In adults, attention deficit disorder (ADD) often looks quite different than it does in children—and its symptoms are unique for each individual. This can make ADD and ADHD quite difficult to diagnose, so it can be years before your realise your wellness – or that of a loved one – is even affected by the health concerns. Identifying areas in which you experience difficulty can help you start to work on strategies for dealing with them. So which common ADD/ADHD symptoms should you look out for?
1. Trouble concentrating and staying focused: If your wellbeing is impacted by ADD or ADHD, you may find you have problems with staying focused and attending to daily, mundane tasks, albeit, to a certain degree, don’t we all? Those with ADD/ADHD are often easily distracted by irrelevant sights and sounds, quickly bounce from one activity to another, or become bored quickly. You can overlook these kinds of symptoms because they’re not that disruptive to daily life, but they can be every bit as troublesome.
2. Hyper-focus: This may seem a little bit strange considering the symptom we’ve just covered, but, on the other side of the coin, people with ADD/ADHD a tendency to become absorbed in tasks that are stimulating and rewarding. This paradoxical symptom is called hyper-focus and is actually a coping mechanism for distraction—a way of tuning out the chaos. You might get so engrossed in a book or TV programme, for example, that you completely lose track of time and what you’re supposed to be doing. When channelled into productive activities, hyper-focus can be a real asset, but it can also lead to work and relationship problems.
3. Dis-organisation and forgetfulness: Life seems chaotic and out of control to most people, but this is especially the case in ADD/ADHD. The challenge lies in staying organised, sorting out the relevant information for the task at hand, prioritising, keeping track of tasks and responsibilities, and managing your time. Common symptoms include chronic lateness, procrastination, trouble starting and finishing projects, losing or misplacing things often and frequent forgetting of appointments, commitments, and deadlines.
4. Impulsivity: The symptoms involved in this category boil down to the face that you struggle in inhibiting your behaviours, comments, and responses. You might blurt out comments or interrupt people often, rush through tasks without reading the instructions, say rude or inappropriate things, get addicted to things quite easily, struggle to sit still during a long meeting, and just generally have poor self-control. For better or for worse, you go headlong into situations and find yourself in potentially risky circumstances.
5. Emotional problems: When you have ADD/ADHD, managing your feelings – especially emotions like anger or frustration – can be difficult. It’s likely that you have a sense of underachievement, don’t deal well with frustration, are easily flustered and stressed out, exhibit irritability or mood swings, have trouble staying motivated, are hypersensitive to criticism, demonstrate a short, often explosive, temper and/or experience low self-esteem and sense of insecurity.
6. Hyperactivity or restlessness: This is the most well-known symptom of ADD/ADHD in kids and hyperactivity in adults with ADD/ADHD can often look the same. People might say you’re perpetually “on the go” as if driven by a motor, due to your high levels of energy. However, for most adults with ADD/ADHD, the symptoms of hyperactivity present themselves in more subtle and internal ways as they grow older. Still, you may have this problem if you show symptoms like feelings of inner restlessness and agitation, a tendency to take risks, getting bored easily, racing thoughts, trouble sitting still, constant fidgeting, a craving for excitement, excessive talking and doing a million things at once.
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