ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and begins before the age of 7, lasts 6 months or longer, and carries forward into adulthood over 50 percent of the time. But could there be a segment of the general population that may have ADHD but may not quite fit into the strict criteria laid out by the DSM-IV medical manual to receive a positive diagnosis?

The answer seems to be yes, with this unrecognized group being made up primarily of females. The ADHD females that most often fall through the diagnostic cracks are the inattentive subtypes. This group is defined as those who have trouble focusing but are able to sit still. In other words they don't show the hyperactive behavior, that rightly or wrongly, is so often associated with a child having ADHD.

Those with inattentive ADHD tend to be daydreamers or fail to assimilate information in conventional ways, making them appear to be slow learners. The inattentive ADHD child is definitely not a go getter, rather one who shows a lack of motivation along with the inability to follow through on projects. The inattentive ADHD female may also seem as if they are seemingly always preoccupied with something beside work or school. She may be passed through by her teachers in classes like math and geometry, since after all most girls aren't expected to have careers in engineering or math related fields anyway. Her parents may be at their wits end trying to find ways for her to become more interested academics, finally resigning themselves to the fact that her only hope in life if to marry well. Other parents will hope their undermotivated disinterested daughter will emerge from her mental fog later in life. Both views are unfortunate since inattention ADHD is one of the most treatable of the three main classifications (inattentive, hyperactive, combined).

It is not the goal here to convey the idea that all females with ADHD are inattentive, many do fall into the other two categories. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure regardless of the type attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in women becomes much worse at hormonal transition times. This is especially true of untreated ADHD. The worsening symptoms with which ADHD women struggle at menopause, perimenopause, during the postpartum period, and when PMS is very bad are most likely due to low estrogen levels. Low estrogen levels cause difficulty with focus, energy regulation, memory dysfunction, and fatigue. It would not be much of a stretch to conclude that the symptoms produced by low estrogen could indeed make the inattentive type of ADHD much worse, but only at specific times of the month creating a roller coaster of vacillating symptoms that would be both difficult to diagnose and even harder to manage.

What Next? For those females struggling with ADHD finding the right doctor along with an effective treatment option is an important first step. The most common form of treatment currently are prescription stimulants such as Ritalin, Adderall and Vyvanse. While effective, all stimulant medications come with a number of serious label warnings. The risk of side effects, or perhaps lack of success with stimulants, has prompted many to investigate other options. A couple examples of this are behavior modification therapy and/or natural remedies. Natural remedies for ADHD are a side effect free way to address such problematic symptoms as inattention, distractibility, impulsivity, erratic behavior and hyperactivity and can be used both as a standalone treatment or as a compliment to other nonprescription alternatives.