Womens Adhd Self Assessment: Fill & Download for Free

ADHD isn't a personality type. I'm an INFJ on Myers-Briggs, so nearly opposite to you in several ways, but I have severe ADHD.Try to remember that the MBTI type system is a totally manufactured tool, and only designed to help understand some of the different ways people can be oriented. It doesn't have a bunch of science behind it or allow for neuro-atypical differences. If you have ADHD, that could even cause you to be typed incorrectly. For example, my ADHD causes me to run at the mouth sometimes, so my score on the extroverted-introverted scale of the MBTI shows me only slightly on the introverted side, when in reality I'm quite introverted. The MBTI is not very accurate for people who aren't neurotypical. So don't give it too much weight.I don't know, but I get the feeling you might be female. If that is the case, your parents might be resistant to the idea if you having ADHD because people are more familiar with how it manifests in boys. It is very common for girls with ADHD to only begin showing real impairment during adolescence, because of how hormonal changes affect girls differently than boys. Much of the research about ADHD in girls and women is new, so if you are female, it's important that you read about ADHD in girls, and recognize that many of the things you will read about ADHD in general will not apply to you, and may even be incorrect.An excellent resource for both you and your parents would be Understanding Girls with ADHD: How They Feel and Why They Do What They Do, Second Edition, by Nadeau, Littman, and Quinn.You can start by taking a self-assessment online. This is the best one: ADD (ADHD) Self-report Questionnaire for Teenage Girls. I would share the results with your parents so that they can have a better understanding of the areas in which you struggle. Then they can decide whether or not you should see a psychiatrist who specializes in ADHD for testing.If you are not female, try looking over this checklist of symptoms with your parents instead: Does Your Child Have ADHD?About being blamed: This is a very, very common problem for kids with ADHD, especially teenagers. It has significant impact on the self-esteem of girls: girls with ADHD are more than 5 times as likely to be diagnosed with major depression as girls without ADHD, and the majority of girls with ADHD (84%) have been shown to have overall negative adjustment during adolescence. This is not to say that boys have it easy, of course, but that social conditioning and the symptoms of ADHD combined pose some serious and unique challenges for girls. So it is imperative that you address it as thoroughly and early as possible.I'm the parent of a teen boy with ADHD, and even though I have ADHD myself, I am sometimes guilty of misjudging him, too. So even if your parents at first seem unlikely to accept that you might have ADHD, that doesn't mean that they won't come around. They will probably respond better if you give them information from another source, such as the ones I've suggested above. Try to remain calm, do not accuse, and ask if they would consider your assessment results. A good way to start the discussion might be, "I've been reading about ADHD, and did you know that boys and girls often have different symptoms?" or "I've been researching ADHD, and did you know that children with inattentive (not hyperactive) type ADHD often don't show obvious symptoms until adolescence?"If this approach doesn't work, don't push. The next step would be to talk to your school counselor, who might then approach your parents or recommend an assessment. She or he could advise you about the best way to approach this, and could help you with study and organizational tips, too--whether you are diagnosed with ADHD or not.The last option I would recommend would be to bring it up with your doctor at your next appointment. Depending on your doctor, she or he might take your concerns more seriously than your parents, and may offer some guidance.If you've tried everything suggested here, and do not get help or answers, then just remind yourself that you will be an adult soon, and will be able to get assessed then. Many people with ADHD do not get diagnosed until adulthood, and many more do not receive treatment until then. It may feel right now that it will be a long time until you are out of your parents' house and doing these things on your own, but it will happen soon enough, and you will be able to make these choices for yourself.

