What is adult ADHD?
What are the signs of ADHD and how are adults diagnosed? Find out more with our clinical psychologist's guide to adult ADHD
What is ADHD?
ADHD stands for ‘attention deficit hyperactivity disorder’. This means that someone experiences persistent difficulties with paying attention and focusing, and can also exhibit hyperactivity and impulsive behaviours.
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What’s the difference between adult ADHD and ADHD in children?
The core symptoms are the same for children and adults, but they might show themselves differently depending on the person’s age and the different demands or responsibilities they need to meet. For instance, often parents take on task management for their children, so problems with organisation, losing things or being late can be masked until children are expected to self-manage.
Similarly, children wouldn’t be expected to plan or prepare for future events, but adults neglecting to pay attention to deadlines, anniversaries or diary appointments would be more of an issue. Difficulties with working memory are more noticeable again dependent on age and as exams or work meetings become important. There is potentially a bigger impact for adults, too, with addictions such as gambling and shopping, and difficulties in romantic relationships showing up.
There are also several areas of strength that tend to be most apparent in adults with ADHD:
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- A creative mind
- Innovative and entrepreneurial thinker
- Spontaneous
- Quick reactions
- Ability to hyper-focus on areas of interest
- Flexible thinker
- High energy levels
- Highly productive
Signs and symptoms of adult ADHD
Typically, adults with attention issues describe struggling to follow and maintain conversations, daydreaming, being disorganised, forgetful and losing things. They are quickly distracted so cannot focus on tasks requiring sustained attention, and also struggle with managing time and prioritising tasks. However, they can hyper-focus on a topic if it’s very interesting to them, sometimes even forgetting to eat or drink for hours as they are so involved.
With hyperactive and impulsive presentations, adults are likely to fidget and struggle to stay seated; they may appear always ‘on the go’ and struggle to fall asleep as they are so energised. They can be irritable, easily frustrated and tend to feel bored very quickly. Difficulties managing emotions are common, along with financial difficulties and quickly tiring of hobbies, jobs and relationships.
How is adult ADHD diagnosed?
ADHD is diagnosed in adults by a suitably qualified psychologist or psychiatrist. This should involve:
- Interview and observation with the person being assessed
- Interview or questionnaire with a parent or sibling who can report on the person’s childhood development and potential symptoms
- Interview or questionnaire with partner, close friend or colleague who can corroborate presence of symptoms in adulthood
- Additional assessments to review school reports for signs of ADHD in childhood, of the person’s mental health, and to consider other possible explanations for symptoms (‘differential diagnosis’)
The diagnosis is likely to conclude which of the three presentations of ADHD is appropriate:
- Predominantly Inattentive presentation (five or more inattentive symptoms)
- Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive presentation (five or more hyperactive/impulsive symptoms)
- Combined presentation (five or more inattentive symptoms AND five or more hyperactive/impulsive symptoms.
For clinical diagnosis, these symptoms must be present before age 12 and across two or more settings (for instance at school/work and home). They must be serious enough to cause significant impairment to the person’s day-to-day life. Importantly, they should not be better explained by another condition (such as autism or anxiety) – though they very often occur together, so a thorough assessment is needed to unpick this.
When to seek help for adult ADHD
Adults often seek an assessment when symptoms are interfering with their daily life – such as struggling with demands at university, underperforming or feeling overwhelmed by workload and burning out. Often adults are at a point of intense frustration, blaming themselves and feeling very guilty about feeling a failure at life.
Other people seek help as they cannot manage home responsibilities (such as chores, finances, parenting), are caught in cycles or addictions (shopping, gambling, computer gaming, drugs and alcohol) or are having significant relationship difficulties related to their symptoms.
While the diagnosis is not a ‘fix’, it can absolutely help to better understand why the person is struggling in certain areas. It then opens up treatment options available including medication, psychological therapy, executive functioning coaching, and working out what adjustments and strategies need to be put in place to better manage symptoms.
Can what you eat affect ADHD symptoms?
Studies suggest that there is a relationship between ADHD and eating an unhealthy diet. While current research into ADHD and diet isn’t strong enough to draw any strong conclusions, we do know that while diet does not cause ADHD symptoms, a healthy diet could help improve some symptoms. We know that food can influence our behaviour and mood, such as caffeine increasing focus and alertness or sugar temporarily increasing energy levels.
The link between diet and ADHD could also be in part due to difficulties planning and preparing healthy meals and impulsively eating unhealthy foods.
Most research on diet and ADHD has involved studying children, so there’s very little evidence for adults to focus on. The best bet is to aim for a varied and balanced diet, to ensure you’re not missing out on any nutrients. Some studies suggest that nutritional deficiencies – particularly vitamin D and magnesium – are linked to ADHD symptoms in children, and that tackling these deficiencies can improve some symptoms. Friendly bacteria (in particular a strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG) may be of benefit and, while the latest guidance advises against suggesting fatty acid supplements, there are studies that suggest omega-3 or 6 fish oils could be beneficial.
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