Last week, I received a message from a mother in deep distress. Her 16-year-old daughter has been caught in a medical system that over-medicalised her for years—rotating through departments, prescribed medication after medication, and now confined to a wheelchair after a nervous system shutdown and concussion.
This story broke my heart.
ENOUGH!! I heard my inner child scream.
I was so busy, but I knew I had to help. I offered her a complimentary call and analysed her daughter’s case using my TOTI framework, which I teach within my AuDHD Women Advanced Practitioner Training Programme.
When I shared the insights, the mother cried—the first time in years she felt truly listened to and understood.
Why Does This Happen? The Neuroscience Behind AuDHD Nervous System Storms
Here’s the science behind what’s happening in the nervous system of an adolescent girl compared to a woman in perimenopause (my life stage).
| Phase | Biological Direction | Core Dynamic |
| Adolescence (around 12-18 years) | Hormone activation | Brain and ovaries are learning to communicate with the HPA (stress) and HPG (sex hormones). Estrogen and progesterone surge erratically, creating dopamine, serotonin and GABA instability. |
| Perimenopause (around 40-50 years) | Hormone withdrawal | The ovaries gradually retire; the adrenals step in to produce DHEA-derived sex hormones. If adrenals are depleted, symptoms amplify. |
Both of our nervous systems are in flux, for different reasons!
So, puberty is the first hormone calibration, and perimenopause is the final hormone recalibration.
Both depend on the nervous system’s ability to handle flux.
The nervous system storms that AuDHD girls and women face aren’t random—they’re deeply tied to hormonal and neuroendocrine flux across life phases:
- Puberty (10-18): Volatile emotions, sensory overload, masking begins.
- Early Adulthood (20s): Over-functioning, perfectionism, disconnection from body cues.
- Motherhood/Caregiving (30s-40s): Executive collapse, sensory rage, burnout masked as anxiety or depression.
- Perimenopause (40s-50s): Burnout, loss of joy, libido collapse, relationship ruptures.
- Spiritual Awakening (any age): Conscious unmasking—bliss, burnout, truth, grief, late diagnosis.
Each storm is a collision of identity evolution and neuroendocrine flux, rewriting the nervous system’s relationship to safety, autonomy, and truth.
Going Beneath the Surface: What I Teach in the AuDHD Advanced Practitioner Training Programme
I uncover the layers that make up a woman’s life, focusing on her story and the evolution of her identity across life stages. The storms she had to weather, as she waits for the world to catch up with what it means to be her.
This is the chaos I help AuDHD women and practitioners stabilise. In our next cohort, we’re running a hybrid model: online modules for the neuroscience and theory, plus live sessions to show you how to apply it—because understanding alone isn’t enough.
AuDHD, hormones, stress and trauma are nervous system signals.
Real Transformation: What Graduates Are Saying
Ready to Find Your Truth?
I know the investment can feel big, so I offer a 10-month instalment plan at £200/month to make this accessible.
Left to my own devices, I want to give this support out for free to anyone, but as the sole provider for two thriving neurodivergent kids, I’m committed to building a sustainable business that supports my family and mission.
If you’re ready to learn, heal, and lead from your nervous system, join us for the next cohort of the AuDHD Advanced Practitioner Training Programme.
Join the Programme (email me at samantha@adhdgirls.co.uk to ask for the extended payment plan).
P/S: I was invited to the Thinkers50 summit, taking place tomorrow, if anyone is going too, let’s connect!
#AuDHD #AuDHDWoman #Intersectional #ScienceInformed #PracticeWithIntegrity
