Making and keeping friends requires hundreds of skills — talking, listening, sharing, being empathetic, and so on. These skills do not come naturally to children with ADHD. “They miss social cues that other kids learn by osmosis,” says Carol Brady, Ph. D., a clinical psychologist in private practice in Houston.
If you have ADHD, you might find it hard to date, make friends, or parent. That's partly because good relationships require you to be aware of other people's thoughts and feelings. But ADHD can make it hard for you to pay attention or react the right way.
Children with ADHD often have a harder time monitoring their social behavior than other children. They don't always know how to read social situations and others' reactions. Parents play an important role in helping increase self-awareness in children with ADHD.
When children with ADHD enter a social setting, they may have a hard time sharing, taking turns, listening, and picking up on social cues. They often become bored, distracted, or check-out of the conversation. Students with ADHD may have a hard time managing their emotions when interacting with their peers.
Individuals with ADHD often experience social difficulties, social rejection, and interpersonal relationship problems as a result of their inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. Such negative interpersonal outcomes cause emotional pain and suffering.
For example, children with ADHD create far more demands on parents' time and attention. That can lead to relationship problems, less family togetherness, and more conflict. Research even shows higher rates of divorce and depression among parents of a child with ADHD, compared with other families.
School can present challenges for many children with ADHD. Because ADHD symptoms include difficulty with attention regulation, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, which can affect planning, organizing, and managing behavior, many children with ADHD struggle with change.
Many people with ADHD spend too much time living in their own heads and not enough time forming and nurturing friendships. If you're feeling lonely, you're not alone — or without help. Many people with ADHD that I run into have no friends.
Girls with ADHD can have a hard time making friends. They might have a lot of energy and not be good at taking turns. They may be too loud or aggressive. And girls with the “inattentive” type of ADHD may miss social cues, like how to react to other people or join a group.
They may struggle with forgetfulness and difficulty listening, but their challenges with verbal expression and control can particularly hinder interpersonal relationships. Since girls relate to peers primarily through verbal connections, these challenges can leave them with fewer friendships.
Some ADHD children may interact with peers in a bossy manner. In an attempt to gain control of their environments, they may try to control the actions of others. This bossiness typically creates angry and annoyed feelings in others.
Children with ADHD are more likely than children without ADHD to develop childhood depression. Children may be more likely to feel hopeless and sad when they can't control their ADHD symptoms and the symptoms interfere with doing well at school or getting along with family and friends.
Unfortunately, they also have a veritable treasure trove of ingredients that can worsen ADHD symptoms: sugar, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, caffeine, and other stimulants. "Energy drinks are high on the list of things that cause teens to display behaviors mimicking ADHD," says Barnhill.
How ADHD Affects Kids. ADHD causes kids to be more inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive than is normal for their age. ADHD makes it harder for kids to develop the skills that control attention, behavior, emotions, and activity. As a result, they often act in ways that are hard for parents manage.
There are many reasons why a child may not have many, or any, friends. She might be noticeably different, either physically or intellectually. He may lack social skills or a have a personality that puts off others his own age. He might not share the same interests as his classmates (for example he may hate sports).
Friendships usually develop when children are around 4 years old. Building a friendship takes emotional skills, social skills and some self-control.
Some kids develop it naturally at a young age, while others need more time. In some cases, kids simply haven't met anyone they can connect with. Different challenges can also get in the way. Some kids get too nervous or anxious to talk to others.
The study showed that children with high levels of ADHD behaviours at age five were most likely to experience social isolation in the subsequent seven years.
Attention deficit symptoms
People with ADHD can have trouble getting on with others in social situations, although this is not always the case and some may be very sociable. They may get bored with conversation quickly and be prone to butting in or saying or doing inappropriate things without thinking.
For many people affected by ADHD, key symptoms like inattention, forgetfulness, and disorganization negatively affect their relationships. The partners without ADHD can misinterpret their partners' intentions, resulting in increased frustration and resentment.
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder can make learning difficult, but it can also be very helpful in life. Many children with ADHD are inattentive, and unfocused, but they are also very creative, and capable of thinking outside-of-the-box which leads to ingenious ideas.