The Overlooked Link Between ADHD and PMDD in Women

Maddie Hughes
Jul 15
3 min read

A new study from Queen Mary University highlights a hidden mental-health overlap – and why gender-sensitive care matters.

Women diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are three to four times more likely to experience Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), according to the recent study from Queen Mary University of London published in The British Journal of Psychiatry.

While these findings might seem surprising, it points to a pattern that many women have long reported, and medical systems have long ignored. The research calls for more than just better diagnostics – it demands a reimagining of mental health care through a gender-informed lens.

A Perfect Storm: Hormones and Neurodivergence

Between April and June 2025, researchers surveyed 715 UK women aged 18-34. Their main findings included:

31.4% of women with ADHD had provisional PMDD – nearly three times the rate (9.8%) of non-ADHD participants.

Those with strong ADHD traits were at even higher risk (41.1%).

Co-existing anxiety or depression raised the risk further.

What’s emerging is a clear picture: ADHD and PMDD often collide, and the fallout is both emotional and physiological. But why has this link gone largely unstudied until now?

It’s Not Just PMS – and Never Was

PMDD is not moodiness. It’s a severe, cyclical psychiatric condition linked to the menstrual cycle, with symptoms like rage, panic attacks and overwhelming fatigue. It’s not about being ‘overly emotions’, it’s a physiological reaction to hormonal changes, and is often misread.

For decades ADHD was defined around the fidgety, inattentive schoolboy archetype. Girls, by contrast, learned to internalise, mask or cope, with their emotional crashes dismissed as ‘drama’ or hormones. And with PMDD being similarly trivialised, misdiagnosis is inevitable.

When Oestrogen Meets Dopamine Deficit

Why are ADHD and PMDD so intertwined?

ADHD is linked to lower dopamine dysregulation – the brain’s reward, motivation and attention chemical. Meanwhile, the menstrual cycle’s luteal phase (the week before a period) involves a drop in oestrogen and serotonin, which often triggers mood instability. For neurodivergent women, that hormonal swing can hit harder: not just premenstrual symptoms but a dramatic crash in emotional regulation and executive function.

But here’s the problem: mainstream treatment still separates these systems.

Systems That Don’t See Us

Currently, most ADHD clinics don’t screen for PMDD. Most gynaecologists don’t ask about ADHD. This split leaves many women misdiagnosed or under-supported.

Pilot studies in the Netherlands and United Kingdom show promising results when ADHD is combined with menstrual tracing and PMDD support. But this kind of care is still rare and overwhelmingly inaccessible without private healthcare or specialist teams.

What Needs Fixing

The Queen Mary study lays the groundwork. But action is overdue.

Clinics need crossover screening: ADHD services should ask about PMDD, and vice versa.
Medical education must change: GPs need better training in hormonal-neurodivergent interaction.
Research must follow lived experience: Studies must centre women’s real, cyclical symptoms – not outdated, reductionist models.
Women must be believed: ‘Moodiness’ is not the problem but rather the dismissal is.

The hope is that these findings won’t just be absorbed into academic journals but into policies and training. Because if half the population is being misdiagnosed or misunderstood, then it’s not a niche issue. It’s a systemic failure.

References

Broughton, T., Lambert, E., Wertz, J., & Agnew-Blais, J. (2025). Increased risk of provisional premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) among females with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): cross-sectional survey study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 1 (8), 1–8.