"How Women ADHD" Vol 2 - Celebrating International Women’s Day

How Women ADHD - Vol 2!

In partnership with the DCU School of Psychology, ADHD Ireland, we invite you to a special evening on Friday, March 7th to Celebrate ADHD Women.

This will be an inspiring event featuring remarkable women who will share their personal experiences of living with ADHD! Alongside them, an occupational therapist will offer valuable insights on managing the mental load and so much more.

This is a wonderful opportunity not only to learn but also to engage in meaningful conversations with fellow attendees while enjoying tea, coffee, and delicious refreshments. Join us for an uplifting and supportive gathering!

The event will be hosted by Louise McSharry , who will serve as MC and open the evening with some introductory remarks.

Girl / Women power lineup:

Louise McSharry - Broadcaster and Writer

Vikki Martin - Radio Presenter | Creator

Dr. Áine O’Dea - PhD | Coach |Supervisor |Occupational Therapist - Lead research on the ADHD & Women project| PhD Candidate | UCD School of Psychology

Paula Rave - Teacher | Home School Community Liaison Officer

Speaker 4 - To be announced

This in-person event will occur at DCU Collins Avenue HG20 in the Nursing building on Glasnevin campus, Collins Avenue Extension, Dublin 9, Lecture Theatre (HG20) at 6:30pm.

We hope you can make it!

ADHD Ireland

Vikki Martin

CREATOR! Freelance Actor, Presenter, VO, Session Vocalist- Professional Talker!

Single Mother of two, diagnosed at 38!

Being nurospicy is my superpower 🦸

Dr. Áine O’Dea, PhD

https://radianceconsultinghub.com

Dr. Áine O’Dea Talk: Balancing the Mental Load: Supporting the Silent Struggle of Emotional Fatigue, Stress & Survival Mode for the ADHD Woman

Being a woman with ADHD means carrying an additional invisible mental load—juggling work, relationships, family, and expectations, which can create an unrecognised chronic stress and emotional fatigue. The world isn’t designed for the ADHD woman's brain, leaving many stuck in survival mode, feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.

This empowering International Women’s Day talk will explore the unique mental load of ADHD women, why stress hits harder, and how to shift from survival to thriving. You’ll walk away thinking about what practical strategies can help you reduce overwhelm, set boundaries, and navigate life more easily, confidently, and with self-compassion.

Paula Rave

Secondary school teacher currently employed as a home school community Liaison officer in a DEIS secondary school in Dublin. I’ve always known I wasn’t the same as my peers – excess energy; impulsiveness and buckets of empathy. It was only in seeking out a diagnosis for my son that I started to see how different female ADHD can present – I was a prolific people pleaser and so social, but when I got overwhelmed I tended to withdraw. In secondary school, truancy was how I coped with this.ADHD Ireland have helped me understand the noise in my head – why I am the way I am- all the positives and then the way to manage the risks. I completed the UMMAP with UCD in 2022.

Louise McSharry is a broadcaster and writer from Dublin.

Louise worked in radio fornineteen years, starting out as a researcher in Newstalk before moving to presenting iniRadio followed by eleven years on air on RTE 2FM.

Her memoir Fat Chance: My Life in Ups, Downs and Crisp Sandwiches was published byPenguin Ireland in 2016. Louise writes a weekly beauty column for the Irish Independent’s Weekend Magazine, and regularly contributes to the paper’s Opinion page. Her writing hasalso appeared in The Irish Times, The Sunday Business Post, The Sunday Times StyleMagazine, Buzzfeed.com, ThePool.co.uk, TheStrategist.co.uk, and TheJournal.ie amongothers.

Louise hosts a weekly podcast ‘Catch Up with Louise McSharry’, which aimsto catch peopleup on news and culture, offer recommendations for music, television and other art forms,and also features short interviews with relevant or interesting people.