ADHD and Anxiety: How They Overlap and Feed Each Other
ADHD and anxiety often occur together, and can look alike. How they overlap, how they feed each other and what helps with both.
ADHD in Women: Why It’s Often Missed and What It Can Look Like
Why ADHD in girls and women is often missed or diagnosed late, how it can present differently, and what to do if this sounds like you.
I Post About ADHD··3 min read
Photo: bruce mars on Unsplash
The short version
- Women are more often diagnosed with ADHD as adults than men.
- Inattentive traits, masking and co-occurring anxiety can hide ADHD for years.
- Common signs include overwhelm, disorganization behind a capable front and exhaustion from compensating.
For decades, ADHD research and public images focused on hyperactive boys. Many girls with ADHD, especially quieter, inattentive ones, were simply missed. Today, many women are diagnosed in their 20s, 30s, 40s or later.
In a CDC-reported 2023 survey, about 61% of US women with ADHD said they were diagnosed in adulthood, compared with about 40% of men.
Why ADHD can be missed in girls and women
- Inattentive traits are quieter. Daydreaming doesn’t disrupt a classroom.
- Masking and compensating. Many girls work extra hard to seem organized and “good.”
- Anxiety and depression get noticed first, and ADHD underneath can be overlooked.
- Social expectations. Being chatty or messy may be labeled personality instead of a pattern.
What it can look like
- Looking capable on the outside while feeling chaotic inside
- Chronic overwhelm with household and mental load
- Overthinking, perfectionism and people-pleasing
- Talking a lot, interrupting, or zoning out in conversations
- Intense emotions and sensitivity to criticism. See rejection sensitivity
- Exhaustion from working twice as hard to keep up
- Symptoms that feel worse at certain points in the menstrual cycle, after having a baby, or in perimenopause. See hormones and ADHD
If this sounds like you
- Write down examples from adulthood and childhood.
- Read how adults are evaluated.
- Use our evaluation prep tool to organize your notes.
A late diagnosis can bring relief, grief or both. Both are normal. See late diagnosis.
Try it: Evaluation PrepOrganize examples, history and questions before an ADHD evaluation or appointment, and print a one-page summary.
Open 
Sources and further reading
This article is for education and organization, not medical advice. Read our medical disclaimer and editorial policy.
