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More women than men seek help for treatment of adult ADHD
The symptoms could describe any busy, distracted multi-tasker: difficulty concentrating, chronic lateness, impatience, procrastination. Or they could point to a diagnosis of adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, which some 10 million U.S. grownups have.
Yet fewer than 25 percent of the adults walking around with the syndrome even know they have it, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The majority of undiagnosed ADHD adults just live with it, though they are more likely to get into a car accident and less likely to hold down a job or stay in a relationship.
ADHD afflicts men and women equally, but there is an underdiagnosis in girls, says Dr. Patricia Quinn, director of the National Center for Girls and Women with ADHD in Washington, DC.
“It is an equal opportunity disorder,” Quinn says. “There are about as many men and women with it and about equal numbers of grownups are diagnosed. In children under 18, some 2.5 to 3 times as many boys as girls are diagnosed.” Girls with untreated ADHD develop more self esteem problems, depression and mood disorders.
Article by: BY Rosemary Black
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
