It wasn’t too long ago that people thought ADD was something that only affected kids. After all, that’s the only time you’d hear about it – when someone explained that their child is being disruptive in class because they can’t help it, it’s the ADD that’s causing them to do it. But that’s not quite true anymore – the reality is that even adults can have ADD.
The truth is, however, that more adults are diagnosed with ADD every single day and that many adults who have ADD actually had it as children and are only now becoming aware that they ever had it.
What Are The Symptoms Of Adult ADD?
The symptoms of adult ADD are the same symptoms anyone with ADD deals with – inattentiveness, impulsiveness and in some cases hyperactivity. For adults, ADD can be extremely disruptive to their jobs because of these symptoms.
The inattentiveness affects everything in their life but especially their jobs. Adults with ADD have a very hard time being able to concentrate on anything for an extended period of time, meaning that they have a hard time completing any assignments they have to finish for work. This same inattentiveness means that they often get up and leave a project unfinished because they can’t help it, or they may forget that they even have to finish the project at all. They may also be so disorganized that they just can’t get things done because they can’t find anything that they need to.
Another symptom of adult ADD, the impulsiveness, affects their life as well. They will often jump from one thing to another and they may interrupt other people to the point where they damage their relationships because they’re rude without meaning to be.
How Do You Cope With Adult ADD?
There are medications adults with ADD can take to cope with the disorder. The medications make it easy for people to relax and concentrate better. But there are other options as well – specifically, behavioral modification therapy.
People with adult ADD can use behavioral modification therapy to teach themselves how to get things accomplished even with their disorder. Most therapies are custom-designed for every person. Some people need help learning how to stay organized so they can complete projects. Others need to be taught how to start small and work their way up to being able to complete something. Others learn how to made good conversation with others – they learn to think before they speak and listen attentively to whomever they are speaking to.
Adults with ADD have many choices when it comes to ways of coping with the disorder.