Man's trick to spotting ADHD in women is creating an emotional response
ADHD can be debilitating at times. Sure, people make it out to be some cutesy condition where they forget things or hyper-focus on a hobby for days before moving on to something else. But there's more to the disorder than forgetfulness and a messy bedroom so when it's downplayed or placed in the category of just being quirky it's easy for those who have it to feel misunderstood and unseen.
This is especially true for women because ADHD presents differently in them and symptoms can fluctuate throughout the month due to hormone changes. Many girls are not diagnosed with the disorder until well into womanhood due to the uncharacteristic presentation though change is occurring to catch the diagnosis before girls reach adulthood.
Alex Partridge, the founder of LADBible and UNILAD is an adult with ADHD and hosts a podcast called ADHD Chatter. Recently he shared a video explaining how to spot ADHD in women in less than 30 seconds and the response was an emotional fire hydrant. The short clip, quickly goes through some key manifestations of ADHD in women and it's quite accurate.
"They will overthink everything. That's because the hyperactivity is in their heads. It's like five squirrels on speed barreling around up there and it never stops, ever. And this will cause a lot of anxiety which is why so many women were misdiagnosed with an anxiety disorder," Partridge starts the video.
ADDitude Magazine writes women have, "a subtle symptom presentation with a greater likelihood of inattentiveness marks the ADHD experience for many women and girls, who are not outwardly disruptive to others," before adding. "Research shows that women are highly motivated to hide their ADHD symptoms and compensate for them. The symptoms that are observable are often anxiety or mood-related, which can lead to misdiagnosis."
Inside Out Hello GIF by Disney PixarGiphy
The video hits on some key components of ADHD in women like the tendency to overshare, becoming overwhelmed over seemingly small things but managing well in crisis situations. Partridge even mentions difficulty maintaining friendships due to lacking object permanence, which is extremely common and adds to the forgetfulness experienced in ADHD.
Someone who has ADHD maintaining a friendship with someone who doesn't likely leads to a lot of hurt feelings because if that person moves out of their recent call or text log, they essentially no longer exist. This isn't because the person with ADHD doesn't want to maintain connection or doesn't think their friendship is important, it is due to the reminder of that person no longer being in their eyesight. Lack of effective object permanence is also the reason if things are put away, like fruit in a fridge drawer, they're often forgotten because they're not seen.
- YouTubeyoutube.com
Partridge says about women with ADHD, "they will spend their life feeling like they're constantly just barely staying above water. They'll wish they could go back in time, put their arms around a younger version of themselves and reassure them that everything is going to be okay and that they're not broken, just different."
Women responded to his video with tears and feelings of being seen, not judged, with one woman sharing, "as I listened I started laughing because you're literally describing me, then I started crying because you're literally describing me."
Sad Cry GIFGiphy
Another writes, "I actually cried watching this because no one has ever perfectly described my inner world in less than 30 seconds."
One woman shares, "Wow. Just wow. So accurate. I beat myself up all the time because I have realized the telling a similar story is perceived as me wanting to "take over" or "make it all about me" when my whole life I have meant it to show empathy. It makes me feel ashamed. But I have good intentions when I do that. Thank you for acknowledging that."
- Creator behind 'How to ADHD' explains why people with ADHD struggle with memory and how to help ›
- You're not going crazy. ADHD meds don't work while you're on your period ›
- Doctor breaks down how to recognize ADHD in adults. The symptoms may be surprising. ›
- Many people live with RSD but have no idea, this can help - Upworthy ›
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
An office kitchen.via 
An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
- YouTube youtube.com
Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.