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.
Individuals with adult ADHD may appear as one of two extremes: withdrawn and antisocial, preferring to spend their time alone; or overly social and unable to easily endure even brief periods of solitude. Neither of these extremes allows much room for flexibility in daily living.
ADHD is linked with the development of low self-esteem. 4 Low self-esteem can make it even more challenging to meet new people and make friends. You might not have the confidence to put yourself out there. Maybe you don't think anyone would want to be your friend, which can hold you back from making connections.
Spouses of individuals with ADHD often have this complaint against their partner. They say that their partner does not seem to care about their feelings and seems not to listen to them or pay attention to them. For the spouse, this apparent inattentiveness can make them feel lonely, insecure, and unloved.
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.
Depression is estimated to be 2.7 times more prevalent among adults with ADHD than among the general adult population. Studies also show that about 30 percent of people with ADHD will experience a depressive episode or have a mood disorder in their lifetimes.
Indeed, ADHD brains struggle to sustain motivation when rewards are mild or are linked to long-term gratification. As a result, ADHD brains search for stimulation that can increase dopamine more quickly and intensely. Ultimately, the pursuit of pleasurable rewards may become a potent form of self-medication.
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.
As we've discussed, unfortunately, many people with ADHD tend to have a lack of empathy. This can be addressed, though, through identifying and communicating about each other's feelings.
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.
These may include hyperfocus, resilience, creativity, conversational skills, spontaneity, and abundant energy. Many people view these benefits as “superpowers” because those with ADHD can hone them to their advantage. People with ADHD have a unique perspective that others may find interesting and valuable.
Research has shown that high rates or intensity of boredom is a core symptom of people with ADHD. Feeling bored can lead to poor academic performance as well problems with relationships and attention.
Kids with ADHD often feel emotions more deeply than other kids do. When teens with ADHD fall in love, the feelings of joy and excitement can be even more intense for them. Teens might feel a deep sense of intimacy and acceptance, perhaps for the first time.
It is essential to realize that people with ADHD are generally emotionally sensitive and may have strong feelings of shame, preventing them from seeking the medical help they need. Aside from medications, allowing the person to process their emotions before a meltdown is a healthy way to help them cope with rejection.
If that felt like a personal call-out, you're not alone. It's a common ADHD experience that I call 'involuntary ghosting' - a phenomenon that describes the disappearing act that happens when ADHDers forget to respond to texts.
They might blurt out something insensitive, or make a big purchase without looking at their finances or having a discussion with you first. Their impulsive tendencies can often lead to reckless, even destructive actions. Takeaway: In many cases, someone with adult ADHD won't be able to explain their behavior.
They may find it challenging to make and keep friends because of their brain's executive functioning impairment. The brain's executive control manages their ability to wait their turn, avoid getting distracted, direct their actions, control their emotions, and use their working memory to respond in social settings.
ADHD burnout is a feeling of exhaustion largely brought on by stress, made more complicated by ADHD symptoms. People with ADHD are more likely to experience burnout. Common signs of ADHD burnout include: irritability. trouble sleeping.
People with ADHD may be seen as insensitive, self-absorbed, or disengaged with the world around them. Emotional detachment, or the act of being disconnected or disengaged from the feelings of others, is a symptom of ADHD.
“Self-medicating” with argument is a prime example. Many people with ADHD are, if anything, argument-averse. And certainly, you needn't have ADHD to be an argumentative son of a gun. Yet, some individuals with ADHD do habitually bait others into heated disagreements.
Lack of consistency. Toxic communication — such as contempt, criticism, and sarcasm. Controlling behavior and distrust. Abusive — this is also inclusive of emotionally abusive behaviors, such as gaslighting, love bombing, breadcrumbing etc.
Distractibility, Hyperactivity, and Impulsivity
People with ADHD have a hard time staying in the moment, predicting the outcomes of their current actions, and learning from past experiences. Their impulsive behavior often makes them risk without thinking. Their hyperactive minds keep switching from one task to another.
In an older study from 2006, researchers noted that adults with childhood ADHD had an increased risk of receiving certain personality disorders in later life. These include antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.
Physical and mental health problems.
The symptoms of ADHD can contribute to a variety of health problems, including compulsive eating, substance abuse, anxiety, chronic stress and tension, and low self-esteem.