I have a screening checklist especially designed for women in my book. Mostly because the majority of them were not hyperactive.because of this they didn't cause problems for anyone but instead often internalized their problems and became depressed or anxious instead. Often you see depression and ADD together. It would be difficult in fact to have coped with undiagnosed ADD all of one's life and not be depressed to some extent. You might need treatment for both these however in other case, They can certainly look a lot alike and you need a careful diagnosis from someone who understands both.
Some women have so many negative images of themselves.
They have not internalized a valuing voice and often have developed very negative ideas about themselves especially because they feel they have failed to met gender role expectations. Pat Quinn,MD, the co editor of ADDvance magazine for Women discusses this in depth. She says that many of the symptoms of perimenopause are the same as some of the ADD difficulties often memory ,concentration and mood will get much worse for a woman with ADD at this time and she will need to look into Hormone replacement as an adjunct to her medication. In many cases. My neurologist says it is lupus cognitive dysfunction making the ADD worse, and treats with Ritalin.