ADDitude is recognizing Women's Health Month with the publication of a groundbreaking survey of 1,500 women that reveals ADHD symptoms are most impactful and life-altering during menopause.
research as an abstract to the annual European meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society in Barcelona, Spain, this July.survey data and participants as a launching pad for the first scientific research to date on menopausal women with ADHD — both diagnosed and undiagnosed — later this year.94 percent of women said their ADHD symptoms grew more severe during perimenopause and menopause.
The most impactful ADHD symptoms cited during menopause were brain fog or memory issues, and overwhelm, both of which 70 percent of women said had a “life-altering impact” in their 40s and 50s. More than half of respondents reported that their ADHD symptoms grew most severe during their 40s and 50s.survey respondents were no less staggering or important. “Brain fog became unmanageable,” wrote one 45-year-old mother of two who entered perimenopause at age 41. “Distractibility increased and my inability to complete work tasks in an appropriate amount of time decreased. I began spending all night working just to keep up.
Dr. Wasserstein, in her INS abstract, said that hormonal change during menopause, which is associated with cognitive and socioemotional complaints, may make previously masked symptoms of ADHD impossible to ignore. “Our results suggest that the increased complaints can lead to a first diagnosis of ADHD during this period, as well as a worsening of symptoms in those previously diagnosed.
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