5 Signs You Might Have Adult ADHD

It’s common nowadays for parents to seek services for their children who are showing symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. A proper evaluation and diagnosis can be life-changing for the child and family, in that it opens up doors for a number of treatment options to improve performance at school and quality of life overall.

However, the same opportunity was not available for most adults when they were younger, as symptoms were often dismissed as daydreaming or purposely not paying attention, and restlessness and fidgeting was classified as behavior problems. We now know that this is not the case. This means that there are likely a good number of adults who may actually have ADHD and could benefit from getting diagnosed as well. Read on to see five signs that may indicate you actually have adult ADHD.

1. You’re Having Trouble Focusing

If you have an extremely hard time focusing on a task and seeing it to the very end, this may be a sign to get evaluated for ADHD. It’s normal to have a brief period of time in which it’s hard to focus on anything, but when this is a common theme in your life, it’s something to look further into

2. You’re Extremely Restless

If you find it hard to physically sit still but want to move simply for the sake of moving, this may be another symptom of ADHD. If this restlessness has gotten to the point of being unable to sit through school, work, or just finding stillness in general, then you should consider ADHD treatment to help learn how to better manage this throughout your day.

3. You’re Unable to Manage Your Time

Time management is a critical skill to successfully completing tasks in the home, school, and work environments. Many times, people with ADHD procrastinate starting a task, which leads to missing deadlines, incomplete/poor quality of work, and feelings of anxiety or sadness about trying to get tasks completed well and timely. If you have trouble managing your time and often find yourself getting much less done than is expected in a given time frame, this may be a sign of ADHD.

4. You’re Experiencing Frequent Mood Swings

We all go through different moods as the day progresses, but when these mood swings are extreme and seem unprovoked, it may be a sign of ADHD. Treatment options, including therapy and medication management, can help regulate your mood and lead to more stable moods and better functioning. Additionally, a thorough evaluation can help best understand if the mood symptoms are related to ADHD or other psychological issues, and we can come up with a specific treatment plan to help.

5. You’re Unable to Deal With Stress

Life can place undue stress on any individual at any given time. Most people have healthy coping mechanisms that enable them to deal effectively with stress. If you have a hard time dealing with your stress and feel overwhelmed and have difficulty managing time, tasks, and organization no matter how little stress you are under, ADHD treatment may be a viable solution.

It’s important to note that for a diagnosis of ADHD, the symptoms usually start appearing in early childhood, as early as between three and six years of age. For some adults, they are able to compensate well enough through college and adulthood, despite increasing stress. This continues until the workload and daily responsibilities overwhelm them, and tasks begin to feel or become unmanageable. If this sounds like something you’re experiencing, don’t hesitate to call and let us help.