Distracted
E-book, Czech
Distracted
When you're forty and diagnosed with ADHD, it's a relief. But what's next?
We usually associate an ADHD diagnosis with restless boys who disrupt classes and get into fights. However, research shows that attention deficit disorder—whether with or without hyperactivity—affects girls just as much. And it doesn't disappear with adulthood.
Due to long-standing medical stereotypes, women are underdiagnosed. They develop unconscious coping mechanisms, and it is only when they can no longer manage the combination of motherhood, home life, relationships, and work, and start struggling with depression or anxiety, that they receive an ADHD diagnosis. Often, this happens after the age of thirty. This retrospectively explains many of their life's mishaps. Through the stories of such "scatterbrained" women, the book shows the damage that the pressure from a neurotypical society to conform to its demands can inflict on their lives.
However, the stories shared with the authors by several dozen women also offer a glimmer of hope—life with ADHD isn't easy, but if these women acknowledge their differences and don't suppress their needs but voice them, society also begins to notice and accept them.
Winner of the "ČRo Plus Litera for Journalism" in 2026.
Reviews:
ADHD in women is a major topic that needs to be opened up and destigmatised. And this book is exactly what Czech society needs—authentic stories and emotions supported by scientific information.
- Jiří Pasz, journalist and documentary filmmaker
Klára Kubíčková
She studied sociology and journalism at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University. She worked for MF Dnes for ten years and for the weekly magazine Vlasta for five years. She lectures at the Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University. She is the co-author of the books Kapky na kameni (Drops on a Stone, 2019) about Czech and Slovak female rebels, … a pak bylo ticho (…and then there was silence, 2022) about the tornado in Moravská Nová Ves, and the author of the book Kilometry s dětmi (Kilometres with Children, 2022). She lives in Brno, has four children and a caravan. She was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of forty-two.
Jana Srncová
She graduated in media and communication studies at Masaryk University and worked as a marketing communications manager in an advertising agency. She has two children and lives in Ivančice. After being diagnosed with ADHD, she began to explore trauma-focused therapy. She now works in a therapeutic community for people with addictions and is studying applied psychotherapy and innovation in social work.
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