Are you living with undiagnosed adult ADHD?

There are a lot of misconceptions about what it is like to live with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The phrase might sound like a little boy who can’t stand still, and the popular idea is that kids eventually get past their ADHD symptoms. But the reality is ADHD is a complex disorder, which often persists into adulthood, with symptoms that extend far beyond an inability to concentrate or stay still. As a result, many adults who experienced ADHD symptoms from a young age never received a diagnosis or treatment.

“The term ADHD is a bit of a misnomer,” said Lidia Zylowska, a psychiatrist in the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. “Lack of focus is only one aspect of ADHD.”

If you think you have ADHD as an adult, it’s important to get assessed as soon as possible, as lack of treatment can often lead to a myriad of personal and professional challenges. And look for a healthcare professional who specializes in adult ADHD, as many of these misconceptions extend to those in the healthcare field.

With that in mind, here’s a general overview of ADHD, as there are some signs that may indicate you might have an undiagnosed case.

You struggle to make plans and stick to them

ADHD can be more accurately described as an executive function disorder. Executive function, which is often described as “brain management system”, Is what helps us set goals, prioritize, come up with plans and persist to completion, even when the going gets tough.

The executive function is made up of three main components: working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. This is what gives us the ability to pay attention, prioritize, set goals, make and adjust plans based on feedback, as well as complete those plans. All of this requires long-term thinking, the ability to adapt to changing factors, and the control to keep going despite the obstacles we encounter. People with ADHD tend to struggle with all of these components of executive function.

Are you always looking for something new to do

ADHD is thought to be caused by a dopamine and norepinephrine neurotransmitter deficiency. People with ADHD try to compensate for this deficit by constantly engaging in dopamine-stimulating behaviors, resulting in physical or mental agitation.

“Even if you are not hyperactive outwardly through your body, I have yet to meet someone with ADHD who did not have some sort of overactive brain, which [wasn’t] constantly looking and eager to learn new things, ”said Terry matlen, psychotherapist and author of Queen of Distraction: How Women With ADHD Can Beat The Chaos, Focus, And Get More Done, who was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.

There are three subtypes of ADHD: hyperactive-impulsive, inattentive-disorganized, and combined.

People with hyperactive-impulsive ADHD seek stimulation in their physical environment; people of the inattentive-disorganized type seek mental stimulation; while those with combined ADHD seek stimulation through a mixture of the two.

All of these scenarios create problems with concentration because a person with ADHD is either too busy seeking stimulation or too tired from the effort of curbing their impulses to concentrate. The other aspect of ADHD is known as hyper-focus, which is when a person becomes very focused on one thing to the exclusion of everything else. While this may seem like a benefit, the problem with hyper-focus is that it’s hard to control, which can cause a person to forget to do other important things.

ADHD is a disorder people are born with, rather than something that comes and goes like anxiety and depression. “ADHD is, by definition, not an episodic thing. This is how your brain works, ”Zylowska said.

One of the criteria for ADHD is that the signs of it must have appeared before the age of 12. Having said that, given the wide range of symptoms and the misconceptions about them, even from doctors, many people never get diagnosed as a child.

You are still disorganized and procrastinating

Most adult responsibilities, such as having a job, paying the bills, looking after children, and taking care of your physical and mental needs, require a large amount of executive function. This means that people with ADHD may have difficulty with organization, multitasking, procrastination, and failure to complete tasks, which can cause problems both at work and at home.

As a result, adults with ADHD are often underemployed relative to their abilities or find it difficult to measure up in a job that matches their abilities. “We see people who have the jobs of their dreams and they are drowning,” said Matlen. “They can’t keep up because it is difficult for them to multitask, it is difficult for them to complete their projects on time, they go off the rails because the phone rings or emails come in.”

People with ADHD may face relationship problems because they will forget or have difficulty completing tasks such as paying bills, cleaning the house, or picking up their children on time. “It can cause a lot of tension in a marriage, especially if the partner without ADHD doesn’t know what it is or their partner has it,” Zylowska said.

You can have addictive behaviors

Adults without a diagnosis will likely have developed certain coping mechanisms, some of which are healthy and some that are not.

People who do not receive treatment are at high risk of developing addictive behaviors, a common way to self-medicate. This could manifest itself in the form of risky and thrill-seeking behaviors, such as racing cars or playing sports with high adrenaline, substance abuse problems, as well as high rates of eating disorders. such as binge eating. There is also a risk of other compulsive behaviors, such as watching excessively television, playing games for hours, or spending a lot of time on social media.

As Matlen points out, people with ADHD can also tend to turn to highly stimulating professions. These could be jobs with high doses of adrenaline like fighting fires or working in an emergency room, or mentally stimulating jobs that require a lot of learning and thinking.

You may also be suffering from anxiety or depression

There is also a high likelihood that adults with undiagnosed ADHD will develop additional mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, which can further complicate the diagnosis. Sometimes anxiety and depression develop as a result of their ADHD, while sometimes the conditions develop separately.

“It’s helpful to find a specialist who is familiar with ADHD in adults and who can help sort out this complexity,” Zylowska said. One clue would be if, after treatment for anxiety and depression, a person still has difficulty concentrating and completing tasks.

Another factor to consider is when ADHD symptoms first started, as is a family history of ADHD, as it is highly hereditary. There are even times when one of the siblings will be diagnosed as a child, while a better performing sibling who doesn’t struggle as much won’t be diagnosed until much later in life.

Diagnosis and treatment are important

If any or all of this seems to describe you, it’s important to seek an assessment as soon as possible, because of the issues that can arise from a lack of diagnosis and treatment. You will also feel better and be able to find ways to begin to overcome your difficulties, once you have a clearer path ahead of you.

Finally, given the confusion over what ADHD looks like in adults, it is important to find a specialist with experience in assessing adult patients. “If someone feels like, ‘I’ve read about ADHD and it’s fine with me’, [the important thing] is to be empowered to defend one’s rights, ”said Zylowska.