{"id":751266,"date":"2026-06-21T17:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T17:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/751266\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T17:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T17:42:14","slug":"women-with-adhd-may-be-losing-years-of-treatment-experts-warn-sciencealert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/751266\/","title":{"rendered":"Women With ADHD May Be Losing Years of Treatment, Experts Warn : ScienceAlert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder<\/a> ( ADHD<\/a>) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that can persist from childhood into older adulthood. It impacts individuals from all ethnic groups and socioeconomic backgrounds.<\/p>\n

Current estimates suggest that one of every 21 people in Canada<\/a> has the disorder. This number is likely to rise as our understanding of varied presentations and subtypes continues to improve.<\/p>\n

While current research indicates that ADHD symptoms start at a similar age in both males and females<\/a>, women are often misdiagnosed or diagnosed later in life due to differences in presentation.<\/p>\n

A recent study suggests that women tend to be diagnosed five years later than men<\/a>. This gap is significant as a delayed diagnosis leads to more severe and consequential symptoms.<\/p>\n

In other words, “women can lose on average five years of treatment, five years of a better life<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

\"\"While our understanding of ADHD has improved our ability to diagnose, it has not improved our ability to offer services to everyone. (Vitaly Gariev\/Unsplash<\/a>)<\/p>\n

We now know that women are more likely to present with predominantly inattentive symptoms such as getting easily distracted, having trouble staying organized, and dealing with negative thoughts and feelings.<\/p>\n

Men, on the other hand, often present with more overt hyperactive and impulsive behaviours.<\/p>\n

Geographic barriers<\/p>\n

The growing recognition that ADHD often presents differently across genders has led to an increase in demand for diagnoses and supports<\/a> for girls as well as adult women.<\/p>\n

While the gender barriers are coming down, new research suggests that there remain significant geographical barriers<\/a> in accessing diagnoses and treatment for both men and women with ADHD, particularly in regions where specialist services are limited and wait times are longer.<\/p>\n

In Canada, these gaps are compounded<\/a> by the uneven distribution of trained clinicians, differences in provincial health-care coverage, and reduced access to mental-health services in rural and remote communities.<\/p>\n

\"\"Women with ADHD are often diagnosed later and show different symptoms than men. (ThisisEngineering\/Unsplash<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this situation reflects the ongoing geographical inequities<\/a> in Canadian health care more generally. While our understanding of ADHD has improved our ability to diagnose, it has not improved our ability to offer services to everyone.<\/p>\n

These inequities always come with hidden costs<\/a>, not only for the individuals suffering the consequences of living with undiagnosed and\/or misdiagnosed ADHD but also for employers, health-care systems and communities that are underserved<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Economic impact of ADHD<\/p>\n

One American study found that the total social and economic cost of ADHD from 2018 to 2019 was US$12.76 billion<\/a>, with productivity costs accounting for 81 per cent of that total.<\/p>\n

In Canada, ADHD-related productivity losses are estimated to cost between $6 billion and $11 billion annually. These costs could be significantly decreased with equitable access to diagnoses and treatment.<\/p>\n

Delayed diagnosis increases reliance on health care and social services<\/a>, especially when ADHD is misidentified as anxiety, depression<\/a> or other mental-health conditions.<\/p>\n

\"Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n

Health-care spending is often framed as an economic drain<\/a>. Mental-health care is often the most vulnerable to this negative perception and is often understood as a privilege<\/a> rather than a right.<\/p>\n

Yet, mental-health disorders such as ADHD are among the top five causes of disability in Canada<\/a>. These numbers indicate that without accessible mental-health care, Canada’s health care will never be universal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The care economy<\/p>\n

Instead of understanding health-care spending as an economic drain, advocates of the “care economy” are working to change this perception.<\/p>\n

Their research shows that while much care work remains unpaid, health and education alone account for 12.3 per cent of GDP and 21 per cent of all paid employment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In fact, when it comes to GDP, the care economy is outpaced only by real estate and is far more of an economic driver than manufacturing, oil and gas, or finance.<\/p>\n

Related: ADHD Drugs Do Much More Than Help You Focus, Study Reveals<\/a><\/p>\n

As our awareness and understanding of ADHD continues to improve, many adults are now looking for diagnoses and treatments.<\/p>\n

Understanding the economic benefits of investing in equitable health care \u2014 including mental-health care \u2014 across all regions of the country is an essential part of working to meet the demand while also building resilient local, provincial and national economies.\"The\n<\/p>\n

Fiona MacDonald<\/a>, Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Northern British Columbia<\/a> and Aderonke Agboji<\/a>, Assistant Professor, Nursing, University of Northern British Columbia<\/a><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that can persist from childhood into older…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":["post-751266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}