Late-Diagnosed ADHD in Women: Understanding, Healing, and Reclaiming Your Identity


ADHD in women is often misunderstood and misdiagnosed. Learn about the signs, struggles, and strengths of late-diagnosed ADHD and how Mindful Moments Therapies supports emotional and somatic healing beyond the label.


The Quiet Struggle: ADHD in Women Often Goes Unseen


For many women, receiving a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adulthood, often in their 30s, 40s, or even later, is both a relief and a heartbreak. It brings clarity to years of confusion, shame, and self-doubt. But it also raises a deep question: Why wasn’t this seen sooner?


ADHD in women frequently presents in more internalised ways than in men. Where boys may be labelled as hyperactive and disruptive, girls often become daydreamers, perfectionists, emotional caretakers, quietly masking their symptoms to fit in, comply, and survive.


At Mindful Moments Therapies, Phiona offers holistic, trauma-aware support for women navigating the emotional impact of a late ADHD diagnosis. With lived understanding and a focus on nervous system regulation, she helps women move from self-judgement to self-compassion.


Why ADHD in Women Is So Often Missed


Traditional understandings of ADHD have long been based on studies of young boys,  leaving many women undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or misunderstood. This late recognition leads many women to live for years thinking they are lazy, broken, overly emotional, or simply “not good enough.”


Common reasons ADHD in women is overlooked:

• High masking and people-pleasing behaviour

• Perfectionism and overcompensation

• Being labelled as anxious, depressed, or hormonal

• Internalised hyperactivity (racing thoughts, impulsive emotions)

• Being high-achieving at great personal cost

• Gender expectations around emotional regulation and responsibility


Signs of ADHD in Women


ADHD in women doesn’t always look like distraction or bouncing off the walls. More often, it looks like:

• Chronic overwhelm and mental fatigue

• Emotional dysregulation (big feelings, low frustration tolerance)

• Difficulty completing tasks, especially mundane ones

• Feeling like you’re always behind, disorganised, or scattered

• Imposter syndrome and fear of being “found out”

• Forgetting appointments, misplacing things, struggling with time

• Trouble transitioning between tasks or focusing when it matters most

• Hyperfocus losing hours on one task while ignoring everything else


You may have spent your life being told you were too sensitive, too talkative, too emotional, or not trying hard enough.


The Emotional Fallout of a Late Diagnosis


A late diagnosis of ADHD is never just a diagnosis. It often brings a tidal wave of emotions:

• Grief: for the years lost not knowing why things felt so hard

• Anger : at systems, professionals, or caregivers who missed the signs

• Shame : internalised beliefs about being lazy, stupid, or incapable

• Relief : in finally having a name for what you’ve always felt

• Confusion : about how to now live, work, and relate with this new knowledge

• Fear : of being judged, misunderstood, or not taken seriously


This diagnosis may also trigger trauma responses in the nervous system, especially if you have spent decades masking, pushing through burnout, or feeling chronically unsafe in your own mind and body.


ADHD and the Nervous System: Why Somatic Work Matters


ADHD isn’t just about focus, it’s deeply connected to nervous system dysregulation. Many women with ADHD live in a state of constant fight, flight, or freeze, trying to juggle their responsibilities while managing executive dysfunction, emotional intensity, and sensory overload.


Somatic therapies, those that work through the body are vital for restoring calm, clarity, and connection.


How Phiona Supports Women with Late-Diagnosed ADHD


At Mindful Moments Therapies, Phiona offers safe, supportive, spaces for women to explore life beyond the ADHD label. Her integrative approach focuses on self-regulation, emotional healing, and rebuilding self-trust.


Phiona offers:

• EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique): For calming overwhelm, reducing emotional triggers, and building self-acceptance.

• IEMT (Integral Eye Movement Therapy): To shift limiting beliefs and reduce the emotional impact of past experiences.

• Clinical Hypnotherapy: To support focus, emotional regulation, sleep, and subconscious reprogramming.

• Somatic Breathwork: Helps release stress and reconnect with the body in a safe, regulated way.

• Bach Flower Remedies: Gentle vibrational support for emotional balance, clarity, and resilience.


Phiona also understands the importance of validating the emotional experience of women with late-diagnosed ADHD. Her work is person-centred, neurodivergence-informed, and grounded in compassion.



You Are Not Broken. You Were Just Missed.


Being diagnosed with ADHD later in life is not the end of the story,  it’s a new beginning. You are not too late. You are not too much. You are not a failure.


You were navigating a neurotypical world with an invisible map, and doing your best every day.


Now, it’s time to reclaim your power, reconnect with your body, and write a narrative of self-compassion, emotional safety, and clarity.


Resources and Support

• Mindful Moments Therapies – Emotional, somatic, and therapeutic support for women with late ADHD diagnosis

www.mindfulmomentstherapies.co.uk


@mindfulmomentstherapies on Instagram and Facebook


• ADHD Girls (UK-based) Supporting late-diagnosed women and non-binary people

Website: www.adhdgirls.co.uk


• ADDitude Magazine – Trusted resource on ADHD in adults

Website: www.additudemag.com


 Phiona | Mindful Moments Therapies

Clinical Hypnotherapy | Breathwork | EFT | IEMT

Working with adults and children | Online or in Havant, Hampshire

www.mindfulmomentstherapies.co.uk


Whether you're dealing with stress, anxiety, trauma, bereavement or looking to break habits, reframe fears, or phobias. Phiona can help you develop approaches to overcome these barriers that prevent you from living life to the fullest. Helping you navigate life’s challenges and take the next step towards a brighter, calmer future.


If you feel you would like support, and you feel therapy may be the answer. I offer 15 minute complimentary  consultations, for you to have the chance to discover how therapy might support you. Visit my website for more information. 


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You can now read and subscribe to my monthly newsletter with the link below. For tips, support, suggestions and offers. Helping you to bring balance to your mind and wellbeing. 


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Did you know you can now download selected MP3 hypnosis downloads from the website. If there isn’t one there for you let me know and I can add it to my list to record. 


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And lastly did you know I run monthly workshops online. Take a look at the workshops available and book your space from the website. 


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#ADHDInWomen #LateDiagnosedADHD #MindfulMomentsTherapies #NeurodivergentSupport #ADHDAwareness #SomaticHealing #EFTForADHD #NeurodivergentWomen #ExecutiveDysfunction #EmotionalDysregulation #TraumaInformedSupport #ADHDDiagnosis #AdultADHDSupport #HealingWithPhiona #WomensMentalHealth #ADHDUK #NeurodivergenceAndHealing

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