The “Lost Girls” refers to the generation of young women in the 1960-2010 who were undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed, with ADHD. The name “Lost Girls” comes from the many years women struggled with mental health and the negative challenges that came with unsupported ADHD.
Until 2010, it was rare for girls or women to be diagnosed with ADHD or ADD. Even in boys, these diagnoses were focussed on boys who showed hyperactivity and disruptive behavior. Even today it is still widely believed that having ADHD is just being hyperactive. However, hyperactivity is more prominent in boys with ADHD and ADD.
Girls are often found to have inattentive symptoms like daydreaming, disorganization, forgetfulness and internal restlessness. Girls who showed symptoms were often overlooked and called “lazy.” This mainly happened because studies of ADHD were centered on white males. It also was because of societal gender expectations that girls need to be quiet, compliant and accommodating. Due to these gender norms, girls often masked their ADHD.
Since women were overlooked this led many women to have educational struggles, mental health problems, workplace issues, and problems with relationships, along with life trajectory. Since undiagnosed girls are unable to focus and maintain concentration, according to APA Psysnet it has been widely documented in the literature that inattention, a core symptom of ADHD, is associated with poor academic functioning . This left girls to fall behind or even drop out of school.
ADHD also coexists with other mental health conditions, especially in women. Because ADHD symptoms go undiagnosed, many women develop anxiety or depression as they struggle to keep up with life’s demands. This leads to lower self-esteem, higher depression, higher emotional symptoms and higher risks of self-harm. Women who were undiagnosed found it, according to an article, difficult to maintain focus on tasks at work, especially those that are routine or lack immediate rewards. Problems such as poor time management and difficulty with organisation can result in missed deadlines and inconsistent work quality.
Another struggle undiagnosed women have is hyperactivity or impulsivity and inattentiveness. This often causes issues with communication and the required skills to create or maintain long term connections. Due to these problems, living undiagnosed until adulthood can have lasting impacts on social emotional wellbeing, the ability to form and maintain relationships, and feelings of control. Based on these findings, it is apparent that undiagnosed ADHD in childhood can have lasting negative consequences into adulthood.”
Since the 2010s, many undiagnosed women have surfaced and begun to speak out on social media regarding being overlooked. This has sparked a wave of women having late diagnoses. There are now many books that talk about the women who were overlooked and struggled with mental health problems.
Today people know a lot more about ADHD and mental disorders across all genders, and girls can get the proper help they need. Women with ADHD can thank the women who were able to speak out. How today there are more advanced medicines to help. There is still a lot people do not know about the struggles and differences people that people with ADHD have to go through. The information is out there to help people inform themselves to improve awareness and understanding.