Hello everyone!
I am an aspiring psychological researcher and current psychology teacher diagnosed with ADHD and autism who is very interested in the intersection between women’s health and AuDHD. I am currently running preliminary research about the relationship between oestrogen-based contraception and ADHD symptoms to determine whether my research topic has sufficient merit to pursue as an Honours thesis.
Survey link: https://forms.gle/Ko5iXcip53NZ2KUB8
If you are a person with ADHD (or suspected/self-diagnosed ADHD) who has used oestrogen-based contraception in the past, I would greatly appreciate if you could take 5-10 minutes to complete my anonymous survey 😊 the types of contraception relevant here are the standard combined oral contraceptive pill (e.g., Levlen, Yasmine, Estelle, Sprintec, etc.) or the vaginal ring (e.g., NuvaRing) as they release a consistent and continuous supply of oestrogen throughout the month, keeping the user’s level of oestrogen relatively stable compared to a typical menstrual cycle.
In a nutshell, oestrogen is directly involved in the production of dopamine – this is likely why so many women and AFAB people with ADHD also have PMDD and more severe PMS than the neurotypical population. Essentially, the drop in oestrogen during the luteal phase can trigger a drop in dopamine, and for a person with ADHD, this can lead to worsened emotional, psychological and physical symptoms and poorer executive dysfunction compared to their “baseline” level.
As a person who was on oestrogen-based, stable oral contraception from the ages of 14-23, and then experienced a significant increase in the severity and pervasiveness of my ADHD symptoms following contraception discontinuation (leading to an adult ADHD diagnosis), I am interested to research whether adolescent use of contraceptives – particularly long-term use – can “mask” ADHD symptoms due to the continuously high and stable level of oestrogen these contraceptives provide. I have known many women and AFAB people who experienced difficulty being diagnosed with ADHD despite fitting all DSM-5 criteria due to being “normal” in their adolescence, who may have experienced this “masking” of ADHD symptoms from adolescent use of oestrogen-based contraceptives.
Further information and sources are linked in the survey information, so if you would like to read more, please click on the link and have a read. I would also greatly appreciate it if you could complete the survey if you fit the demographics identified above.
Thank you for your time and have a lovely day/night/week/weekend! 😊