I heard something recently that genuinely made me stop in my tracks. Until 1993, women weren’t required to be included in medical research in the US. Nineteen. Ninety. Three. I was alive. Many of you reading this were alive. This wasn’t ancient history.
And while the UK didn’t completely exclude women, our systems took a very long time to treat women’s biology as worthy of proper scientific attention. Only now, in the mid-2020s, are research bodies beginning to acknowledge that women deserve not just inclusion but specific analysis. Because hormones, neurobiology and physiology aren’t incidental add-ons… they’re foundational.
For decades, medicine was built around the “standard human body” — and let’s be honest, that standard model was male. Women were treated as a smaller, more emotional version of that standard. Sensitive. Complicated. “Hormonal.”
And yes – we are hormonal.
That’s not an insult. That’s biology.
And biology isn’t the problem – the lack of understanding is.
The human cost of being ignored
When women finally started being included in research, many studies didn’t analyse results separately for men and women. We were physically present in the data, but invisible in the conclusions.
The impact?
- Women are more likely to be misdiagnosed
- Symptoms are often dismissed as anxiety or “stress”
- Medications can be prescribed in doses tested only on men
- Conditions affecting only women are chronically underfunded
- And neurodivergent women? Even further misunderstood, unseen and unsupported
If you’ve ever been told:
“It’s just hormones.”
“You’re overreacting.”
“Other women cope just fine.”
…you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Generations of women have internalised the message that their bodies are unpredictable, unreliable, embarrassing and shameful.
But the truth?
Your body was never the problem.
The system wasn’t built with you in mind.
Why women’s wellbeing work matters now
Women’s health and wellbeing spaces aren’t a luxury. They’re a response to decades of silence, dismissal and misunderstanding.
We’re not here to give women permission to rest, feel, explore their bodies or understand their cycles.
We’re here because women never should’ve needed permission in the first place.
Supporting women to reconnect with their biology – whether it’s hormones, menopause, menstrual cycles or neurodivergence – is more than education. It’s repair work.
It’s rewriting an entire narrative rooted in:
- Guilt
- Expectation
- Performance
- Productivity
- And the relentless pressure to match a male biological blueprint
When we say women are cyclical, it’s not an excuse. It’s a fact.
When we say hormones impact mood, energy, focus and resilience, it’s not a drama. It’s physiology.
When we say neurodivergent women experience the world differently, it’s not “overthinking”. It’s neurology.
And when we hold space for women to feel seen, heard and validated, we’re not doing something fluffy, soft or “alternative.”
We’re undoing harm.
Neurodivergent women: The hidden layer
Add neurodivergence to the picture and the gaps widen.
Autistic and ADHD women have historically been diagnosed late, misdiagnosed or ignored entirely, because research and diagnostic criteria were built around boys and men.
What does that mean?
Many neurodivergent women have spent years believing there’s “something wrong” with them because they don’t cope, function or cycle the way they’ve been told they should.
Supporting neurodivergent women isn’t just about strategies or structure.
It’s about validation, compassion, releasing shame and rebuilding identity.
Because difference matters.
This is why we’re here
Every coach, therapist, educator or practitioner working in women’s wellbeing is part of something much bigger than a profession.
We’re part of a correction, a movement.
A shift from silence to understanding.
From compliance to curiosity.
From shame to self-knowledge.
The research is only beginning to catch up, but women don’t need to wait for another generation of papers to validate experiences we already live daily. Because – FINALLY – we are recognising what should have always been obvious:
Women are not “men with hormones.”
We are not inconvenient. dramatic or confusing.
We are beautifully complex and cyclically designed.
And the more we understand that, the more powerful we become.
Photo by Martin de Arriba on Unsplash