July 2009 Article 1
Attention Deficit Disorder: It’s Not Just for Kids or Boys
Susan is a 41-year-old married woman with two children ages 7 and 10. She and her husband have been married 12 years. Susan sought psychotherapy after losing her job as an administrative assistant. Her boss cited an inability to complete tasks in a timely manner as the reason for her termination. “I really loved that job,” Susan says. “The people in the office were so friendly. I am so embarrassed about being fired.”
In many ways, Susan’s life is an average one. She often feels stressed about meeting the demands of her children’s schedules, trying to keep up with household responsibilities, and staying in touch with friends. She describes her house as a constant disaster zone despite multiple attempts to keep her home organized. “I feel overwhelmed constantly,” she reports.
Isn’t It Just Stress?
Susan’s story is a fairly common one for a woman struggling with Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD). Often missed or misdiagnosed, ADD is commonly mistaken for signs of stress or depression. And while stress is a common experience in today’s hectic world, a woman with ADD may struggle with consistent disorganization, no matter how much or how little stress in her life. Consequently, the additional stress will often increase ADD symptoms, leaving the woman vulnerable to feelings of depression in addition to her ADD.
“Feelings of shame and inadequacy often dominate for women with ADD,” says Kathleen Nadeau, a nationally recognized expert on the topic of ADD/ADHD in women. Women are often expected to meet multiple demands of home and work. For women with ADD, the inability to do so fosters a feeling of failure that they perceive as self-imposed. Unaware of the ADD, they continue to believe that if they tried harder, they would succeed. Like Susan, they may lose a job due to their struggles with time management and task completion.
Seeking Solutions
Fortunately for women like Susan, help is available. Effective treatment typically combines a number of interventions ranging from medication to personal coaching from a professional trained in ADD/ADHD management. In addition, psychotherapy may help with feelings of low self-esteem or an accompanying depression.
More recently, mindfulness meditation has become a key component of treatment. Mindfulness utilizes a conscious attempt to focus on the breath as a way of developing a greater capacity for attention and focus. By choosing where to focus attention (the breath rather than racing thoughts), one develops a greater sense of presence of the “here and now.” This sense of being present can allow a woman to slow down her mind and focus on what needs her attention in the moment.
Family education is also a key component to effective treatment. Family relationships may be strained due to expectations that are unrealistic of a woman with ADD. Family members willing to offer assistance and encouragement can make a significant difference in their loved one’s ability to manage her symptoms. In Susan’s case, her husband’s willingness to help her with time-management skills by assisting with morning child care made a noticeable difference in her ability to complete her morning routine and get her children off to school without the frequent chaos that typically occurred.
Looking Forward
Women with ADD have a bright future ahead of them. We now recognize that ADD is not just found in kids--or boys or men. Historically, we weren’t aware of the gender-specific differences in the presentation of symptoms; we frequently looked at a male presentation of hyperactivity and assumed that it would present the same in women. Today, we recognize that the symptoms may present quite differently. And that’s good news for women and their daughters alike.
The Athena Connection: July 2009 Article 1