The Hidden Face of Neurodiversity: Why Women Are Overlooked and Misunderstood
For decades, neurodiversity—encompassing conditions like ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and more—has been framed through a male-centric lens. Women and girls have largely been left out of the narrative, leading to misdiagnosis, late diagnosis, or worse, no diagnosis at all.
But the tide is turning. Science is catching up, stories are being told, and women are finally being seen. It’s time to challenge outdated perceptions and shed light on what neurodiversity really looks like in women.
Why Are Women Diagnosed So Late?
The diagnostic criteria for conditions like autism and ADHD were largely developed based on male presentations. Women often display different traits, leading to misinterpretation or dismissal of their struggles. A 2020 study in The Lancet Psychiatry found that autistic women are diagnosed on average seven years later than autistic men. Many never receive a formal diagnosis.
The Masking Phenomenon
Women and girls are more likely to mask—consciously or unconsciously mimicking neurotypical behaviours to fit in.•
They learn social cues by observation, leading to the misconception that they “can’t be autistic” because they make eye contact or engage in conversation.
By adulthood, this masking can lead to extreme exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and identity confusion.
ADHD in Women: The Invisible Struggle
For years, ADHD was seen as a disorder of hyperactive boys bouncing off classroom walls. But women with ADHD often present differently—struggling with inattentiveness, overwhelm, and emotional dysregulation rather than hyperactivity. Research published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (2021) found that women with ADHD are more likely than men to experience severe anxiety, depression, and self-esteem issues, often leading to misdiagnoses of mood disorders instead of ADHD.
How ADHD manifests in women:
Chronic forgetfulness (missing appointments, misplacing keys)
Emotional sensitivity (deeply feeling rejection, struggling with mood swings)
Overcompensation (perfectionism, people-pleasing, high-functioning anxiety)
The Mental Health Toll: Anxiety, Depression, and Burnout
When neurodivergent women go undiagnosed, they often develop secondary mental health conditions due to years of self-doubt, misunderstanding, and unintentional gaslighting. A study in Autism Research (2022) found that autistic women are three times more likely than autistic men to be misdiagnosed with a mental health disorder before receiving an autism diagnosis.
The cycle of misdiagnosis:
A woman struggling with emotional regulation? Diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
A woman feeling exhausted and withdrawn? Labeled as depressed.
A woman overwhelmed by sensory input? Brushed off as “too sensitive.”
Why Hormones Make It Even More Complex
Hormonal fluctuations—during puberty, pregnancy, and menopause—can intensify neurodivergent traits in women. A 2023 review in Frontiers in Psychology highlighted the strong correlation between hormonal changes and the intensification of neurodivergent traits in women.
Puberty: Emotional regulation becomes harder, often leading to anxiety or eating disorders.
Pregnancy: Some ADHD women find their symptoms worsen due to hormonal shifts.
Menopause: Estrogen affects dopamine levels, so declining estrogen can amplify ADHD and autism-related struggles.
Breaking the Stigma: What Needs to Change?
Women with neurodivergent traits deserve recognition, support, and understanding.
Steps toward change:
Better Diagnostic Tools: Clinicians need gender-inclusive assessments that reflect the unique ways neurodivergence presents in women.
More Research: Current studies still skew male. We need more data on how neurodiversity affects women across their lifespan.
Self-Awareness & Advocacy: Women who suspect they are neurodivergent should trust their experiences and seek professional evaluation.
Final Thought: You’re Not “Too Much”—You’ve Just Been Misunderstood
If you’ve ever felt like you were too sensitive, too scattered, too intense, or just too different, you’re not alone. You’re not broken. You’ve just been navigating a world that wasn’t built with you in mind. Neurodivergent women are resilient, creative, deeply insightful, and powerful—and it’s time the world saw them for who they really are
Need Support? At The Psychology Group, we offer affirming, research-backed support for neurodivergent women. If this resonates with you, let’s start a conversation. You deserve to be seen.
References:
Harrop, C., Jones, D. R., Zheng, S., Nowell, K. P., Schultz, R. T., & Parish-Morris, J. (2023). Are the diagnostic rates of autistic females increasing? An examination of autism diagnostic trends over 20 years. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64(3), 345-354.
UCLA Health. (2023). Understanding undiagnosed autism in adult females.
Biederman, J., Petty, C. R., Clarke, A., Lomedico, A., & Faraone, S. V. (2011). Predictors of persistent ADHD: An 11-year follow-up study. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45(2), 150-155.
National Autistic Society. (2023). Autistic women and girls.
Belcher, H. (2022). Delayed and missed diagnoses of autistic women. Autism Research Institute.
Young, S., & Adamo, N. (2020). Females with ADHD: An expert consensus statement taking a lifespan approach providing guidance for the identification and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in girls and women. BMC Psychiatry, 20(1), 404.
Healthline. (2023). Misdiagnosis: Conditions that mimic ADHD.
Autism Research Institute. (2023). How age—and age of diagnosis—affect quality of life.
Neurodivergent Insights. (2023). Women and autism.
The Guardian. (2024). What is ADHD, how do you get a diagnosis and can you only treat it with drugs? All your questions, answered by experts.
The Times. (2024). It’s not just heart disease—other conditions that are often missed in women.
The Australian. (2025). ‘It must be nice to be normal’: my struggle with ADHD and motherhood.
Self. (2025). Autism diagnoses in adult women are on the rise. We asked experts to explain why.
The Guardian. (2025). The number of people with chronic conditions is soaring. Are we less healthy than we used to be—or overdiagnosing illness?
The Times. (2024). Why ADHD diagnoses are on the rise.