Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a neurological disorder that impacts individuals in four main categories:

1. Inattention – causing people to have problems paying attention, focusing on a task, or finishing tasks, especially if they are not very interesting tasks.
2. Impulsivity – causing a lack of self-control. Impulsive behaviors, or choices, can cause havoc in relationships, work, school, or life.
3. Hyperactivity – Many (though not all) with ADHD are bouncy and hyperactive, always on the go as if they were driven by a motor, and always restless.
4. Being Easily Bored – Unless the task is very stimulating, like a video game or TV program or outside playing, those with attention disorders are often easily bored by a task -especially bored by homework, math tests, balancing checkbooks, or doing taxes, and many of these tasks just never get done.

Children, teens, and adults can all suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It impacts over five percent of all children and teenagers, and about three percent of all adults. Less than half of the children with ADHD will ever out-grow the symptoms in adolescence or adulthood. If left untreated, ADHD can have some very serious long-term probles that can last into adulthood.

Most people with ADHD will never out-grow the symptoms of their ADHD even as they enter adolescence or adulthood. Though the brain continues to mature into the twenties for females and into the early thirties for males, and with that maturation typically comes a lessening of ADHD symptoms, for many as they head into young adulthood the symptoms only slightly lessen, or do not improve at all.

This month another reminder of this was published in a national survey of 1,007 adults with ADHD. The survey looked at how adults with ADHD cope at home, at work, and in relationships with others. The survey was published just in time for the 2008 Chadd Conference, and the 2008 ADHD National Awareness Day. What the survey found was that, of those adults with ADHD:

• 75% reported that ADHD strongly impacted their ability to stay focused to a task long enough to complete it;

• 70% reported that ADHD strongly impacted their ability to focus on what others were saying;

• Two out of three reported that their Attention Deficit Disorder strongly impacted their ability to perform their responsibilities at home;

• Sixty percent said that ADHD strongly impacted their ability to stay seated through a business meeting, or to organize their projects, or to follow through with their projects at work, or at home, until they were finished;

• Fifty-seven percent said that their ADHD caused major problems in their relationships with their families and friends;

• Over one-half reported that ADHD strongly impacted their ability to advance in their work place or career; and one-half reported that ADHD caused them to have to work harder than others just to accomplish the same amount of work as those at their workplace who did not have ADHD;

The survey group was asked how they would like things to be, what they would like to see improved in their lives through treatment, and they reported the following:

• 50% reported that they would like to get their house organized, and 28% reported that they needed to get their personal finances more organized;

• Four out of ten knew that they needed to get their emotions and moodiness under control, as that was a problem in their relationships with others;

• One-third felt that their ADHD symptoms were still not under control even as adults, and said that they often felt depressed thinking about how hard it is to be an adult with Attention Deficit Disorder; and one-quarter wanted to improve the quality of their relationships with those they really cared about in life.

The study was headed up by Ed (Ned) Hallowell, M.D., who has written some important books on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, such as Driven to Distraction. The study was funded by McNeill Pediatrics, which, by the way, markets CONCERTA (methylphenidate HCI) for the treatment of ADHD in adults, as well as in children. Hallowell is a paid consultant for McNeill Pediatrics. So there is an element of this study that is designed to market CONCERTA to those adults who are not receiving any treatment, or who feel that their ADHD is not under control.

But this study is much more important than just that.

IF conservatively five-percent of the children in the United States have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (some say the number is as high as nine percent) and IF conservatively fifty-percent of these children will out-grow their ADHD symptoms by the age of twenty or thirty as their brains mature, and IF there are about 300 million people in the USA, THEN there are at least 7,500,000 adults alone dealing with adult ADHD.

And if 38% of them feel that their ADHD is not under control, or are depressed by their ADHD, and so on, well thats a lot of people suffering from ADHD even into adulthood (38% of 7.5 million adults with ADHD is 2,850,000 adults who feel it is out of control or feel depressed because of their ADHD).

If you are an adult with ADHD, and you are feeling that you cannot get ahead at work because of it, or you cannot get organized, or motivated, or get your moods under control, there is help for you.

Medications like Concerta can help. There are several good choices of stimulant medications can help you to increase your time on task, improve your focus to the boring tasks, and help you to get things done. Consider medications as a treatment option and talk to your doctor about it.

We also like people to try the combination of an ADHD diet (including high protein, low carbohydrate breakfasts and some caffeine), with ATTEND, Extress or Deprex (for mood stabilization if needed) or Memorin for memory improvement. Learn more about these at the ADHD Information Library. With either of the approaches above, counseling or coaching for ADHD as well as for skills and strategies to improve relationships and work performance are essential.

Published by Adult Add Advisor

 

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