More adult women are being diagnosed with ADHD more than ever before

CHARLOTTE — Unable to focus and only now realizing why, adults are being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder more than ever before.

Channel 9′s Deneige Broom learned more about the trend and the signs to look out for in your own life.

Kristy Privet is bubbly, talkative, and energetic -- she has to be after decades keeping up with elementary school students.

“The majority of my career, I taught Kindergarten through second grade, and that takes a lot of energy, it takes a lot of creativity,” Privet told Broom.

But at times, those same traits were hindering her personal life.

[I was] randomly looking around the room, randomly losing my thoughts and jumping from one task to the next,” she said.

It wasn’t until she was 50 that she was diagnosed with ADHD. She’s part of a growing trend of adults, especially women, being diagnosed later in life.

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“More information is out there, it’s being diagnosed more often,” said Diane Lyon, a mental health counselor.

Recent studies from Epic Research show between 2020 and 2022, ADHD diagnoses among women doubled. Lyon is one of the more than 10 million adults in the U.S. living with ADHD herself. She also was in her 50s when she was diagnosed.

Lyon says symptoms can worsen around menopause.

“As our demands increase and stress increases, the symptoms become more pronounced,” Lyon said.

Numerous studies have shown girls being diagnosed with ADHD at lower rates than boys, not because they don’t have it but because their symptoms might not be as obvious. It’s the same for women who, for instance, may be unable to focus on one task but appear to be great at multitasking to others.

“For men, though, their symptoms might be the more hyperactive, impulsive symptoms, and so those might be more apparent,” Lyon told Broom.

Lyon says someone with ADHD has a different brain structure, which can make something like pickleball overstimulating.

“I can’t stay focused on the ball. I can’t remember the score. I can’t remember who just last served,” Privet said. “My brain was constantly in go motion and it was constant: ‘I want to improve this. I want to make it better.’ My brain just would not stop.”

Lyon’s mission through her practice and new book is to help adults navigate living with neurodivergence.

“Parents who have neurodivergent children are more at risk for parental burnout, if parents are neurodivergent themselves, that risk goes up even more,” Lyon said.

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Lyon says for women, in particular, relationships can be heavily impacted by forgetfulness, distraction and messiness associated with the disorder.

Kristy said before starting medication, she compared her brain to a computer with 20 tabs open all the time.

She and Diane say if this resonates with you, talk to your doctor for a possible diagnosis and treatment.

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