One of the most common and debilitating symptoms for adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is severe and chronic disorganization. Needed items at work and home get buried in piles of clutter. Bills don't get paid.
One of the lesser-known ADHD symptoms an adult can experience is our difficulty to prioritize and organize. According to research, ADHD affects a person's executive functions, which include our organizational skills and ability to plan things.
But many kids and adults with ADHD are the opposite — they're messy most of the time. And it can cause problems at home, school, and work.
Basically, the executive functions of the brain help you plan, organize, and complete tasks. If you have ADHD, and are trying to organize your home, it's likely that you are struggling with one (or more) of these executive functions, which makes getting organized especially challenging. Challenging, but not impossible.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Inattentive Type in Adults. People with ADHD of the inattentive type have trouble paying attention to details, are easily distracted, often have trouble organizing or finishing tasks and often forget routine chores (such as paying bills on time or returning phone calls).
Getting and staying organized is a real challenge for individuals diagnosed with ADHD. Many adults may have difficulties with clutter in both the home and the office and feel overwhelmed or stuck.
One type of this disorder is called ADHD Inattentive Type. This condition often is overlooked by parents, teachers and coworkers. Therefore, health care professionals often do not diagnose it until the person is older. Sometimes, individuals with ADHD Inattentive Type will be mischaracterized as shy or withdrawn.
“Cluttering is another behavior typical in folks with ADHD. Leaving items out as visual cues is a common way of compensating for an unreliable memory or inadequate time-management system, but to the untrained eye it can resemble hoarding,” she says.
The Benefits of Solitude for Individuals with ADHD
Additionally, solitude can provide a safe space for individuals with ADHD to process their thoughts and emotions. Individuals with ADHD often experience a flood of thoughts and emotions, making it challenging to concentrate or make decisions.
Those of you who are cleaning with ADHD tend to get carried away and distracted by auxiliary tasks. You need to check yourself periodically so you don't find yourself scrubbing your bathroom tiles with a toothbrush two hours later when all you had to do was wash your sink. Remember, house cleaning is a process.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can make it seem impossible to keep a tidy house. As a result, ADHDers might have messy and unorganized homes and find that the usual tips and tricks don't work for them.
ADHD AND GIFTEDNESS are sometimes described as having the same or similar characteristics. However, one diagnosis is considered a disability and one, a gift. Neither assumption is ideal in supporting the child identified with either ADHD, giftedness, or both, often referred to as twice exceptional or 2e.
Children with ADHD walk with less consistent speed and rhythm than peers. Gait variability parameters are highly relevant to ADHD. Evidence for more motor support needed among children with ADHD.
Lots of creative people have ADHD. ADHD challenges, like impulsivity and risk-taking, could lead to creative thinking. If people with ADHD follow through on ideas, their creativity can flourish.
This frustrates parents, who can't understand why these kids have so much trouble cleaning their room. The problem is that children with ADHD struggle with executive functioning skills, which enable us to plan, prioritize, manage our time and get things done.
People with ADHD have less diffusion of dopamine in the brain's synapses than do people without ADHD, so they do not get the same degree of satisfaction from doing ordinary tasks.
Research has shown that people with ADHD have less reliable executive functions, so they are less consistent with doing the right thing at the right time, despite good intentions and good ef- fort. This certainly applies to organizing, a task that requires strong executive functions.
Manic episodes are not a symptom of ADHD, but a person with ADHD may experience some of the symptoms of a hypomanic episode.
Overwhelm is a feeling all too familiar to anyone with ADHD or neurodiversity. When you're constantly bombarded with stimuli and your to-do list seems impossible to manage, it's easy to feel like you're drowning. One of the best ways to combat overwhelm is to write things down.
ADHD adults are often stereotyped as outgoing, high energy and talkative individuals. While extroverted traits like these are part of the ADHD experience for some people, they're not everyone's experience. In fact, many people with ADHD identify with introverted traits.
Hyperactivity in adults is often expressed as being overly talkative and boisterous. For some people, years of being scolded for being “too loud,” “too personal,” or “just too much” prompts them to retreat inward where they won't be in the way of others.
The rarest type of ADHD diagnosed is the hyperactive-impulsive type with no indication of inattentive or distracted behavior, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.