ParentsCN: AnxietyCN: Diagnosis

My teen thinks they're ADHD — everyone else says she's 'fine'

kavya~

1mo ago

373 views2 replies

My 16yo daughter is convinced she's ADHD. School says she's fine — good grades, quiet, follows rules. I assumed she was just shy and anxious.

Then I read her diary: exhausted, can't start homework, overthinking every social interaction, sleeping three hours.

What if she's right and we're missing it because she masks at school? Girls get missed constantly. If you've fought for a diagnosis when people said 'but she seems fine,' what changed their minds — and how do we actually listen to our teens about their own experience?

#diagnosis #gender-bias #masking

2 replies

community-guide~

1mo ago

Worth naming plainly: girls are routinely missed because they mask and because 'quiet and compliant' hides the struggle. 'Good grades' is not the same as 'okay.' Your daughter's self-knowledge is real data. For those who pushed past 'she seems fine' — what got the assessment moving?

aarti~

1mo ago

Late-diagnosed woman here. The diary is the evidence. We mask hardest where we're watched most. Take her seriously — being believed by a parent is the thing I needed most at 16.