Adults who have long struggled with impulsivity, hyperactivity, and other behavioral issues might have undiagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. Adult ADHD symptoms may be a little different from those commonly exhibited by children. With half of the 15.5 million adults with ADHD in the US diagnosed during adulthood, it is important to have an ADHD checklist specifically made for adults.
ADHD treatment in adults can be harder, especially since the disorder is harder to diagnose. However, with people becoming more aware of their mental health, more and more are learning that their quirks and personality traits might be signs of ADHD. Here are ADHD and mental health signs to watch out for in adults:
1. Paying Attention to Details is Taxing
One of the inattention symptoms you may notice about yourself if you have adult ADHD is difficulty with recalling specifics. This is especially common when it involves completing a task with specific details. Instances where you forget important details for a work presentation because your thought process was too fast. Or you forget to add an ingredient to a cake you were baking because your train of thought wandered off. These are symptoms where ADHD and work collide for the worse.
Diagnosis is the first step towards learning how to live with the disorder. If this is a recurring theme in your work or daily life, it can be one of your adult ADHD symptoms that is affecting your life negatively.
2. Struggles to Stay on Task
Another example of inattention symptoms that can cause trouble at work or in your relationships is the inability to stay on task. Someone who struggles with ADHD often finds themselves distracted and focusing on something else entirely. In many cases, the original task is left abandoned and completely forgotten. Although this is no cause for alarm when engaging in hobbies and games, untreated ADHD and relationships can become troublesome.
While some adults with ADHD claim they are excellent multitaskers, chances are projects, chores, and assignments are left uncompleted the majority of the time. Some men with ADHD, for example, have difficulty with organization or struggle with wandering thoughts. If you are guilty of doing this, it might be time to consider ADHD diagnosis and professional treatment.
3. Listening Difficulties
Adults living with ADHD tend to struggle with active listening. In most cases, your eyes glaze over and you are lost in thought when someone speaks directly to you. While this is unintentional, it comes across as rude to the speaker because they feel ignored. As additional impulsivity symptoms, you may suddenly blurt out a similar story as a way of showing you are paying attention.
It is one of the most common adult ADHD symptoms where you find your brain getting lost, trying to find something relatable to say instead of listening. Chances are, you have been called out for not listening to the details of the story and being inattentive in conversations.
4. Inability to Follow-Through
Do you struggle to remember important events such as work deadlines, anniversaries, and birthdays? For most people, these are events that they keep at the back of their minds. However, for someone struggling with inattention symptoms, you don’t just fail to remember these details, you also don’t follow through with promises made.
If you don’t get the right ADHD treatment, your mental disability can seriously affect your personal and professional relationships. People will feel slighted and call you out on your inability to follow through. This is a situation where ADHD and mental health can take their toll on you if it continues to go unaddressed.
5. Talks Excessively
Hyperactivity symptoms are often dismissed as someone being rude or not knowing their social cues. One of the most commonly misunderstood adult ADHD symptoms is excessive talking. While often classified as part of hyperactivity, talking excessively is also considered one of the impulsivity symptoms of someone with ADHD.
Adults who show signs of ADHD will often speak a lot and loudly because they have trouble holding themselves back. Sometimes this symptom can manifest as over-sharing or talking over someone because you can help it. Untreated ADHD in adults can be seen as someone being rude or just acting up for attention, but that is false. ADHD treatment is needed to help you understand that you don’t always have to follow your impulses.
6. Gets Distracted Easily
Much like a dog or a toddler, clear adult ADHD symptoms can be seen when you struggle with distractions. Adults with ADHD are easily pulled from one interest to another. This can be seen when you are speaking to someone and something else is happening outside and you lose focus on the conversation.
Other long-term examples of adults with ADHD are their distractions with hobbies. Often living with ADHD means jumping from one hobby to the next without actually completing a project or learning a new skill. Once something of interest pops up, you will get distracted and move on to the next and the next and the next. It becomes a never-ending cycle.
7. Chronic Forgetfulness
It is normal to forget your keys or forget someone’s birthday once in a while. However, ADHD in adults can result in chronic forgetfulness to the point that it becomes a serious problem. When you always forget significant dates, appointments, and cooking timers, you put your relationships, health, and safety at risk. Other ways
ADHD and forgetfulness can disrupt your life is when you forget important details shared by loved ones. This may give them the impression that you are absent-minded and ignorant. When your ADHD and mental health troubles start to affect your life too much, it is time for an official ADHD diagnosis so you can begin treatment.
8. Constant Fidgeting
One of the most obvious hyperactivity symptoms in adults with ADHD is fidgeting. You may find it hard to concentrate in a meeting or a conversation because you prefer to take notes, doodle, or even look at your phone. Other adult ADHD symptoms that can be seen as restless fidgeting are the constant tapping of feet, drumming of the fingers, or just general puttering about. If you are guilty of not being able to stay still, you may be showing signs of ADHD.
There’s More to the ADHD Checklist
The signs and symptoms of adult ADHD are different for everyone. The best way to determine if you have adult ADHD symptoms is to consult with a professional. This is especially important in cases where your mental disorders have a negative impact on your day-to-day life. In many cases, your quirkiness, chronic forgetfulness, and lateness are just symptoms of something more serious.
The sooner you can get an official diagnosis, the sooner you can adjust to living with ADHD while remaining a productive part of society.