Adult ADD
ADD occurs in up to 4% of all adults. Most of them are completely unaware that the difficulties that have plagued them all their lives, have a biological cause, and a name. Their symptoms will have started at a young age, but have probably gone unrecognised. Of those children who have ADD, 70% will retain symptoms into adulthood.
Over the years they may have had a variety of symptoms, such as:
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Difficulty concentrating (but able to 'hyperfocus' on something that interests them) |
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Being easily distracted |
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Daydreaming, or 'tuning out' |
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Forgetfulness |
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Feelings of restlessness |
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Feelings of underachievement |
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Mood swings |
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Frustration |
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Problems with anger control |
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Disorganised |
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Needing to be moving in order to think |
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Blurting out inappropriate remarks |
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Interrrupting others |
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Love of hi-tech gadgets, computers etc (high stimulation) |
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Doing or saying things that they later regret (cause of much embarrassment) |
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Impulsiveness (in word or action eg spending) |
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Poor (clumsy?) social or communication skills |
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Act the clown (inc actions which they may regret) |
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Drumming fingers, fiddling, fidgeting etc |
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Thrill seeking or risk taking |
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Have lots of 'piles' of work |
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Lack of follow through |
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Always in a hurry |
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Difficulty starting things |
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Impatience |
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Losing things frequently |
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Feelings of failure |
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Relationship problems |
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Employment problems (due to all of above symptoms) |
Many years of being misunderstood take their toll. They may have been labelled hyper, stupid, clumsy, weird, crazy, rude, abrupt, hot tempered, insensitive, lazy, irresponsible etc. It therefore comes as no surprise that these people acquire other problems such as
(figures from the book 'Out of the Fog' = percentage of ADD clinic patients)
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Low Self-Esteem (up to 85%) |
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Depression (up to 40%) |
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Addictions (up to 35%) - self-medicating |
Many sufferers who are now adults did not have the same opportunities of recognition and diagnosis of ADD as the children of today. Even so, many children can still be overlooked unless they have hyperactivity and behavioural problems. The very intelligent child may have been able to do sufficiently well in school work, not to raise concerns, particularly if there were no behavioural problems. They may have done well in primary school, but began to suffer more into secondary school, where the pressure increased and study became more self-directed, and required more organisation. These perhaps are the people who can still go undiagnosed, often into adulthood.
Many adults with ADD have adapted to their condition and learned coping mechanisms, such as keeping to routines, management of their time, lists, planners etc. Tips on coping with Adult ADD
The excellent book 'Driven to Distraction' (written by a Psychiatrist with adult ADD) suggests these Diagnostic Criteria for ADD in Adults
There are positives - adults with ADD are also described as being driven, highly motivated, creative, very intelligent, full of ideas, imaginative, intuitive, energetic, hard working (especially in hyper-focus) etc. Many of the world's great achievers are thought to have had ADD, including Albert Einstein, Mozart, Beethoven, John F Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Walt Disney and many others.
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Adult ADD |
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Out of the Fog Coping Strategies for Adult ADD |
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The Hyperactive Child, Adolescent & Adult |
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Self-Help Books for Mental Health
17 May 2008
Now Play This A Child's War 8 in a Bar
