As the number of women diagnosed with the condition has shot up by 3200%, the NHS is at crisis point, unable to cope with the sheer number of referrals, particularly in girls and women. When it comes to the diagnosis pathway and support for ADHD sufferers, there has been plenty of press around the lack of focus and a clear plan (Forbes).

At ADHD Girls, we know there is a need for more innovations and service providers to diagnose, treat and manage the thousands of existing and new cases of ADHD in the UK today.

ADHD impacts every area of one’s life from managing mundane, day-to-day tasks, success in the workplace and planning a career path, juggling parenting and caring responsibilities, establishing and maintaining relationships with friends and partners, dealing with finances, reaching our full potential and, last but by no means least, every day safety and quality of life.

It’s crucial that every ADHDer taps into some support to manage the particular challenges experienced by an ADHD brain and lifestyle.

Diagnosing ADHD is not a straightforward job, but we’ve rounded up some of the most common symptoms experienced by women with the condition to give you an idea of what to look out for:

• A feeling of overwhelm in social, work and general settings – you struggle to shut out noises or distractions
• Feeling out of control – baffled and confused by deadlines (sometimes fuelled by anxiety to meet them) and responsibilities
• Messiness – if you’re used to living with a messy house but feel ashamed to invite people over because of it
• Losing things. All the time. 
• Being perpetually late because you can’t organise yourself and everything you need in time to beat deadlines
• Spending all your time trying to deal with ‘life’ and organise everything that entails, leaving little or no time for fun
• Coming up with great ideas but not being able to execute them
• Starting the day with focus and objectives but ending it feeling beaten, downtrodden

This list could go on and on. But if you feel some of these relate to you and your lifestyle, read up all you can on ADHD. 

Many of the medical pages designed to inform paint the condition in a very depressing light but there are an increasing number of resources, experts and specialists in the field of ADHD – seek them out on social media and follow them. 

Here are a list of helpful books, podcasts, workshops, and eBooks that might help you understand more about ADHD. 

If you are looking for a supportive community for more ad hoc life advice, our Whatsapp community is open to women with ADHD above the age of 18. 

If you want to understand how to live with your ADHD and get a wider insight into Best Practice for ADHD at work to inform your employer, enrol in our ADHD Workplace Adjustments video course before 8th November 2022 and access 4  group support sessions.