Women With ADHD Are Oddly Good At 9 Things Normal People Aren't Great At
Inside Creative House | ShutterstockMany women with ADHD are chronically overlooked and underdiagnosed. They're misunderstood, even as children, forced to mask symptoms and condition themselves into what society expects.
Even in adulthood, we associate symptoms of ADHD with the kinds of experiences men and boys have, disregarding the internalized symptoms and emotional sensitivity women face. Despite being unseen in so many areas, there are many things women with ADHD are oddly good at that "normal" people aren't.
Things women with ADHD are oddly good at that normal people aren't
1. Thinking outside the box
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Compared to the overly organized and analytical thinking styles of their counterparts, women with ADHD have incredibly active imaginations. They're naturally creative, with the ability to think outside the box, even in places like the workplace that typically dull originality and authenticity.
While they might not be the people who refine the solutions or structure the problem, they're certainly the ones who brainstorm innovative ideas and consider new perspectives on issues that the normal person couldn't touch.
2. Being incredible listeners
With a heightened sense of emotional awareness and a tendency to feel emotions strongly, women with ADHD are often compassionate people and friends, and even better listeners. Despite what stereotypes about male symptoms say about ADHD, women are internalizers, meaning they go inward to make sense of other people's feelings and their own.
They understand people and empathize easily. They can listen and make someone feel heard. They have a social superpower that's so often overlooked in favor of breaking down their struggles.
3. Pushing through hardship
Considering most women with ADHD have to deal with perfectionism and being pressured to mask their symptoms out in the world, they're much more resilient. They're not only grappling with the adversity that comes with daily life for the average person, but all the added strain and stress of navigating it as someone with ADHD.
For women, pressured and socialized into being quiet and multitaskers, they often have no choice but to deal with all these annoyances and struggles head-on.
4. Following their curiosity
A woman with ADHD's creativity helps her solve problems and come up with unique solutions in daily life. However, they're also incredibly curious, with the imagination to fuel new interests and hobbies that the average person would get sick of almost immediately.
They're not afraid to dive deeper into things that capture their attention, and even when it sometimes comes at the expense of their obligations or aids in procrastination that adds stress to their lives, it's also a huge superpower. Curiosity is part of what makes our lives fulfilling, especially when we're willing to follow it.
5. Curating intentional routines
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With added pressure to show up and mediate their own struggles with ADHD without much help from society, so many women have become professionals at curating a personal routine.
Whether it's figuring out the perfect conditions they need for executive functioning or developing coping mechanisms when their intense emotions feel out of control, they've learned how to succeed by meeting their ADHD where it is. They minimize their struggles, but lean into the strengths and superpowers their ADHD offers.
6. Being strong advocates
Whether it's someone they just met or their best friend, people with ADHD tend to be strong advocates for people and causes. According to a 2015 study, this is because people with ADHD have a higher justice sensitivity.
Yes, this pursuit of constant justice and trying to make things right can lead to anxiety and other strong emotional struggles. But it can also promote all kinds of kindness and intentionality in their relationships and connections with people that aren't always top of mind for the average person.
7. Working well under pressure
Despite often feeling more stress because of procrastination tendencies, the pressure these moments build up and their ability to focus intensely for periods of time can help ADHD people in certain scenarios.
When everyone else shuts down under stress or pressure, these women can lock in and help think critically under duress. It's not always the position they want to be in, but when it's inevitable, they're ready.
8. Not being afraid to take risks
Taking risks when they're not necessary and being overly impulsive isn't always a good thing. But people with ADHD are more prone to taking risks, including with their personal interests and lives, in ways that set them up for success.
They don't quit easily when something feels like a passion, and they're not afraid to rewrite their own story and stray away from a traditional path, or leverage their imagination to set themselves up for achievement in novel ways.
9. Being romantic and willing to offer affection
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There's a certain level at which people with ADHD might experience crushes that are too intense or lead to oversharing and love-bombing. But there's a sweet spot where ADHD people can express affection and love without going too far.
They feel their emotions deeply and intensely in ways that can actually make romance and showing love deeper and more meaningful. So, the average person may struggle to let their guard down or feel emotions truly in a society that tends to shut them down, but these women are at an advantage.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
