Too many ADHD women have spent decades in mental health systems that weren't designed with them in mind — misdiagnosed, misunderstood, or simply missed. This presentation sheds light on why and how this occurs, and what we, as practitioners, can do differently.

Grounded in current research, clinical practice, and a neurodiversity-affirming framework, this session examines how mental health care can be meaningfully adapted to better identify, understand, and support ADHD women across the lifespan.

With early diagnostic frameworks built around hyperactive young boys, the internalised, high-masking presentations common in women have been systematically overlooked — and the consequences are significant. ADHD women experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, burnout, and suicidality compared to both non-ADHD women and men with ADHD.

Understanding why this population has been missed is the foundation. But the focus of this presentation is firmly on what comes next.

Attendees will explore the critical intersection of ADHD, hormonal fluctuation, perimenopause, and PMDD — a midlife window where women's mental health presentations are too often misattributed, and where informed, responsive care can be genuinely life-changing. Practical, trauma-informed strategies will be shared that clinicians can apply immediately across a range of settings.

With a social work lens, this session also invites reflection on the broader systemic shifts required — moving away from models that ask women to adapt to their care, and toward care that adapts to them.

Whether you work in clinical practice, primary care, community services, or policy, if you support women in midlife, you are already working with this population. This presentation will give you the clinical insight, practical tools, and renewed conviction to do it well.

Because these women don't need to try harder. They need systems that see and support them.