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

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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
• The 3 types of ADHD
• How ADHD can affect your mental health

Timestamps

(2:20) The beginnings of The Berkeley Girls study

(4:26) Combined-type ADHD and negative outcomes

(9:18) Self-esteem, ADHD, and girlhood

(16:20) ADHD as a “trend”

(20:40) What to do about ADHD stigma   

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