I will try not to get into too much details but here is a list of 20 of each. Keep in mind that every ADHD person will have a mixture of them at different degrees. Some might even not be experienced by some people at all.Negative SymptomsAttention deficit. The obvious one. This is due mostly to a form of cerebral hyperactivity. The next thought is always more interesting than the current one and it’s impossible to stay focused only on one thing, because everything seems to require our attention and it’s hard/impossible to prioritize in that sense.Hyperactivity. Often those symptoms decline as an adult but are characterized by an impossibility to stay still. Often changing position, moving, standing, sitting and switching back and forth between tasks. When trying to repress this hyperactivity, kids often develop physical tics (rolling the eyes, making weird sounds, moving parts of their bodies).Hypoactivity. This can look like the opposite of the previous one. People suffering from this have too many ideas at the same time and can’t seem to be able to focus on them, everything looks foggy and this leads to forgetfulness, exhaustion and a lack of energy. Those people tend to be introverts and not speak much or at all, even if they often have a very intense internal dialog.Impulsivity. It can lead to making bad premature decisions like quitting a job or a relationship at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason. It’s also often linked to irritability and anger issues.Deficit in cognitive and/or executive functions. Poor working memory, problems with organising, prioritising and time perception.Bad self-esteem. Self value, confidence and self affirmation are often lacking with ADHD people. Due for the most part of growing up failing to meet the expectations of family/teachers and getting blamed/ridiculed/humiliated on a daily basis.Chronic dissatisfaction. A lot of people with ADHD will try to settle and lead a “normal” life (by others standards) and live a life which is not congruent with their ADHD, often resulting in a feeling of non-accomplishment and dissatisfaction. Also when making plans, the road to a goal is always more exciting than the goal itself, which means than even if attained, there will always be a need of more.Boredom. Everything that’s new is fun and exciting. Problem is nothing stays new for very long. We need that dopamine kick, we’ll seek something new all the time to get stimulated. Which means we will get bored of whatever we find as soon as we find something else, and that’s sometimes a matter of nanoseconds. Which in turn lead to not acting on anything (hypoactivity), or relationship issues (impulsivity).Distraction/Hyperfocalisation. A task can be very hard to start when everything distracts you and at the same time very hard to stop when you don’t register anything that happens while doing it.Procrastination. This can have many different causes. It can be lack of motivation because we’re not excited by the task anymore. It can also be a problem of self-value, fear of making bad decisions, fear of failure, that lead to procrastination.Chaos and Instability. Chaos is what happens in our heads, everything is a foggy, interconnected network of ideas. You can’t start reading a book without getting lost in your internal dialog, connecting ideas, making a visual implementation of what’s happening and what could happen, you’re not living in the present anymore. That’s also what happens when listening to people with all the communication issues it can mean.Fluctuating energy levels, chronic fatigue, burnout. You can be hyperactive and hypoactive at different time of days. You can get exhausted easily after hyperfocusing on something and get the exact feeling of burning out, not being able to do anything anymore.Emotivity, mood swings. For around 75% of us, ADHD also rhymes with emotional rollercoaster. This is bordering on bipolar disorder sometimes. We can get very enthusiastic about something until the very moment we want to get to it and then self-value problems kicks in and we feel start feeling like failures, we get exasperated because we can’t start, and we get angry about it.Relationship issues. Due to a mix of all the above symptoms really. Impulsivity, hyper emotivity, inattention and self-esteem/anxiety issues is like a molotov cocktail for your relationships.Hypersensitivity. A lot of ADHD people are very sensible and can appear to be introverts/shy, when in fact their brain is just treating information at a too large scale. When coming into a room, they will quickly assess everyone’s mood and potential hostility. They will also have a hard time stepping back and will seek attention/validation/love from others. In love, this can mean falling in love very quickly with people, and falling out of it as quickly. It can also be sensorial hypersensibility. Some will say that they can’t stand sounds, smells or bright lights.Anxiety/Risk Taking. Those to contradictory symptoms can be found in a same individual at the same time. They will feel a lot of anxiety about something but at the same time get a dopamine/adrenalin kick out of it and then impulsivity takes control and you end up jumping in and taking unnecessary/uncalculated risks.Stress/Performance anxiety. This form of anxiety is more of an anticipation of not being able to perform, leading to stress and procrastination.Addictions. Always in search of high stimulations, we tend to be very vulnerable to addictions. Food, sex, drugs, adrenaline, you name it.Isolation/Loneliness. Also due to a mixture of the symptoms. Often ADHD people will tend to withdraw and have problems socialising. Some will only keep a social facade, multiply sexual partners, have lots of “friends”, but still feel “different” and alone.All of this links to other psychiatric disorders like bipolarity, borderline disorder, ocd, panic/anxiety attacks, sleeping or eating disorders.Positive SymptomsCreativity. We tend to think outside the box, we can find very creative solutions to problems. We also have a lot of ideas, so some of them are bound to be good.Intuitiveness. We do not think sequentially but have a more global view of things and run into problems intuitively. We tend to think fast and find solutions to problems as fast.Curiosity/Imagination/Open-mindedness.Spontaneity/Empathy. Our sensibility and impulsivity can also be very rewarding and we tend to be very empathetic people. Since we have trouble making plans and getting organised in our social interactions we also tend to be more spontaneous and authentic.Enthusiasm. We can get very enthusiastic with new