Adult ADHD
Wondering whether or not to seek help?
“People with ADD are poor self-observers,” Ned Hallowell writes in Driven to Distraction.1
Don’t self diagnose. Don’t read over this list and go “yup, that’s me,” close it and go around telling the world you have ADHD. Instead, after you think “yup, that’s me,” get in contact with a psychiatrist, set up a few meetings, and go from there.
I paraphrased and supplemented the list of symptoms below from Driven to Distraction, Taking Charge of ADHD,2 as well as several research articles.345
You feel as though you just can’t get your act together. This is especially when it comes to school, work or personal accomplishments over the long term. This could include: marriage, health goals, parenting, financial management, education level, or success in your career.
You struggle to get organized. Maybe this wasn’t much of an issue when you had parents and schoolteachers to help you, but now that you’re an adult, there’s no one to ask where you left your laptop charger.
You see yourself as a procrastinator. You encounter huge tasks and can’t get going on them, often because a wave of anxiety stops you in your tracks.
You’ve got a lot of balls in the air. When you can’t finish one task, you find another to start instead. The cycle continues.
You blurt or get told you can’t “read the room.” This leads to you putting your foot in your mouth frequently, or at least feeling as though you do. You miss social cues others give you.
You seek stimulation. Games, tasks, activities—nothing quite satisfies you. This might also come up in less favorable ways: substance abuse is more likely to occur in those with ADHD, and ADHDers are 25% more likely to get into fights with others.
You can’t tolerate boredom. You feel a “need” to be busy at all times. Maybe you’re so intolerant of boredom, you never experience it. As Hallowell puts it, “the millisecond he senses boredom, he swings into action and finds something new; he changes the channel.”
You tune out. You dread watching movies or having conversations because you know you’ll just tune out and miss the most important parts. In school, you daydreamed often.
You’re creative, intuitive and bright. There’s a special way you see the world that’s ineffable. You find solutions to quagmires with an ease that puzzles those around you.
Frustration and impatience make others see you as immature. You can’t bear when things go wrong because when they do, it’s because of something you can’t quite explain—a forgotten detail or a missed deadline. How could you miss those again?
Again, if these symptoms feel like you, get in contact with a psychiatrist. You would be amazed at how much this can help.
Hallowell, E. M., & Ratey, J. J. (2011). Driven to distraction: Recognizing and coping with attention deficit disorder from childhood through adulthood. Simon & Schuster.
Barkley, R. A. (2020). Taking charge of ADHD: The complete, authoritative guide for parents. The Guilford Press.
Ernst, M., Kines, A. S., London, E. D., Matochik, J. A., Eldreth, D., Tata, S., & …Bola, K. (2003). Neural substrates of decision making in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1061-1070.
Barkley, R. A., Murphy, K. R. & Fisher, M. (2007). ADHD in adults: What the science says. New York, NY: Guilford.
Fleischmann, A., & Miller, E. C. (2013). Online Narratives by Adults With ADHD Who Were Diagnosed in Adulthood. Learning Disability Quarterly, 36(1), 47–60. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24570133