Adults with ADHD may find it difficult to focus and prioritize, leading to missed deadlines and forgotten meetings or social plans. The inability to control impulses can range from impatience waiting in line or driving in traffic to mood swings and outbursts of anger. Adult ADHD symptoms may include: Impulsiveness.
People with ADHD experience an ongoing pattern of the following types of symptoms: Inattention—having difficulty paying attention. Hyperactivity—having too much energy or moving and talking too much. Impulsivity—acting without thinking or having difficulty with self-control.
Masking is when a person with ADHD acts in a “socially acceptable” way to fit in and form better connections with those around them. This usually involves camouflaging their symptoms by controlling their impulses, rehearsing responses, and copying the behaviors of those who don't have ADHD.
Restlessness and fidgety behavior associated with ADHD can be reduced by taking exercise breaks. Walking and running, and activities like yoga or meditation that incorporate deep breathing and mindfulness can be beneficial and induce relaxation and calm.
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.
Similar to the hyperactive symptoms, impulsive symptoms are typically seen by the time a child is four years old and increase during the next three to four years to peak in severity when the child is seven to eight years of age.
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 diagnosed with ADHD often blame themselves for their problems or view themselves in a negative light. This can lead to self-esteem issues, anxiety, or depression.
With ADHD children, we use "The 30% Rule" to set realistic expectations. The 30% Rule goes like this. Take the age of your ADHD child and subtract 30% from it. If your son is 12, for example, subtracting 30% of 12 (3.6 years) from 12 gives you 8.4.
“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.
Untreated ADHD in adults can lead to mental health disorders like anxiety and depression. This is because ADHD symptoms can lead to focus, concentration, and impulsivity problems. When these problems are not managed effectively, they can lead to feelings of frustration, irritability, and low self-esteem.
Some triggers may be directly related to general health or lifestyle factors. What you eat, how much sleep you receive, the time spend sitting, and the amount of caffeine you drink matters. Although far from conclusive, there's some evidence that a poor diet impacts the symptoms of people with ADHD, too.
Autism is very distinct from ADHD, but the core symptoms of ADHD-Combined type, i.e., attention deficit, impulsivity, and hyperactivity, would appear to also be features of autism. ASD and ADHD are neurobiological disorders characterized by similar underlying neuropsychological “deficits”.
However, it can also lead to potential misinterpretation of symptoms. Take, for example, ADHD. While most people associate ADHD with hyperactivity and impulsivity, it can also manifest in more subtle ways, such as through intrusive thoughts and overthinking.
Choose a peaceful color.
Orange encourages creativity and may chase away the blues. To reduce anxiety, go with warm earth tones. Blue hues are known for slowing down the heart rate, reducing respiratory rhythm, and encouraging calm and focus. In general, stick with muted or pastel shades, and avoid primary colors.
As a result of these neurobiological differences, “people with ADHD work very visually in order to remember things,” Hafeez says, “which can mean leaving something out in the open to remember to grab them later.”