ideas and opportunities. People with hyperactivity can also share this enthusiasm and galvanise, empower people around them and their ideas.Audacity/Ambition. Part of it is impulsivity. When we get an idea we’re enthusiastic about we just can’t help but move towards it heads on.Hyperfocalisation. We can’t generally focus, but when we can, hold on to your hat. Nothing else matters, not time, not space, it’s only you and what you’re doing, there’s nobody around anymore. Juste be aware that if we’re in the zone and you try to force us out of it, you’re in for some trouble and we can get very aggressive about it.Deadline performace/Striving in chaos. We procrastinate yeah, but when the deadline is near and everything is in chaos, this is where we strive. Deadlines and chaos = adrenaline = extreme performance for us. We never really know how, but in those times we can get shit done, and fast. It’s like external chaos calms down our internal chaos.We’re good in front of groups. Strangely, when talking to groups with a position of power (teaching, acting, speaking) we tend to forget about or social anxiety and focus better.Loyalty/Justice. Respect, loyalty and justice are more than very important to us. We also don’t really hold grudges, we can forgive and forget which makes us loyal friends in return. But if we feel betrayed we can also be really intransigeant.Modesty. That’s what you get when you’re never completely satisfied with yourself…Independance. We don’t need you. Sure we like having people at our sides, we like to belong in a group as every human being. But we can forget you on the spot if we need to. Or if you slow us down. We can often get shit down faster on our own because we have the big picture in mind and trying to organise our thoughts and explain it to others is a struggle that will take more time than just doing it ourselves.Sensible to others/Altruism/Tolerance. We can get rejected a lot. We get it. We understand and can put ourselves in others shoes easily so we’re often more tolerant and have a need to help people because we feel empathetic towards them.We’re passionate. We can have lots of passions and when we do they’re burning ones. We can become real experts in no time which is a big advantage professionally.Adaptability/Flexibility. We adapt, we improvise. We like new stuff so it’s not a problem for us. In today’s age when everything moves so fast, it’s our time to shine!Innovative/Visionary. When we get an idea (and we have lots of them), and get passionate about it, there is no stopping us. We’re inventors, artists, politicians, we get it going and moving forward at the speed of light.We like to be challenged/Taking risks. All of that makes us perfect entrepreneurs.We need to create. Most often women get this need to create things, this artistic drive can help a great deal with self-esteem issues and to channel the hyperactivity.We’re like cats, we always lend on our feet and have many lives. When we fall, we get back up very fast. We adapt, we change, we forgive and we forget. We turn pages faster than a speed reader. We go forward and we move on.We seek unconventional and various lifestyles. We have lots of passions and interests, we’re authentic and we move on. That means we can have very interesting lives.On a personal note, I don’t care about the negative aspects. I know how to turn them into positives now and my ADHD has been a blessing for many years for me. I’m a fast learner (when I like what I’m learning), I’m a problem solver (I do software engineering), I’m a photographer (artistic needs) and about to run my own business, I live in a different country (adaptability), speak 3 languages fluently and am married and a father to two beautiful girls (speak about a challenge).I’m not trying to be someone I’m not and bending my ADHD to fit some standard of society, I’m embracing it and what it has to offer to me and bending my life around it instead. I’m realising my full potential not trying hide it and repress it.Sure I make mistakes and forget stuff all the time, sure I have a hard time having meaningful conversations with people, that’s a daily struggle. But we all have struggles, “normal” people have theirs too in other domains, that’s life.EDIT: Everything I wrote is a shorter version of what you can find here (if you read french) with a lot more details: http://www.tdah-adulte.org/

As someone who has hoarding and cluttering tendencies, this question really hits home.Those of us who struggle with hoarding and cluttering usually want to get our lives in more order, but people who force us to try to deal with that hoarding and cluttering using techniques that we hoarders aren’t invested in just make the problem worse.Research has indicated that hoarding / cluttering is an emotional disorder that is like OCD in some ways, a conditioning that isn’t precisely curable, but possibly manageable through a mixture of lifestyle adaptations and counseling.There are cluttering support groups in many places, and online support groups, too.Many of us clutterers have ADD or ADHD, often undiagnosed if we’re AFAB (assigned female at birth) because ADD/ADHD often presents differently for AFAB children, which exacerbates the problem. That was definitely true for me - I was diagnosed at age 40.Whether or not your wife has ADD/ADHD, self-help books for women with ADD/ADHD often have useful tips for women to get more organized in ways that seem more manageable.If your wife has never been tested for ADD/ADHD, I recommend having a doctor assess her. If she has ADD/ADHD, medication can help her, though she will also need to consider a few lifestyle changes to really get a sense of being able to manage.You are unlikely to be able to force her to declutter and stay decluttered on your terms. It doesn’t work like that.She’s probably embarrassed and frustrated about her problem. AFAB people usually are. Shaming and pressuring us into decluttering rarely works, and often backfires.Helping her find lifestyle changes to reduce opportunities to clutter, lovingly and supportively, will get you a lot closer to a solution that works for both of you.There’s an email group, The Fly Lady, that many clutterers swear by. It wasn’t my cup of tea when I first tried it, but I know it has helped a lot of women, so you may want to point her to it.I’m never going to have a home fit for Martha Stewart, but my clutter is much more effectively managed than it’s ever been before in my adult life, and my husband and I are on board with multiple lifestyle changes we’ve both made that help keep clutter from getting out of control. Don’t give up hope.