She didn't know she had ADHD for years. Awareness centre says she's not alone
Girls with ADHD often diagnosed later in life than boys, says Centre for ADHD Awareness Canada
Shaziah Jinnah Morsette said that when she was a teenager, she saw a poster at her doctor's office outlining ADHD symptoms — which got her thinking about how many of those symptoms applied to her.
But it wasn't until years later, a depression misdiagnosis around age 13, and academic probation at university that she was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It's a condition that affects people's executive functioning and ability to regulate their attention, emotions and impulses.
"The tools I was being given only made me feel more frustrated and like I was less and less capable," she said.
According to the Centre for ADHD Awareness Canada, Morsette isn't alone. Girls with ADHD are typically diagnosed five years later than boys. They're also less likely to ever receive a diagnosis.
Morsette said she struggled after starting classes at the University of Calgary. She ended up on academic probation and knew something had to change.
She started seeing a therapist, which led to her ADHD diagnosis.
"I was genuinely really shocked when she brought it up. Because no one had ever once mentioned it to me in that entire journey along the way. For over a decade, no one had brought it up to me," she said.
Heidi Bernhardt is the founder of the Centre for ADHD Awareness Canada, which does advocacy and provides resources for those with ADHD. She said late diagnosis and misdiagnosis are due, in part, to symptoms appearing differently in girls and boys.
She said girls and women with ADHD tend to display hyperactivity and impulsivity more subtly, symptoms more likely to be recognized by parents and teachers.
"They very rarely show symptoms of getting up, running around the back of the class, climbing on chairs, crawling under desks," she said.
Instead, she said, girls are more likely to express hyperactivity verbally.
"A lot of these girls can come across as being the chatty Cathys of the classroom.… But teachers don't link that with, 'oh, maybe this is ADHD,'" she said.
"Not only does it cause huge issues in this woman's life of not being diagnosed, it's a waste of our medical system."
Tiffany Petite, clinic director of Virtuous Circle Counselling and a clinical social worker, said the clinic has seen an uptick in people who are reaching out about ADHD later in life, and finally getting a diagnosis.
WATCH | Tiffany Petite explains how ADHD affects women:
"Oftentimes, women in particular have been misdiagnosed with anxiety, depression, and that hasn't necessarily landed in a place that made sense in their symptomology," she said.
She said she's heard from many of those women who started seeing things on Instagram or TikTok that matched up with the way they were feeling.
It's also common, she said, for women who are undergoing a big life change — like motherhood, or entering the next phase of their career — to reach out.
"It's a game changer. And what they report is finally it's like putting a name to something that they've always felt. But oftentimes they've gone up different routes that led to nowhere," Petite said.
But she thinks there needs to be more research done on conducting ADHD assessments tailored to women — and their treatment plans, too.
For Morsette, even though it came late, a diagnosis changed everything. She went from academic probation to becoming the president of the students' union at the University of Calgary, and decided to extend her schooling to complete her honours thesis.
"I've just finally arrived. I've just finally gotten here as me, and I deserve a little bit more time."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Jo Horwood