If you were diagnosed as a child with ADHD, chances are your symptoms have diminished or changed over time. Hyperactivity tends to wane with age, often changing to an inner restlessness that's not obvious to a casual observer.
These symptoms are usually seen by the time a child is four years old and typically increase over the next three to four years. The symptoms may peak in severity when the child is seven to eight years of age, after which they often begin to decline.
Less known is that a child with ADHD can often not be hyperactive! This means the outward signs of ADHD may not always be present, making assessment even more of a difficulty. Children who have ADHD but don't manifest hyperactivity will still have issues with focus and attentiveness in daily tasks, or in school.
Because ADHD causes underlying problems with inhibition, self-regulation, and conscientiousness, leaving the condition untreated or insufficiently treated will cause most patients to fail in their efforts to live healthier lives.
Patients whose ADHD persisted into adulthood saw an additional five-year reduction in life expectancy. Compared to a control group, adults with ADHD could expect to have 11 to 13 years cut off their lives compared to neurotypical peers of a similar age and heath profile.
“Nobody has perfect memory… but for [people with ADHD], it's extreme. They feel like they're lost all the time,” Almagor said. He believes this is why people don't take ADHD seriously. “I think that's why some people don't respect the severity of what [a person with ADHD] can experience,” he said.
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. Hyper-focus: Many people with ADHD become hyper-focused on things that interest them.
Their actions may offend or make folks angry, and that can lead the person with ADHD Inattentive Type to withdraw because social connections feel like a struggle. The root of this disorder is a difference in how their brain processes information.
Their shyness may also be a result of their symptoms. A person with Inattentive ADHD type can easily feel embarrassed due to inattention, so they may choose to stay quiet and avoid any possible wrongdoings or mistakes ❌.
With ADHD, a child or teen may have rapid or impulsive speech, physical restlessness, trouble focusing, irritability, and, sometimes, defiant or oppositional behavior.
Common ADHD-Related Problems
Impulsive spending or overspending. Starting fights or arguing. Trouble maintaining friendships and romantic relationships. Speeding and dangerous driving.
Adults with ADHD frequently think being sociable with others is an all-or-nothing part of their lives. Either they're oversharing and talking too much, or they're withdrawn and staying home alone. Hyperactivity in adults is often expressed as being overly talkative and boisterous.
Small talk can be the Achilles heel for people with ADHD, however. Some find small talk boring, while others find it mystifying or even terrifying. People with ADHD may struggle with recognizing how to start a conversation. Or they may dive right into sharing personal information after a quick chat about the weather.
People with ADHD tend to talk — a lot. We talk because we're excited or nervous, or because we just want to be a part of the conversation. Sometimes we talk simply to fill the silence because silence is hard for us.
It is often characterized by feelings of overwhelming fatigue, reduced productivity, and a sense of hopelessness or despair. Those experiencing ADHD burnout may find it even more challenging than usual to initiate and complete tasks, maintain focus and attention, and regulate their emotions.
ADHD burnout is often something a little deeper. It refers to the cycle of overcommitting and overextending that leads to fatigue in people with ADHD. It involves taking on too many tasks and commitments, and then the subsequent exhaustion that happens when we're unable to fulfill all of our obligations.
Interpersonal Relationships
Individuals with adult ADHD may appear as one of two extremes: withdrawn and antisocial, preferring to spend their time alone; or overly social and unable to easily endure even brief periods of solitude.
Most people with ADHD have a very low frustration tolerance. They can be overly emotional about the stressors they experience. They don't have a barrier that allows them to set aside uncomfortable emotions, and they often become completely flooded by a feeling, making it unbearable.
In one study, researchers found that people with self-reported ADHD symptoms earned lower scores for affective empathy compared to other participants. However, they were still within the range of what's considered typical for empathy levels overall.
Executive functions have other roles which affect how someone thinks. In people with ADHD, these executive dysfunctions impact thinking in numerous ways. People with ADHD don't really think faster than people without it, but it can sometimes seem like they do. People with ADHD do think differently though, in a sense.
ADHD can make you forgetful and distracted. You're also likely to have trouble with time management because of your problems with focus. All of these symptoms can lead to missed due dates for work, school, and personal projects.
Short attention spans can appear that ADHD individuals just don't identify or care about others. All these things do not have to be the case, but unfortunately the connection between ADHD and empathy often is negative. As a result, this can lead to larger problems in relationships for individuals with ADHD.
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…
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.