Do you always feel restless? Are you unusually outgoing and prefers ardent physical activities? Do you find it hard to concentrate on work or on other activities that need to be done? If your answer is affirmative to all of these questions, there is a great possibility that you have attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder.
Attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder is typically identified in some children, especially those aged seven years and below. You surely have heard about this behavioral condition because the reported cases among children are on the rise. High-profile children or kids of celebrities and personalities are also not spared from having this syndrome.
What exactly is attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder? The disorder is actually a behavioral, mental or neurological syndrome that in innate in people diagnosed with it. It is a brain condition that prevents the person from having focus.
Lack of concentration is a serious problem because no one can really achieve or get things done if he or she finds it hard to focus. That is the general complaint of people diagnosed with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder.
In the United States, about 2% to 5% of school-age children are believed to exhibiting symptoms of this disorder. In adults, it is estimated that about 2% to 4% of the total adult population has it. However, it should be noted that it is rare that an adult is diagnosed with the syndrome.
There is a logical explanation to that. Most adults with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder are those who have the syndrome since their childhood. During their childhood days, the manifestations may be really apparent, but through the years, the individual must have matured physically and mentally.
As a person matures, you know that he acquires new knowledge, skills and coping mechanisms. Thus, an adult with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder may have learned how to compensate for the difficulties he may have faced during childhood.
Symptoms of attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder in adults
Symptoms of attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder in adults are basically the same as the manifestations on children. But the symptoms may have been modified and took a different form.
For example, the unusual rowdiness among children with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder may not be evident among adults. But take note that adults with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder tend to be rowdy sometimes, especially when there are opportunities, or if provoked.
Such adults also experience inattentiveness. The manifestation may be different. For example, the person may find it hard to listen attentively and intently to people who are speaking to them. Although they get the message conveyed in conversations, they seem to be inattentive whenever someone is speaking.
Such adults also tend to be too talkative, that others misread as simply being inquisitive or bubbly. They may make sense, of course, but they seem not to be ready to pass the limelight to others.
Adults with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder experiences difficulties in coping up with pressures from work, from school or from social functions. They tend to procrastinate a lot even if they try hard not to.
To them, a task is too boring to accomplish. Often, they multitask bu not productively. They tend to start a lot of things, but struggle to finish even a single of those activities. They may find it hard to practice mental and emotional discipline.
Emotional aspect
On the emotional aspect, adults with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder tend to be cold to relationships and to social functions. They always strive to seek attention from others and are bent to get those attention no matter what.
Because of the hyperactivity among these individuals, they also tend to be too impulsive and impatient. Often, they get engaged in fistfights and violent arguments. They may not throw tantrums but they may react as if they are throwing the adult versions of such tantrums.
Such adults tend to easily lose relationships because they often fall to isolation. In other cases, other people also do not understand their behavior and mistakenly perceive them simply as immature individuals.
It would be hard if you have attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. But you may always seek professional help. Having developed coping mechanisms sometimes would never be enough because there may be instances when things will fall out of their proper places.
