ADHD Challenges
In adults, the challenges tend to present in ways that others might interpret as lack of commitment, or even lack of intellect, such as:
- Disorganization at home and in the workplace – with bills paid late, meetings missed, notes lost, etc.
- Recklessness – with more traffic accidents, broken bones, affairs, etc.
- Poor listening skills – leading to misunderstandings, forgotten appointments, difficulty following spoken directions, partner feeling ignored, etc.
- Distractibility – contributing to relationship challenges and under-performance at work, such as forgotten deadlines, lost focus, mislaid items.
- Difficulty relaxing – no longer hyperactive, but always on edge, tense, moving about, or fiddling with something.
- Procrastination – difficulty getting started on a task unless it is novel, interesting, challenging or (has become) urgent.
- Problems prioritizing – difficulty distilling the essence of a lengthy document, or breaking down a task into key steps.
- Perennial lateness – resulting from distraction before leaving, or en route, and inherent “time blindness*”.
- Emotional volatility – reacting with great intensity to seemingly minor things, and calming down more quickly than those impacted by the outburst.
Most of these stem from difficulties in Executive function and Self Regulation. But these same ADHD traits can also bring some real advantages, when we learn to harness them, and see them from a different frame of reference.
* This image, taken from Russell Barkley’s Managing ADHD in School: The Best Evidence-Based Methods for Teachers is still the best representation I have ever seen of how those of us with ADHD view time:
