Hi again and welcome back to the savvy psychologist. I'm your host

Dr. Ellen Hendrickson and every week I'll help you meet life's challenges

with evidence-based research, a sympathetic Every week, I'll help you meet life's challenges

with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear,

and zero judgment.

Okay, pop quiz.

What is the first thing that comes to mind

when I say ADHD? A getting distracted, B, Ants in the Pants,

C, elementary school boys, or D, women and girls. Most likely you didn't pick D, but if that's the case, you're not alone.

For most people, ADHD conjures a mental image of school-age boys squirming at desks or bouncing

off walls, not a picture of adults, girls, or especially adult women.

Both scientists and society have long pinned ADHD on males, even though girls and women may be just as likely

to suffer from this neurodevelopmental disorder.

Back in 1987, the American Psychiatric Association stated that the male to female ratio for ADHD was 9 to 1.

20 years later, however, an epidemiological study of almost 4,000 kids found the ratio was more like 1-1, half girls, half boys.

Now, in both sexes, core symptoms are the same.

Difficulties with paying attention, getting and

staying organized, planning ahead, and time management. There's also the

phenomena I call the laser beam and the disco Ball, where attention is either hyper-focused or

unfocused with not much in-between, and toggling in and out of either is difficult.

Okay, so how does ADHD most often is actually a bit of a misnomer because it can't

so how does ADHD most often manifest in women?

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