Adult ADHD Symptoms

The symptoms of adult ADHD are not hard to detect when you know what you are looking for, but they can be easy to miss if you haven’t been diagnosed before. Schools diagnose kids who are getting in trouble, forgetting to turn in homework assignments, or chronically absentminded with ADHD, but they often miss kids who perform fairly well academically and do not become too much of a nuisance. Many of these kids can grow up to be adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder without ever being diagnosed as ADD or ADHD. They may have chronic problems completing tasks, staying focused or even sitting still and never know that they have a treatable condition.

Fortunately, adult ADHD symptoms can be treated once you know what to look for. Symptoms like impulsiveness, moodiness, an inability to stay on task or get organized and a tendency to jump from topic to topic can cue your doctor in that you may have attention deficit disorder. No one adult ADHD symptom can really show for sure but, taken as a group, your symptoms combined with your life history can provide a good picture, showing your doctor how likely or unlikely you are to have ADD.

One of the best ways to evaluate your adult ADHD symptoms is to see how well you respond to treatment. There are a variety of treatments for ADHD and ADD, ranging from medications like Ritalin to behavioral therapy, biofeedback and counseling. You should discuss all of the options with your doctor and decide on the best course of treatment for your disorder. Many doctors are not well versed in treating ADHD, so if your doctor is relatively unfamiliar with the condition, you may want to ask for a referral to another medical professional.

Once you do get your adult ADHD symptoms diagnosed and treated, it is important to monitor your symptoms and keep them under control. A lot of people who suffer from adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder like to keep journals charting the progress of their treatments from day to day. Keep track of traditional adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms such as moodiness and distraction with daily logs. Describe what you set out to get done, how much you accomplished, when and how you got distracted and how you feel on a daily basis. Over a few weeks, you can get a good picture of your daily mind state and how it seems to be responding to your new treatment. 

Tags: adult adhd symptoms, adhd