Hormonal Changes & ADHD: A Lifelong Tug-of-War
May 1, 2023Hormonal fluctuations worsen symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for men and women alike, and the severity grows more pronounced with age, according to a recent ADDitude survey of 1,829 adults with ADHD.
Across genders, ADDitude readers almost equally cited progressively more debilitating challenges during the marked hormonal shifts of puberty, pregnancy, postpartum (the time after childbirth), perimenopause, menopause, and andropause (often called male menopause).These findings suggest that the traditional view of ADHD — as a childhood disorder that resolves after puberty — was entirely backward.In reality, both women and men with ADHD report the greatest symptom severity from ages 50 to 59 — during menopause and andropause, respectively.
On a scale of 1 (minor impact) to 5 (life-altering), ADHD symptoms from age 50 to 59 earned a 4.24 rating from women and a 4.14 rating from men.
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