Women With ADHD May Be 4 Times Likelier To Have PMDD

Recently, researchers from King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London started working on a project called the Measuring Adult ADHD and Menstruation (MAAM).

This will be the first to track the symptoms of women who take ADHD medication throughout their menstrual cycle. Many women say their symptoms intensify and/or their medication becomes less effective, depending on their hormones, but we haven’t really investigated why in the past.

And speaking to HuffPost UK, psychiatrist Dr Elisabetta Burchi, Head of Research at Nurosym, said that those with ADHD seem more likely to experience another period-related condition – premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD – too.

You might have heard of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). PMDD is sometimes considered a far more extreme version of this.

It’s “a categorical diagnosis… described as a cyclical mood disorder presenting with impairing levels of affective lability [rapid mood swings], irritability and depressed mood, alongside anxiety, fatigue, poor concentration and disturbed sleep, that onset in the week before menstruation and resolve in the days after it begins,” Dr Burchi told us.

PMDD has also been linked to feelings of depression.

The expert added that a clinical diagnosis usually requires two months of prospective symptom tracking. Until then, any label you receive is treated as a guess.

“It is particularly important to recognise this condition because, beyond the subjective suffering and impairment it causes, it also carries real clinical risk, including suicidal ideation,” the psychiatrist said.

See a GP if you suspect you have the condition.

Dr Burchi explained, “There is now consistent literature showing co-occurrence between the two conditions, with studies reporting a higher prevalence of ADHD in women with PMDD and, conversely, women with ADHD being more likely to meet PMDD criteria than those without”.

For instance, 2025 research found that provisional PMDD prevalence among women with Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS)-screened ADHD was 41.1%, compared to 9.8% in a non-ADHD reference group.

And while that study only found a link and not a cause, Dr Burchi said that “co-occurrence… between two categorical diagnoses may actually understate a deeper overlap at the level of psychopathological traits that run through apparently distinct disorders”.

The psychologist said that we still don’t fully understand the link between both conditions, but they seem to have some things in common.

“The clearest overlap is around emotional dysregulation,” which experts increasingly think may be a “central” symptom that unites both PMDD and ADHD “rather than an exclusive feature of one disorder”.

Hormones could help to explain this link, Dr Burchi added.

“Since eoestrogen normally supports dopaminergic signalling, its premenstrual fall may compound an already-dysregulated dopamine system in ADHD, while an altered sensitivity to allopregnanolone, a progesterone metabolite acting on the GABA system, appears to underpin the premenstrual loss of emotional and stress regulation in PMDD.”

A 2025 review of 11 studies found “largely suggestive” evidence that hormone changes in women, like those seen during their menstrual cycle or menopause, may be linked to changes in ADHD symptoms.

However, links like these have long been “overlooked” – though scientists are working on studies they hope can demystify the long-reported association.

• Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
• Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
• CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
• The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
• Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.