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· 13 Nov 2021

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What Are the Symptoms of ADHD in Adults?

#ADHD is also known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and is one of the most common mental disorders affecting children. ADHD also affects many adults, though symptoms begin during early childhood. For you to be diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, you must have been diagnosed with the condition in your childhood years. Most of the signs and symptoms show between 3-6 years, while the accurate diagnosis is determined at age 7. The disease seems to affect males three times higher than females. According to the American Psychiatric Association, ADHD affects 2.5% of the total adult population. ADHD affects so many aspects of a person’s life, including relationships, learning capabilities, and self-perception. Early recognition of ADHD symptoms in adults can help you get proper treatment. This article will help you understand how symptoms of ADHD come about and how they affect an individual. They include:

1.    Emotional concerns.
People living with ADHD usually have a substantial challenge in life because their mental status keeps on fluctuating. Because no one enjoys this situation, such people easily become bored and frustrated and may end up seeking excitement in other negative practices. Once such a person is annoyed, he/she may sink into depression and change mood suddenly. When these emotional concerns are not well treated, they make it hard for these people to form relationships. They become isolated.

2.    Lack of motivation.
Motivation is the energy that drives people in life. IT is the desire that keeps on pushing you to do better in everything you do. People with ADHD rarely get motivated because of the many challenges life presents to them. ADHD drains the energy levels of these people, denying them the chance to grasp small organizational skills. In the end, they procrastinate on important projects, cannot finish on time and this makes them feel demoralized. Because of this, they cannot concentrate for long periods.

3.    Impulsive behaviors.
Adults suffering from ADHD may find it difficult to remain still. As a result, they may showcase impulsiveness in the following ways:
Interrupting others during conversations.
Socially inappropriate behavior.
Acting without considering the consequences.
Again, one good way of knowing how severe an adult’s ADHD symptoms are, it’s advisable to consider their shopping habits. According to a study done in 2015, it showed that impulsive shopping, especially for things that are way beyond the budget, is a cardinal sign of ADHD in adults.

4.    Negative self-perception.
Adults living with ADHD may find it difficult to appreciate themselves. This happens because they set top bars for themselves. Because it’s difficult to achieve these goals, they become hypercritical with themselves and see themselves as if not enough. This behavior is highly linked to poor concentration and procrastination as well. These symptoms affect their general performance at school, at work, and even with other people. In the end, ADHD adults see these as personal failures and perceive themselves negatively.

5.    Unending anxiety.
Adults living with ADHD may have a difficult time settling down to focus on a particular task. A person who has ADHD and misses a work deadline or forgets to study for an important exam can become stressed and worried. Even the fear of forgetting to do such important tasks may cause them anxiety. Anxiety is a very common symptom in adults with ADHD because their minds replay their worrisome events which makes them remain restless. How do you know that someone is anxious? They do the following things repeatedly:
●    Fidgeting
●    Move around frequently
●    Tap their hands or feet
●    Shifting from one seat to another.
●    Cannot stay still.


6.    Inability to remember things.
Human beings are prone to forget things and that’s normal. But in people with ADHD, their forgetfulness tends to occur more often. It can make them forget important yet simple tasks like important dates you need to keep. The level of forgetfulness depends on how severe the disease is. For example, if the person is suffering from mild ADHD, his/her levels of forgetting things may not be that worse when compared to someone with a detrimental ADHD. Forgetfulness affects careers, jobs, and relationships, and this explains why it is difficult for ADHD adults to keep relationships. For example, for someone to keep a romantic relationship going, he/she must be able to keep promises and have the ability to remember important details, right? When people don’t dedicate their time to such relationships, they easily break. Living with an adult suffering from ADHD requires a lot of patience and understanding, otherwise, you may end up judging them for the wrong reasons.

7.    General body tiredness.
People living with ADHD may exhibit restless behavior, right? They also suffer from fatigue, a symptom that makes many people wonder because of restlessness. Even if restlessness sounds like rest, it’s different from fatigue. Adults with ADHD get fatigued because of several things like:
Hyperactivity behaviors.
Lack of sleep.
Anxiousness.
Constant efforts to concentrate.
Side effects of ADHD medications.

8.    Inability to manage time.
People having ADHD end up becoming culprits in managing time. It is a character highly linked to disorganization; another common trait witnessed in adults with ADHD. Inability to manage their time exposes them to:
●    Procrastination of tasks.
●    Show up late for events.
●    Ignoring assignments, they consider boring.
●    Have difficulty distinguishing the future from the past.

10.    General health concerns.
According to a study conducted in 2013, ADHD may cause people to neglect their physical health. This happens again because of their inability to plan their time properly and therefore end up feeling overwhelmed by activities. They also possess other symptoms that affect their ability to check their health regularly, like:
●    Lack of motivation.
●    Disorganization.
●    Unstable emotional status.
●    Impulsive behaviors.
●    When someone has neglected his/her health for such a long time, he/she can reflect this through:
●    Compulsively eating an unhealthy diet, i.e., high sugar, salt, and fat diet.

These people can also fail to exercise.
Refuse to take important medications by skipping the dose.
Stress and anxiety also may make their mental capacity worse and expose them to depression.


Summary,
ADHD is a common mental illness affecting a significant percentage of the global population. Men stand 3 times higher risks of developing ADHD than their female counterparts. This means that currently, it has affected 13% of men and only 4.2% of the female population. ADHD begins during childhood and then continues into adulthood. It impairs the patient’s ability to focus, concentrate and relate with others. It also makes it hard for them to remain still and manage their time properly. As a result, adults with ADHD postpone important duties, forget important tasks, neglect their duties, and don’t take care of their bodies as well. ADHD is a highly manageable illness when discovered on time. The doctors can combine medications and behavior modifications to help such adults enjoy normal lives, just like the rest.