The “devastating” findings of a decades-long ADHD study | Hyperfocus

Editor's note: This episode includes discussion of suicide and self-harm. Please take care when listening and skip this one if you need to. Dr. Stephen Hinshaw is one of the leading voices when it comes to ADHD in women and girls. That’s in large part due to his work on The Berkeley Girls study. (Its full name is The Berkeley Girls with ADHD Longitudinal Study, but most people know it by that shorthand or acronym: The BGALs study.) Under Steve’s leadership, researchers began studying 140 girls with ADHD and a control group of nearly 90 girls without it. They’ve been following these girls into their adulthood, producing a reams of information that has helped shape current understanding of ADHD in women and girls. That said, Rae Jacobson had plenty of questions for Steve: Why did you want to study ADHD in girls at a time when it was typically seen as a boys’ disorder? Why is it that one type of ADHD seems to lead to such negative outcomes? What do we do about the stigma that still surrounds the disorder? Related resources Steve’s books https://www.stephenhinshaw.com/books The 3 types of ADHD https://www.understood.org/en/articles/the-3-types-of-adhd How ADHD can affect your mental health https://www.understood.org/en/articles/adhd-mental-health Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:20 The beginnings of The Berkeley Girls study 04:26 Combined-type ADHD and negative outcomes 09:18 Self-esteem, ADHD, and girlhood 16:20 ADHD as a “trend” 20:40 What to do about ADHD stigma To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the Hyperfocus podcast page at Understood.org https://www.understood.org/en/podcasts/hyperfocus/the-devastating-findings-of-a-decades-long-adhd-study We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at [email protected].