Cooking can be a real challenge, especially for us who have ADHD. It seems like every time we turn around, there's another distraction calling for our attention. The oven timer goes off and we start thinking about what else we need to do in the kitchen.
Meal planning and cooking can be a challenge for people affected by ADHD. Preparation, time management, decision-making, and following multiple steps are all skills involved in creating any meal. Frustrated, many people with ADHD decide to eat out or order in rather than cook for themselves.
It's a real thing, called misophonia — the dislike or even hatred of small, routine sounds, such as someone chewing, slurping, yawning, or breathing. It's often an ADHD comorbidity. Similar to ADHD itself, misophonia is not something we can just get over if only we tried harder.
Some adults with ADHD flourish in the culinary arts because the work is creative and relatively unaffected by ADHD-related deficits.
Best Occupations for People with ADHD
Because of their unique ability to solve problems and create systems when interested in their work, Roberts says many people with ADHD do well as entrepreneurs, computer programmers, and within creative industries.
Creativity: Creative problem-solving is instrumental for success at school and work. Research has found that people with ADHD have more creativity and idea generation than people without the disorder. 3 This can lead to outside-the-box thinking that is so important for innovation.
Children with ADHD are less well-liked than their neurotypical peers [18] and are more likely to be bullied during their school years [19].
Common ADHD-Related Problems
Impulsive spending or overspending. Starting fights or arguing. Trouble maintaining friendships and romantic relationships. Speeding and dangerous driving.
Research into ADHD and sensory overload is still ongoing, but some of the most common triggers include: Touch: A touch that is too light, firm, or sudden could lead to sensory overload. The same goes for unexpected physical contact, such as a spontaneous hug or a pat on the shoulder.
In my practice, individuals with ADHD frequently tell me they skip meals because they are too busy or distracted to eat. These same individuals also say that, once they do eat, they eat ravenously — because they have become extremely hungry and have a hard time telling when their stomachs are full.
Picky eating and ADHD often go hand-in-hand.
Add emotional dysregulation, inflexibility, and sensory processing issues to the mix, and it can be extremely difficult to introduce healthier foods into a child's diet.
Kids with ADHD can also exhibit sensory defensiveness and/or have some of the motor challenges that are seen in autism spectrum disorders. Picky eaters usually have high levels of food sensitivity. A certain taste, smell, or the look of food can make these children feel as if the sensory experience is “hurting” them.
A lack of self-acceptance. Prohibitively expensive medications. Here, commiserate with fellow ADDitude readers as they share some of their biggest challenges of managing life with ADHD or ADD. > Creating rituals to keep track of things.
Being Forgetful Every Time
According to the American Psychiatric Association, one of the common ADHD struggles a person can experience involves being forgetful. A person with ADHD might find it hard to remember things just said a few minutes ago or follow instructions.
In adults, the main features of ADHD may include difficulty paying attention, impulsiveness and restlessness. Symptoms can range from mild to severe. Many adults with ADHD aren't aware they have it — they just know that everyday tasks can be a challenge.
Controlling behavior and distrust. Abusive — this is also inclusive of emotionally abusive behaviors, such as gaslighting, love bombing, breadcrumbing etc. Disrespectful. Financial abuse or dishonesty.
With ADHD, a child or teen may have rapid or impulsive speech, physical restlessness, trouble focusing, irritability, and, sometimes, defiant or oppositional behavior.
Anyone can feel lonely, of course. But some people can be more susceptible to loneliness — due to discrimination, lack of understanding or how they relate to the world. That includes people with ADHD, who sometimes relate to the world differently than others.
Studies suggest that ADHD-driven emotional sensitivity in people makes them struggle to cope with rejection. This rejection may be as simple as having a friend say no to you or as big as not being accepted for a job you applied for.
The problem: The social maturity of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) may be a few years behind that of their peers. In addition, they have difficulty reading verbal and physical social cues, misinterpreting remarks, or not getting jokes or games.
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. Whether that's needing time alone to recharge, spending lots of time in their own head or feeling overwhelmed by external stimuli.
The mind of a person with ADHD is full of the minutiae of life (“Where are my keys?” “Where did I park the car?”), so there is little room left for new thoughts and memories. Something has to be discarded or forgotten to make room for new information. Often the information individuals with ADHD need is in their memory…