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Before I begin, I want you to know that these articles are written by me, Kirstin, a perimenopausal ADHDer Clinical Psychologist. I’ve written these from my professional knowledge of both peri and ADHD (from research and my clinical practice) and my lived experience. They are written for you, the perimenopausal possibly or definitely ADHD woman.

I’m being increasingly asked about ADHD during perimenopause and to be honest, I’m really happy that these questions are being asked. Because it tells me that awareness about these two ‘conditions’ is growing amongst people in the broader community. That can only be a good thing as there is considerable misinformation about each on its own, let alone when they present together.

You are probably aware of the discussion ‘out there’ about the increase in adults being diagnosed with ADHD and in particular, women in their 40’s being diagnosed with ADHD. This is accurate. And I’ll add, the fact that this is being discussed so widely is a really good thing and I hope it continues.

How do we know it’s ADHD when so many of the ‘symptoms’ overlap with some of the symptoms of perimenopause? Super good question.

There is a fair degree of overlap between some of the challenges of ADHD and some of the symptoms of perimenopause. Hmmm. Frustrating right?

There is some overlap in the cognitive and psychological challenges of perimenopause and ADHD. I also gave some examples of the subtle differences in how they ‘show up’ for perimenopausal versus ADHD women (albeit for most, but not ALL ADHDers). Now, if you’re reading this it’s because you want to know more about this. And so here are some more things for you to mull over if you’re wondering if you’re an ADHDer or if it's ‘all just perimenopause’.

Once again, I want to remind you of the neurodiversity paradigm. A paradigm that is founded on the belief that all brains are unique and that it’s important to understand, accept and embrace these differences. With this, there is no single ‘right’ neurotype even though the world is largely set up to best support a ‘neurotypical’ brain. This means that neurodivergent folk often feel like ‘square pegs in round holes’ and have to ‘work harder’ to meet the social and cultural expectations of society.