Sick Girls

Documentary film, 2023
Germany, 79 minutes


In recent years, the number of diagnoses of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder has skyrocketed. What are the reasons? Does a society geared towards efficiency use the label ADHD to weed out anyone who does not fit its frames? What are the consequences of the fact that medication treatment has become almost ubiquitous? Could Ritalin and the like have become the doping of the performance society? Gitti Grüter, diagnosed with ADHD since puberty, sets out to find answers. Grüter talks to five women who have been officially diagnosed with this disorder about lack of concentration, impulsive behaviour, overstimulation, relationship problems, depression and insomnia. The open conversations gradually reveal how hard life can be for women with ADHD, because social stereotypes of femininity often prevent or delay the right diagnosis.

Director: Gitti Grüter
Editing: Dan Gatzmaga
Cinematography: Lenn Lamster
Produced by Christoph Holthof, Daniel Reich, Norman Bernien
Co-produced by Sara Günter, ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel, Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF


Premiered at the 66th DOK Leipzig – International Festival for Documentary and Animated Film.
Screened at the 20th Achtung Berlin Film Festival.
Screened at the 21st Crossing Europe Film Festival in Linz.