Adult ADHD

Exactly what is it that makes adult ADHD different from it’s more well known childhood form?  Unlike other mental disorders such as depression, ADHD does not start in adulthood, adult ADHD is a continuation of ADHD from childhood. The main difference is in the type of difficulties and symptoms experienced, a result of the different realities and stresses of adult life.  Adults are less likely to have intense hyperactivity,  the diseases most visible feature, which is perhaps why it has only recently been recognized that adult ADHD is in fact real.  Instead of the hyperactivity, adults are more likely to feel restless, fidget a lot and have difficulty relaxing a lot of the time.  Work problems and relationship problems are also an issue.

An adult with ADHD is  likely to have frequently changed jobs and preferred work where there’s plenty of action, rather than sitting at a desk all day.  It’s also possible that a sufferer will have had a number of occasions where they have acted impulsively, surprising others with their sudden actions. A sufferer may have experienced difficulties with relationships, partners and marriage.  Smoking, drinking alcohol and, in some cases, drug taking are also more common among ADHD adults, perhaps as a result of dealing with or self medicating their condition.  Adult sufferers may not have wanted to recognize their condition due to a sense of responsibility to those around them, and may have had difficulty recognizing a condition from a life that already has a natural abundance of these difficulties in it.  The difference is in the frequency of  the unbalanced state that an adult ADHD sufferer can find themselves in.

Research suggests up to 60 per cent of child sufferers retain their symptoms into adulthood. Between 2 and 4 per cent of adults in the UK may have ADHD, the majority of who have not been diagnosed.  It is also the case that many people are diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood for the first time.  Adult behaviors linked to ADHD are associated with the childhood symptoms of motor hyperactivity, attention deficit, unfocused thinking, mood changes, disorganization and impulsiveness.  These symptoms can have very different consequences when they are experienced by an adult.