Abstract
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been under-recognised and under-diagnosed in females until recently. As a result, females often navigate years of symptoms without appropriate support, sometimes contributing to adverse outcomes for them and for those who try to support them. This perspective describes the lived experience of females with ADHD in their own words and explores and explains the challenges they face while growing up and living with ADHD. We address the potential adverse consequences they face, and their predictors, along with differences in the neurobiology between ADHD and neurotypical females. We discuss the physical and psychological comorbidity, altered cognition and coordination, and the generalised hypersensitivity that they often experience. We examine impairments in empathy and emotional connectivity associated with ADHD, and the effects of masking which is much commoner in females. We consider implications for increased self-harm, suicidality, conflict, and criminal conviction among ADHD females, offering suggestions as to how these risks may be mitigated. Whilst some of these issues also apply to males with ADHD, this narrative review specifically emphasises issues that most often affect females, as their experiences, perspectives and needs have been largely overlooked until recently.