woman laying on bed
I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Inattentive Type about three years ago—I was a fully functioning adult, married with children before finding out that my brain worked a bit differently. Of course I've known that I functioned a bit differently than my friends since childhood. The signs were there early on, but in the '80s diagnosing a girl with ADHD just wasn’t a thing that happened.
Much of the early criteria for ADHD was written based on how it presented in males, more specifically, white male children, and I was neither. Women like me are being diagnosed more and more lately and it’s likely because social media has connected us in a way that was lacking pre- doom scrolling days.
With the help of social media, women can connect with others who share the same symptoms that were once a source of shame. They can learn what testing to ask for and how to advocate for themselves while having an army of supporters that you’ve never met to encourage you along the way. A lot of women that are diagnosed later in life don’t want medication, they just want an answer. Finally having an answer is what nearly brought me to tears. I wasn’t lazy and forgetful because I didn’t care. I had a neurological disorder that severely impacted my ability to pay attention to detail and organize tasks from most important to least. Just having the answer was a game changer, but hearing that untreated ADHD can cause unchecked anxiety, which I had in spades, I decided to listen to my doctor and give medication a try.
About 30 minutes after my first pill I was actually able to sit still. My brain slowed down and thought one thing at a time. I was suddenly able to finish the tasks that I started in a few minutes instead of hours, or not getting done at all. I remember calling my older brother and crying into the phone telling him that for the first time in my life I was able to not only sit and create a list, but mark stuff off said list. The excitement over my new found executive functioning skills wrapped in a peach colored diamond shaped pill was short lived. For a week out of the month, the pill did nothing. My brain went back to ping ponging from idea to idea, subject to subject. Things for work went unfinished or were messily completed in a last minute hurry. It was beyond frustrating, and no one had an answer as to why my period affected my medication.
My psychiatrist at the time suggested that I was building up a tolerance, but I took “medication vacations” and really only took it during the work week. It wasn’t until I reached out in a group specifically for moms with ADHD out of sheer exasperation that I got answers. Comment after comment were women saying, “my meds don’t work when I’m on my period either.” So many women didn’t have an answer as to why, it was just something that they’ve accepted that comes along with being a woman with ADHD. A week out of the month, your medication that literally helps you function is essentially reduced to being a Tic-Tac. It has no effect, and the symptoms of ADHD are cranked up to 100 that week. It was the most fascinating, bizarre and infuriating revelation. Why isn’t this talked about more?
orange and white pills
Photo by Christina Victoria Craft on UnsplashIt seems that women are left to either struggle with thinking they’ve lost their minds or that their medication needs to be increased, when a lot of the time neither is true. In fact, after doing a bit of research I found a few articles written about the effects of estrogen on ADHD symptoms, but had difficulty finding one that was peer reviewed. Most articles were written by therapists and ADHD coaches that have been doing their own research into the matter to help their clients that menstruate.
One of the few peer reviewed articles found was by Chris Iliades, MD and peer reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH. In the article, Iliades notes that “The hormone estrogen affects receptors in the brain that release the naturally occurring chemicals serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. When estrogen levels drop during the weeks before a menstrual period or during the years before menopause, so does the level of these brain chemicals.” He goes on to explain, “because symptoms of ADHD are affected by many of these same brain chemicals, it stands to reason that women with ADHD are more sensitive to estrogen.”
The breakdown of how these chemicals work in conjunction with estrogen, which fluctuates throughout your menstrual cycle, is indeed interesting. But why are articles highlighting this issue outliers? Why aren’t doctors who prescribe these medications more forthcoming with this information? It makes you wonder if doctors are aware at all or if the biological makeup of women and girls taking ADHD medication is an afterthought that medicine has to catch up with. If it is an afterthought, there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of menstruating people who would love more research done on this—taking a weeks long vacation from work and daily life isn’t feasible. Here’s hoping for more research and doctors like Chris Iliades to tell us what to expect when ADHD and periods meet.
- A tiktokker went viral for posting what it's like having adhd. - Upworthy ›
- Artist illustrates daily life with ADHD through 25 relatable dino ... ›
- Therapist with ADHD shares how she learned to clean - Upworthy ›
- ADHD work from home productivity unlocked with these 5 items - Upworthy ›
- Man's trick for spotting ADHD in women is causing tears - Upworthy ›
- 11 ways awkward people realized they were becoming outgoing - Upworthy ›
- 17-year-old sought help for his little brother's strange 'pee' problem and the Internet delivered - Upworthy ›
- Surprising 16-year-long ADHD study proves researchers' hypothesis completely wrong - Upworthy ›
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Behold, the Rye Riptides miniboat. 
A man sweating in his car.via
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."