Can adults also get ADHD?
Xiao Li has just graduated, but he has changed several jobs. Every time he applied for a job, he went with enthusiasm and was always impressed by his eloquence. However, soon after he joined the company, he started to feel tired and easily distracted, and kept brushing “friends” and “microblogs” at work, and his cell phone kept dripping. The supervisor and colleagues had opinions about him, and he couldn’t do his own performance, so he couldn’t do his job before his probationary period was over. Although he was told by his teachers as a child that he was “not serious in class” and “careless”, he was always able to get by with his own small intelligence. But now, with repeated “layoffs”, he lost all his self-confidence, became more and more impatient, and lost interest in his work, indulging in online games all day long, but his parents, who are over 100 years old, were anxious. After careful questioning of his medical history, especially his performance as a child, Xiao Li was diagnosed with “adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder”, also known as “adult hyperactivity disorder”. This diagnosis surprised even himself, ADHD is not a child’s disease? Why do I have ADHD too?
What is adult ADHD?
ADHD, scientifically known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, used to be thought of as a neurodevelopmental disorder of childhood, mainly affecting school-age children between the ages of 6 and 12. Although many of the symptoms of ADHD in children disappear naturally as the brain matures, according to recent international research studies, 10-60% of ADHD symptoms continue into adulthood, meaning that approximately 4.5% of adults will exhibit ADHD problems. As a common psychological and behavioral problem in children and adolescents, how does ADHD manifest itself in adulthood?
The presentation of ADHD in adults is similar to the presentation of symptoms in childhood, but the symptoms of hyperactivity decrease with age and manifest as a subjective experience of inner turmoil. Clinical symptoms are manifested in two main areas.
1. Attention deficit.
Adults with ADHD can show difficulty concentrating and completing tasks, often making mistakes in work caused by omissions or carelessness; have difficulty maintaining attention while listening to reports, communicating with others and reading for long periods of time, or show avoidance and resistance when completing the above tasks; can work quickly but easily have a tiger’s head and snake’s tail, unable to finish from the beginning; low work efficiency, difficulty managing tasks with Low efficiency, difficult to manage sequential tasks, difficult to keep materials and items in order, in the work becomes messy and unorganized; can not manage their time allocation well, often procrastinate or miss deadlines; often forget things in daily activities, such as returning phone calls, paying bills, appointments, etc.
2. Hyperactivity and impulsivity.
Adults with ADHD often leave their seats at work, or even appear to leave the office or workplace; feel distracted and easily affected by distractions; have difficulty staying quiet during leisure activities; cannot sit still, or often look through cell phones and tablets; talk too much, and behave in a guttural but unfocused manner in conversations with others; frequently interrupt others, answer or answer before others have finished their questions; do things or impatience while waiting in line.
It is important to note that adults with ADHD must show similar signs before the age of 12, which means that as children they may have been perceived by teachers or parents as being “hard to concentrate,” “careless,” and “inactive. They may have been perceived by teachers or parents as “hard to concentrate,” “careless,” and “inactive” as children. Because the behavioral problems of adults with ADHD can affect many aspects of their social, academic, and work abilities, they are at increased risk for divorce, work difficulties, substance abuse, and delinquency.
How is adult ADHD treated?
The goal of adult ADHD treatment is to gain better attention, improve academic and work performance, and improve working memory. A growing body of research shows that patients diagnosed with ADHD in childhood often have symptoms that persist into adulthood, so early diagnosis and early treatment in childhood is critical. However, in China, the rate of children with ADHD receiving treatment is already low, and even fewer adults with ADHD receive formal treatment. Many adults with ADHD are seen for other problems, and doctors have limited ability to identify them, leading to many missed and misdiagnosed cases. Adult ADHD is often comorbid with other psychiatric disorders such as social phobia, depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol dependence, anxiety, or learning disabilities, which, combined with its complex etiology and diverse clinical presentation, makes treatment more difficult. Most researchers now support a comprehensive treatment plan that includes medication, psychoeducation, and psychotherapy and intervention.
Tips for maintaining attention In the current era of information explosion, many people have the phenomenon of “inability to focus” when working, such as constantly looking at the phone, easily distracted by a little thing, although it does not reach the diagnosis of “ADHD”, but Although it does not reach the diagnosis of “ADHD”, this “distraction” can seriously affect the efficiency of study and work. We would like to give you some tips to help you improve your concentration.
1. Control the use of social media
What’s new in your circle of friends is always more interesting than boring work, but every time you come back to work from microblogging, group chat and circle of friends, you will think, “Where did I go just now?” Perhaps when you are distracted by your phone, a lot of important information and details are “overlooked” by your attention. So when you are working, try to keep your social tools “offline”. Perhaps many people need to use QQ, WeChat, e-mail to deal with work-related matters, then “regularly check” is a good habit, and “check at any time” will waste a lot of your time.
2.Avoid “dual use”
Many people think they can dual purpose, or think that doing several things at the same time can save time, but attention needs to be switched between different tasks, which will reduce the efficiency of the work, in the long run, will form the attention of unstable behavior patterns. Therefore, we should focus on a job, especially those urgent and important work.
3.Take a break at the right time
For some need longer or boring work, we are more likely to be distracted. Therefore, when we complete this type of task, you can set a point in time to let yourself rest, stand up to do stretching exercises, or replenish some water and energy is also a good choice.
All in all, although there seems to be more and more things in our lives that attract the eye, but we can also use some methods to protect our attention, maintain an optimistic attitude and healthy habits can make us energetic every day.