While many people automatically think of children when they hear the words ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, in fact, far from being a paediatric or ‘child-only’ disorder, ADHD is a condition that affects all ages, including adults.While
as many as 12 per cent of children have ADHD, it’s believed to affect around
five per cent of adults.
Adults with ADHD often have a limited attention span and as a result, may find it difficult to concentrate or absorb new information. They can also be easily distracted, restless and even impulsive
In reality, this means that an adult with ADHD may:
- be forgetful, particularly if it involves remembering tasks or jobs that need to be done,
- be unable to keep track of several things at once,
- find it difficult to keep promises or commitments to others,
- make decisions impulsively, or on the spur of the moment, without thinking about the consequences,
- frequently misjudge how much time they have –or need– to do something,
- be unable to tear themselves away from something enjoyable to shift to a more urgent, important task.
But while ADHD does affect adults, that doesn’t mean it’s something that develops as people grow older, or reach adulthood. In fact, being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult actually means that the condition has been present since childhood, it just wasn’t recognised or diagnosed at that time. Research shows that, while at least 50 per cent of people who have childhood ADHD will still experience symptoms as an adult, less than one-quarter of adults living with ADHD have actually been diagnosed.
Which might leave you asking how a diagnosis can be missed as a child, or at least why, in some people, it’s not picked up earlier? It’s important to understand that the behaviours caused by ADHD can change or emerge differently throughout a person’s life, so that the typical disruptive symptoms that go hand-in-hand with ADHD can become less obvious with age. It’s also true that some people develop skills to compensate for how ADHD impacts their day-to-day lives, which can mask the disorder
As to why a childhood diagnosis can sometimes be missed, there may be a number of reasons including the fact that the symptoms associated with certain ‘types’ of ADHD can be more difficult to recognise. But it’s also worth remembering that, compared to today,
ADHD was once considered purely a childhood disorder and one that people grew out of. However , awareness, diagnosis and research into adult ADHD has come into its own recently, bringing hope for improved quality of life to millions of people worldwide who have previously been undiagnosed.