by Megan O'Brian

Created on: December 09, 2008   Last Updated: December 28, 2008

ADHD ( Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) or ADD ( Attention Deficit Disorder) has been in existence for many years. Forty years ago it was called MBD or Minimal Brain Dysfunction and very little was known about this disorder. It wasn't until years later that "MBD" or ADHD was found to be a neurobiological disorder - a medical rather than psychological disorder and treatments are now available but for those who grew up undiagnosed and untreated, life was anything but easy.

Hyperactivity, impulsiveness, problems with focusing on one thing at a time, the inability to retain information longer than a minute or two, disorganization at home and in school, failing grades in school, failures in relationships and failures at work - these were the things that people with undiagnosed ADD/ADHD had to live with and try to fit in with the rest of the world .

It wasn't easy for them to "fit in" as the words "stupid", "lazy", "sloppy" and "spacey" were words commonly used to describe them. Those words were not only hurtful but had lasting effects on the ones who grew up hearing them. Low self esteem, feelings of anger and frustration at themselves and at those who didn't understand them, feeling that life was out of control all the time made life for anyone with undiagnosed ADHD a challenge that was insurmountable.

For a woman, that challenge was more daunting if she got married and had children. She was expected to be able to run a household, care for the children, keep the house neat and tidy and often hold down a job outside of the home - an impossible task for a woman with untreated ADHD.

When ADHD or ADD was officially recognized as a disorder and not behaviors brought on by poor parenting or lack of disipline, it was arbitrarily deemed to be a disorder that affected male children because girls very often did not have the hyperactivity issues that made diagnosing ADHD in boys quite easy. Boys were disruptive, wouldn't sit still and appeared not to pay attention to what the teacher was saying at school. That behavior in boys continued at home. Girls with hyperactivity exhibited it differently than boys. They might be very "chatty", could be "bossy" as well as being very demanding in play time activities. The girls were not disruptive in class and appeared to be paying attention even if they weren't. Aggressiveness in girls was seen as being "assertive" and being a "chatty Kathy" was considered to be normal and a "girl thing".

Recognizing ADHD in women is long overdue

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