{"id":972397,"date":"2026-05-20T03:17:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T03:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/972397\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T03:17:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T03:17:21","slug":"women-who-grew-up-with-undiagnosed-adhd-were-usually-called-11-things-by-people-in-their-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/972397\/","title":{"rendered":"Women Who Grew Up With Undiagnosed ADHD Were Usually Called 11 Things By People In Their Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many women with ADHD struggle not only with their symptoms but with judgments from others for years, sometimes decades, before having access to a diagnosis and support.<\/p>\n

While self-acceptance and emotional well-being both tend to thrive after being diagnosed, according to\u00a0a study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders<\/a>, many women have been called things and judged by the people in their lives since they were kids. They\u2019ve grown up believing that they\u2019re lazy, dramatic, and unmotivated, because nobody cared to acknowledge or address the symptoms of ADHD that they displayed. They assumed these women and girls\u2019 struggles were self-induced, while, of course, jumping to help, diagnose, and justify the behaviors of their male counterparts.<\/p>\n

Women who grew up with undiagnosed ADHD were usually called 11 things by people in their lives1. Lazy<\/p>\n

\"Teenage Gladskikh Tatiana | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

Struggles with productivity and attention, like overlooking social cues and engaging in impulsive social behaviors, are common for people with ADHD. As\u00a0a study published in Nature Reviews Psychology<\/a> explains, ADHD can also sometimes affect executive functioning, which can be misconstrued as laziness at some points in an ADHD person\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re also prone to sensory overstimulation, which can\u00a0be a barrier to productivity because it overloads the brain and sometimes leads to<\/a> avoidant tendencies.\u00a0So, women with ADHD aren\u2019t inherently lazy. They\u2019re just coping with and managing a lot more in their brains than the average person can fathom.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>11 Signs You’re Not Lazy \u2014 You’re Just Emotionally Done<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

2. Dramatic or emotional<\/p>\n

\"Young Erik Gonzalez | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

Having an over-responsiveness to sensory information and experiencing them more intensely is typical for people with ADHD, according to\u00a0a study published in Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience<\/a>, in ways that often place people in a perpetual kind of fight or flight mode. They may have disproportionate reactions to stress or anger when something goes wrong because they\u2019re overstimulated and dysregulated, trying to figure out how to cope.<\/p>\n

Even having a deeply feeling mind can put\u00a0people at a higher risk for overstimulation<\/a> in daily life, so of course, women with ADHD often cope and feel things in much different ways than the average person. While it might seem like they\u2019re being dramatic or overreacting, chances are they\u2019re just operating from a much different emotional space.<\/p>\n

Especially with\u00a0all kinds of stigmas and stereotypes<\/a> about women and emotional responses, of course, women were called something like this at one point in their lives. They weren\u2019t understood. They were judged and belittled.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>If A Man Wants You To Question Your Own Sanity, He’ll Use These 12 Subtle Phrases To Gaslight & Manipulate You<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

3. Uninterested or indifferent<\/p>\n

\"Woman Gladskikh Tatiana | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

Women with ADHD tend to display more inattentive symptoms, which are\u00a0often less understood and easily overlooked<\/a> compared to the hyperactive tendencies of their male counterparts. They sometimes zone out or daydream more often, trying to work up motivation or excitement about something, and, without knowledge of ADHD symptoms or a label, are labeled as uninterested or indifferent.<\/p>\n

Spontaneous mind-wandering and intrusive thoughts that are often distracted are common symptoms for women with ADHD, according to\u00a0a study published in the Frontiers in Psychiatry journal<\/a>, and yet, they\u2019re still misjudged by most people in society.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>People Who Zone Out In Boring Conversations Almost Always Have These 11 Distinct Personality Traits<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

4. Entitled<\/p>\n

\"Woman Vukasin Ljustina | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

Some ADHD symptoms can mimic selfishness, like\u00a0being prone to interrupting in conversations or needing more alone time to cope with overstimulation in public. Especially for women, who are often far more criticized for putting themselves first and advocating for their own needs, the label of entitled is something they\u2019ve likely dealt with their entire lives.<\/p>\n

However, they do need more care and intention to manage their dysregulated nervous systems. These needs\u00a0might mimic selfishness<\/a> to someone who can float by without extra effort, but women with ADHD need extra internal attention and strong boundaries. Despite what the world tells them, they deserve this extra care, even when it may seem selfish.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>11 Behaviors That Seem Rude But Are Actually Signs Of A Smart Woman<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

5. Impatient<\/p>\n

\"Teenage Pixel-Shot | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

When a\u00a0person with ADHD is understimulated<\/a>, they may experience lapses in concentration, frustration, a lack of motivation, or boredom. Even if it\u2019s in a conversation with someone else, they often come across and are labeled as impatient, even when they\u2019re trying to garner attention toward someone or something.<\/p>\n

