Dr. Ursula Davatz, who has been working with ADHS/ADS for over 40 years, discusses ADHS/ADS as a „vulnerable, sensible neurotype“ rather than a fixed disease, emphasizing that psychiatric conditions are functional diagnoses of the brain that can change. She also includes Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASS) and hypersensitivity under the umbrella of ADHS/ADS. This neurodiversity means individuals are more susceptible to stress and can develop various illnesses as a result.
Here are key aspects of ADHS/ADS in women as discussed in the sources:
Differences in Symptom Presentation and Coping Mechanisms
- Hiding Symptoms and Adaptation: Women with ADHS/ADS tend to suffer more from the symptomatology than men. This is because women can better hide their symptoms and adapt more effectively. Girls, in particular, exert immense effort to conform, which can make their struggles unnoticeable.
- Multitasking Ability: Women are often better at multitasking, a skill that is frequently required in daily life, such as for a housewife or in a school environment.
- Internal Processing: While boys with ADHS/ADS often react with outward aggression when stressed, girls and women tend to react internally. They begin to overthink, process all situations very carefully, and may tell their stories meticulously, sometimes to the point of losing the listener.
- Self-Exploitation: This constant adaptation can lead women to „exploit themselves,“ leaving them drained and with nothing left.
Diagnosis and Life Impact
- Delayed Diagnosis: The diagnosis of ADHS/ADS in girls and women is often significantly delayed. It is frequently made only between 35 and 45 years of age, or even later, at 70 or 80 years.
- „Aha“ Moments: Many women come to realize they have ADHS/ADS symptoms through information found in newspapers or on platforms like TikTok, leading to an „aha“ moment where they understand their own reactions and behaviors. The proportion of women being diagnosed is increasing.
- Reduced Life Expectancy: Studies from England and America indicate that women with ADHS/ADS die ten years earlier than average, whereas men with ADHS/ADS die seven years earlier. This shorter lifespan in women might be linked to them never finding their own „focus“ or being helped to find it.
- Comorbidity: A significant majority (80%) of individuals diagnosed with ADHS/ADS in adulthood have one or more additional psychiatric diagnoses, which Dr. Davatz considers follow-up illnesses.
Psychiatric and Somatic Consequences
- Depression: Women with ADHS/ADS are more prone to depression, experiencing twice as many depressions in old age as men.
- Psychosomatic Illnesses: Women tend to develop psychosomatic illnesses, frequently involving the musculoskeletal system. These can include back pain, generalized tension, joint pain, headaches, exhaustion, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Dr. Davatz noted many women with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome after COVID.
- Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): Women are more likely to develop Borderline Personality Disorder, which Dr. Davatz describes as a result of ADHS/ADS individuals being raised too restrictively and always adapting. When they reach puberty and hormonal surges, they „break all boundaries“ and become „wild“. If their environment cannot cope with them, they feel abandoned and may engage in attention-seeking behaviors, effectively becoming „professionally pubertating“. They seek guidance and accompaniment.
Brain Function and Sensitivity
- Emotional Brain: Individuals with ADHS/ADS have a stronger, more reactive, and more sensitive emotional brain (limbic system). This emotional brain, likened to fluid media like air and water, experiences greater and longer-lasting „waves“ of excitement.
- System Overload/Overflow: When the emotional brain is overloaded, it sends signals that can lead to a „System Overload“ and then „System Overflow“. This can result in thought disturbances, or signals going to the primitive (reptilian) brain, causing primitive reflexes like running around or screaming.
- Connection with Grosshirn: The emotional system in ADHS/ADS children remains more strongly connected to the cerebrum (Grosshirn), meaning they have to process more impressions, which makes them tired.
- Stress Susceptibility: Due to their highly excitable and reactive emotional systems, individuals with ADHS/ADS are more sensitive to stress.
Educational and Therapeutic Approaches
- Avoiding Over-Regulation: Raising ADHS/ADS individuals too restrictively or on a „short leash“ can lead to mental and somatic illnesses.
- Patience and Validation: When ADHS/ADS individuals are in a „high arousal“ (over-excited) state, it is ineffective to try to educate them with reason. Instead, allow them to cool down, then validate their emotions by asking what hurt them or upset them before discussing alternative actions. This allows them to process the experience and integrate it.
- Coaching the Environment: Dr. Davatz advocates for coaching the adults and the environment (parents, teachers) rather than directly treating the child or teenager with ADHS/ADS. This approach focuses on teaching caregivers how to interact more skillfully with neurodivergent individuals.
- Understanding Borderline Mothers: When working with Borderline mothers, Dr. Davatz suggests asking about their own childhood and upbringing, and their relationship with their own mothers. This helps understand their deficits and allows for a more supportive approach, rather than direct criticism of their parenting, which they are very sensitive to.
- Intrinsic Motivation: It is crucial for ADHS/ADS individuals to find their intrinsic motivation and their own focus. Parents should not take away activities children enjoy (e.g., football for a child struggling in school), as this can demotivate them further in other areas. Allowing children to pursue hobbies they love builds self-esteem.
- Neurodiversity Perspective: It is beneficial to view ADHS/ADS as a neurodiversity, an „otherness,“ rather than solely a „disability“. This perspective acknowledges the strengths, such as creativity, that come with this neurotype. Prominent figures like Elon Musk (Autist) and Richard Branson (likely ADHS/ADS) exemplify how neurodivergence can be associated with significant achievements.
https://adhs.expert/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ADHS-Schule-fuer-Maedchen-28.5.2025.m4a.pdf