Women who are now in their 30s and 40s are suddenly being diagnosed in alarming numbers with a problem typically associated with children, mostly unruly little boys. ADHD affects as many as 11 million people, half of whom are women who don't even know they have it, experts say.

"Women are more likely to have ADD, where they're inattentive and have difficulty focusing and concentrating, but without the "externalizing" factors boys often have, like hyperactivity and hyperactive talking," said Dr. Patricia Quinn, a developmental pediatrician who co-wrote Understanding Women with AD/HD.

Because their symptoms are subtler, school-age girls are not as frequently screened for attention deficit hyperactive disorders.

"Girls with ADHD tend to be under-diagnosed relative to boys, possibly because they are less likely to have disruptive behavior disorders that drive referrals in boys," said Dr. Joseph Biederman, a Harvard Medical School professor of psychiatry.

Little is known about females with these types of disorders. There have been more than 6,000 research studies and papers on males with ADD, but fewer than 50 on females. For many, the problem doesn't go away after they leave school.

Seventy percent of children diagnosed with ADHD will continue to experience some symptoms in adulthood. In women, these most often include disorganization, distractibility and inattention — issues that emerge as they are entering the work force, and starting families.

Just a Wild Kid?

In school, Remick had trouble sitting still, constantly got in trouble, graduated near the bottom of her high school class, and took eight years to finish college.

"Everyone just thought I was a wild kid," Remick said.

Although she had excellent verbal skills and was always told she "had so much potential," Remick felt stupid, and very disorganized. In her mid-20s, while she was working as a tennis coach, one of her kids had ADHD, and the child's mom recognized the same symptoms in Remick.

After receiving a diagnosis of ADHD from a doctor, Remick initially resisted getting on medication, because she thought it would interfere with the tennis clinic business she was starting up.

"That diagnosis changed my life, because it made sense, and explained everything," Remick said. As an adult, she still could not concentrate while reading books or magazines and had trouble staying on tasks.

Without medication, the situation was getting worse, and Remick felt that life was getting crazier and crazier. She went on medication last year — after learning how well it had worked for a child she knew — and has been fine ever since.

Treatments can include medications, either stimulants or anti-depressants, depending on the symptoms, along with time-management and organization strategies, and short-term psychotherapy.

‘Spacey’ Girls Dismissed as Dim

The delay in diagnosis and treatment is common for girls suffering from ADD or ADHD, doctors say.

"Many girls with ADHD are missed by teachers because they just are not as bright as peers and are 'spacey,'" said Adelaide Robb, M.D., a medical director at Children's National Medical Center in Washington. "These girls are frequently missed all through school."

In the medical center's study on adolescent ADHD, researchers are seeing higher numbers than they did in elementary school studies, she said.

One high school junior whom Robb worked with had been making C's all through school, but began making straight A's in her senior year after she was placed on medication. Her teachers were incredulous.

"I had to write a letter explaining her undiagnosed ADHD had finally been treated," Robb said. "This year in college she also made straight A's."

Symptoms of ADHD in Females

Quinn says it takes a long time for women like Remick to get diagnosed because the symptoms in women look different than those in men.

"Women have job dissatisfaction, suffer silently, are depressed, and are often misdiagnosed as such," Quinn said. "Teachers often think girls are just being girls in their classroom, daydreaming about boys, and weddings, instead of having ADD."

It's the "squeaky wheel syndrome." Girls and women more often have the inattentive form of the disorder, while boys are typically more disruptive in class.

Women, as well as girls, with ADHD may feel over-stimulated, overloaded and overwhelmed. Quinn says there are specific symptoms of ADHD in women:

   Strong PMS symptoms

   ADHD symptoms worsening at peri-menopause, in their late 30s, early 40s.

   Chronic struggles with anxiety and/or depressed mood

   Chronic problems with disorganization

Evidence is beginning to suggest that there may be a hormonal connection that causes the symptoms to wax and wane throughout the life cycle. For women, the best treatment is a combination of medication, along with psychosocial support, including support groups and therapy (ADDvance.com) that can help them with self-esteem issues, Quinn said.