situation—and the intensity may precede impulsive behaviors they regret later.
ADHD meltdowns are sudden outbursts of frustration and anger that seem to come out of nowhere. If your child is struggling to control their emotions, there are ways to help them. For children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), impulsivity can present in many ways.
Similarly, people with ADHD can also experience 'meltdowns' more commonly than others, which is where emotions build up so extremely that someone acts out, often crying, angering, laughing, yelling and moving all at once, driven by many different emotions at once – this essentially resembles a child tantrum and can ...
They keep their things fairly organized and try to avoid making a mess. But many kids and adults with ADHD are the opposite — they're messy most of the time. And it can cause problems at home, school, and work.
ADHD signs and symptoms
Failing to pay close attention to details or making careless mistakes in schoolwork, at work, or with other activities. Having trouble keeping their attention on tasks or play activities. Not seeming to listen when spoken to directly.
They may find it challenging to make and keep friends because of their brain's executive functioning impairment. The brain's executive control manages their ability to wait their turn, avoid getting distracted, direct their actions, control their emotions, and use their working memory to respond in social settings.
Many people with ADHD experience a physical hypersensitivity to a variety of things, including touch. Being hypersensitive may mean that stimulation of their genitals might be uncomfortable or even painful in someone with ADHD. This sensitivity may also extend to other senses as well.
“Tomboys” with ADHD
Hyperactive girls are often “tomboys.” They are physically active, drawn to more risk-taking activities such as tree climbing, exploring and playing with their brothers or other boys in the neighborhood.
Because children and adults with ADHD struggle with focusing, organizing tasks, and feeling restless, they might experience sadness, guilt, irritability, low self-confidence and helplessness. In some cases, these symptoms can signal depression.
It is essential to realize that people with ADHD are generally emotionally sensitive and may have strong feelings of shame, preventing them from seeking the medical help they need. Aside from medications, allowing the person to process their emotions before a meltdown is a healthy way to help them cope with rejection.
It is an attribute common in people with ADHD. Symptoms of hypersensitivity include being highly sensitive to physical (via sound, sight, touch, or smell) and or emotional stimuli and the tendency to be easily overwhelmed by too much information.
The signs of ADHD in girls are more likely to look like inattention than hyperactivity. Girls with ADHD often don't fit the stereotype of excessive energy. Instead, they have a hard time paying attention, staying organized, and managing their time. People might mistake girls with ADHD for just being spacey or lazy.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often thought of as a "boys' disorder" because it's nearly twice as common in boys as girls. But it's important to note that ADHD can look different in girls.
In one way or another, hormonal changes directly impact most adolescents' ADHD symptoms. Puberty's physical influence on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) is undoubtedly more intense for girls, but it shouldn't be minimized for boys.
During teen years, especially as the hormonal changes of adolescence are going on and the demands of school and extracurricular activities are increasing, ADHD symptoms may get worse.