Gabrielle Allison

Project Prospectus
IPS 410-11
10/30/22

Project Prospectus

For my capstone research project, I will seek to answer the question, “How can we offer

support and education to women who have been diagnosed with ADHD, or to women who may

be experiencing symptoms of ADHD?” For me, this topic is personal. After suffering for years, I

finally found a mental health professional who educated me and listened to me. She didn’t cherry

pick through the details of my experience, but rather listened and explored different options. I

was finally diagnosed in my 20’s, right at the age where everything feels discombobulated

anyway and I was struggling to make sense of it all. However, my doctor gave me access to

information for support groups, websites and information pamphlets. After exploring some of

those resources, the issues surrounding the difficulty of diagnosis became clear. The doctor that

diagnosed me was the 4th one that I had described my symptoms to. She was also the only

doctor that gave me an evaluation and ran other tests. I thought my experience was unique, but I

quickly found out that my story was one of many. Every forum, every infographic, every source

exposed the sexism that still plagues our healthcare system today. 

The reasons why I’ve decided to target women are obvious. Females are diagnosed at a

far lower rate than males when it comes to this particular condition. Women are not less likely

than males to have this condition, but due to the lack of diversity in research groups analyzed

when developing diagnoses criteria, diagnoses for females can be difficult because there is no

true protocol for addressing the situation. It is not just ignorance, but negligence to assume that

one sex can experience something mentally and not the other without supplying the proper

evidence and research to back this up. Furthermore, the reason why I decided to highlight the

ages 18-40 is because most women who have ADHD aren’t diagnosed until they’re 30’s and I
Gabrielle Allison
Project Prospectus
IPS 410-11
10/30/22

feel like women who have ADHD especially in their teens and twenties need support during

these developmental stages in their lives.

It is important to note that ADHD diagnosis, treatment and support looks different for

everyone. That is the basis of my research. I know that what may work for me might not work

for someone else, so I sought out to discover the problems females face before and after

diagnosis and the problems they face dealing with the diagnosis. My five required sources are

mostly articles. Within these articles are cited research analytics, stories, studies, and solutions.

I’ve also utilized the Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

(CHADD) website to give more insight into what current supports are available so that I may

develop my own. I have even gone a step further and conducted a short survey within a current

ADHD support group that I am a part of to ask 3 questions: What ADHD resources/supports are

you familiar with? What do these sources do well? What, if anything, do these sources lack? My

research revealed the following common themes: 1. ADHD in women can be masked by other

comorbidities (other mental health conditions like anxiety and depression). 2.  The lack of

accurate information regarding females with ADHD creates negative stigmas and falsehoods

surrounding diagnosis and treatment. 3. There is an overall lack of scientific data supporting

diagnosis and treatment of women for ADHD. 4. There is a great need for advocacy on this topic

to spark change in the healthcare system. 5. Supports and resources need to be advertised and

modernized to keep up with today’s trends.

In conclusion, with my personal experiences and knowledge gained from my research, I

seek to propose a digital platform that will share information about ADHD in women, house

forums where women can vent, critique treatments and share experiences. I plan to also expand
Gabrielle Allison
Project Prospectus
IPS 410-11
10/30/22

this from a website to also include a social media platform like Facebook or instagram to reach

out to different audiences. My goal is to reach as many viewers as possible male and female in

the hopes that they too can share the information with everyone they know. I also hope that

through spreading the information it can promote more advocacy for updated research and

diagnostic criteria.