“I Just Don’t Understand Her:” Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Symptoms

He can’t hold a job for more than a month. She’s always late. She causes turmoil in the family and the office. He’s getting divorced for the third time. She has no close friends. He suffers from major depression and talks about suicide. What’s going on here?

All of these are symptoms of adult Attention Deficit Disorder. Once thought of as solely a childhood disorder, medical experts found that children who have this disorder don’t eventually grow out of it at puberty as was thought. On the contrary, adults with Attention Deficit Disorder symptoms are finally being correctly diagnosed and treated.

True, their behavior is still often disruptive, but at least it’s known that their behavior isn’t intentional and can be aggressively diagnosed and treated. 70 to 80per cent of children with this condition grow up to be adults with symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder. In addition, many of these adults develop co-morbid psychiatric problems such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse. Untreated, adults with symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder are at risk for suicide due to the many social and occupational failures caused by the disorder.

Tell Me More about Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Symptoms

Typically, they’re the most frustrating and annoying people you know. They have very low attention spans and don’t appear to be listening. They daydream a lot, they’re unable to focus and concentrate on home and job tasks. They forget things, they lose things and they’re easily distracted. They appear restless and hyperactive, they’re easily bored and people avoid them. They talk too much about trivial matters, they don’t understand why others don’t like them and they’re terribly lonely.

Being an adult with symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder is a tough way of life. The disorder takes over their personal and occupational life. To cope with their symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder, adults often turn to alcohol and other drugs. Instead of solving their problems, then they have an addiction to deal with.

In diagnosing adults with Attention Deficit Disorder symptoms, a clinician will take a thorough life history; in 100 per cent of diagnosed cases, the adult had marked symptoms of childhood Attention Deficit Disorder that carried on into adulthood. In other words, adults don’t spontaneously develop Attention Deficit Disorder symptoms; the age of onset for this disorder is about age seven. These adults just weren’t diagnosed as children.

Once properly diagnosed and treated, adult Attention Deficit Disorder symptoms go into remission sufficiently for them to keep a job and stay out of divorce court. It’s important for their family members and employers to understand their behavior, and that it’s not an issue of irresponsibility or intentional aggravation. Adults are quite relieved to comprehend that they have a legitimate medical brain malfunction and that there is treatment that works.