& By Kate Moryoussef ADHD Wellbeing and Lifestyle coach, EFT practitioner and host of The ADHD Women’s Wellbeing Podcast
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020 was a life-changing year for me. Yes, I was home-schooling four kids during a global pandemic, but the most significant and memorable occurrence was an ADHD diagnosis at the age of 40. Now we see a 3,200% increase in women seeking an online test to see if they have ADHD in 2021 compared to just two years before. This is no coincidence. During lockdown, many women without the daily routines and frameworks that have helped them navigate through life started seeing themselves in a new light. Without the structure and the organisation of perhaps children in schools and working from an office they were finding it even more difficult to cope. Despite this unprecedented lack of routine, many women have been feeling like this all their lives. Daily challenges have become ongoing mental health struggles including anxiety, mood dysregulation, low moods, depression, potentially disordered eating, and addictions to name a few. These common ADHD co-morbidities have probably shown up in their lives at different times, maybe depending on external stressors and hormonal changes but they‘ve not been able to make the connection. Then in midlife, there is a drop in our oestrogen which has an impact on our dopamine which is a major reason why many ADHD traits can feel so challenging. When we‘re going through perimenopause, often our ADHD symptoms which we‘ve managed to mask, conceal and control, begin to feel unmanageable. Although 88
MENOPAUSE LIFE SUMMER 2022
we’ve known something has always been off or that life has always felt weighty and exhausting throughout our lives, often as perimenopause subtly begins creeping, this is when we start realising that there‘s something else going on beneath the surface. When we hit an age where perimenopause starts to happen, it often brings out the harder challenges that can no longer be masked by a yoga class and drinking more water - as much as I advocate for those! This is the time to go back to the doctor and tell them that these challenges have always been there but right now, you‘re finding it more challenging to cope due to this drop in oestrogen, which means our alreadylower levels of dopamine and norepinephrine are dropping, contributing to lower moods, motivation, lack of executive functioning, sleep issues and ongoing memory issues. It‘s crucial to take note and chronicle historically where ADHD has shown up in life. For example, maybe you‘re an overachiever/perfectionist, with a restless inner motor yet struggle to access calm, balance or relaxation in your life? Could you be a workaholic, finding your worth in your career achievements, perhaps triggered by never feeling good enough academically? If that’s the case I believe you often feel like you‘re on the cusp of burnout and exhaustion despite thriving off being busy. And then when you‘re so busy you feel like you can‘t cope with life and feel constantly overwhelmed. We’re in a constant battle with our busy brains and overworked nervous systems and it can feel debilitating and exhausting.