They need meaning or purpose in their work or to be stimulated by their conversations, which can come across as impatience to someone trying to connect. They\u2019re not selfishly impatient because they think they\u2019re better than anyone else, but because their minds need a specific concoction of meaning and stimulation to stay attentive and engaged.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>5 Simple Ways ADHD People Can Stop Feeling So Annoyed With Everyone<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

6. Unintelligent<\/p>\n

\"girl MAYA LAB | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

Many women with ADHD are overlooked. Their symptoms aren\u2019t met with support and care as children, which leads to all kinds of issues in adulthood that commonly attract judgment. Compared to the hyperactive traits young boys often express and receive help for early on, the\u00a0inattentive trends in women with ADHD<\/a> are missed.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s teen pregnancy, low self-esteem, and underachievement as young adults, or financial strain, unemployment, and constant stress in adulthood, women with ADHD who\u00a0never received the help or label they needed to cope are often judged for the symptoms and consequences now.<\/p>\n

It was never their fault, but now, they\u2019re pressured into believing that their misfortune stems from their laziness or a lack of ambition, when in reality, it stems from their self-prescribed coping mechanisms in a culture that ignored them.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>11 Things Women Over 40 Get Judged For Now That Were Totally Acceptable 20 Years Ago<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

7. Exhausting<\/p>\n

\"Woman Bearfotos | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0a study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry<\/a>, women often deal with more societal burden and personal mental health struggles because of their experiences with ADHD, largely because it\u2019s missed and misdiagnosed all the time. In fact, on average, women are diagnosed nearly five years later than men, if they\u2019re diagnosed at all.<\/p>\n

So, they\u2019ve been forced to cope in their own ways with struggles around concentration or motivation that they never had the tools to face. They\u2019ve been called \u201ca handful\u201d or \u201cexhausting\u201d for their entire lives, because they\u2019ve been yearning for the help they needed all along.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been forced to deal with everything and manage all the burdens on their own. Of course, they\u2019re going through a lot.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>People Who Are Just Slightly On The Outside Of Every Friend Group Usually Have 11 Specific ADHD Traits<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

8. Spacey and distracted<\/p>\n

\"Little KinoMasterskaya | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

Many women with undiagnosed ADHD struggled with a lot of things growing up, but mainly inattention and focus. They often had to do much more cognitive labor than others on simple tasks, meaning they spent a lot of time in their heads. While the average person might\u2019ve considered them lazy or distracted, they were actually working through a million problems and barriers.<\/p>\n

They were misrepresented and misunderstood. As\u00a0a study published in the BMC Psychiatry journal<\/a> explains, many women\u2019s early life struggles have been replaced in adulthood with things like procrastination with chores and work, to feeling restless inside. Their experiences have changed, but unfortunately, for many women, others still find ways to mislabel them.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>5 Simple Habits People With Exceptional Inner Strength Practice When Life Feels Sad<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

9. Too much<\/p>\n

\"Woman Miljan Zivkovic | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

In a society where women are\u00a0pressured to be small and agreeable<\/a>, especially to the men in their lives, it\u2019s not surprising that those with ADHD and big, creative minds are labeled as \u201ctoo much.\u201d When they know what they need and put those needs first, they\u2019re \u201cselfish,\u201d but if they don\u2019t look out for themselves, nobody will.<\/p>\n

They can either struggle in silence with ADHD symptoms nobody takes seriously, at the\u00a0expense of their self-esteem and self-worth<\/a>, or they can manage judgmental labels by protecting themselves.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>How Even Great Mothers Unknowingly Perpetuate Patriarchal Gender Norms<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

10. Unreliable<\/p>\n

\"woman PreciousJ | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

Many individuals with ADHD experience time blindness, where they struggle to quantify how much time has passed or underestimate how much time a specific task will take, at least according to\u00a0a 2019 study<\/a>. Usually, this means it takes a lot more effort for them to show up on time, causing\u00a0all kinds of strain and stress<\/a> in their relationships.<\/p>\n

While it might feel like a woman with ADHD is unreliable at her core, disrespectful, or selfish, the truth is that most of the time, she can\u2019t control her punctuality struggles. These behaviors aren\u2019t rooted in maliciousness. They\u2019re somewhat biological, which is why\u00a0modern workplace accommodations have been put in place to prevent workers from being punished for something they can\u2019t control.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>11 Time-Consuming Habits People Who Are Always Late Can’t Seem To Quit<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

11. Awkward<\/p>\n

\"Teenage VH-Studio | Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

Especially for young women, struggles with friendships, social interactions, and connections can be common when dealing with ADHD. These young women are\u00a0often deemed shy and introverted<\/a>, even if their struggles with social interactions actually stem from inner restlessness and cognitive chaos.<\/p>\n

While some people have challenged these labels after seeking help and support for their ADHD, many women today are still living with these labels secured in their identity. They hold themselves to introverted tendencies and cling to their \u201cshy\u201d identity, even if it\u2019s not actually doing them any favors.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>10 Harsh Realities About Being Introverted That No One Warns You About<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Zayda Slabbekoorn<\/a> is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor\u2019s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.<\/p>\n

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