Is ADHD Continues Into Adulthood?

Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD is a chronic condition that affects millions of children and often continues into adulthood. That is why one cannot say that ADHD concerns only children at an early age. How to diagnose this condition? How ADHD is manifested? What if ADHD is left untreated?

Clinical Psychologist Aziz Gorkem Cetin at NPISTANBUL Brain Hospital, which is affiliated with Uskudar University, shared his medical opinion on hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder in both children and adults and its treatment.  

Preschool Years

Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder often appears in preschooled children. Its symptoms can be noticeable as early as 3-4 years of age. Cohort studies show that male and female patients are affected similarly. Some symptoms can lessen with age, while some people will never completely outgrow them. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment will make a big difference in the outcome.

 

Unwanted ADHD Features

Clinical Psychologist Aziz Gorkem Cetin has pointed out some noticeable patterns that are shown by people with ADHD:

• having trouble staying focused, therefore, making mistakes;
• having difficulty with tasks requiring focused mental effort;
• being unable to fulfill duties or to do chores;
• interrupting or intruding on people’s conversations, activities;
• having difficulty following on instructions and duties;
• being easily distracted;
• forgetting things and losing items.

 

If Left Untreated

If children with ADHD tend to suffer from impulsivity and hyperactivity patterns, i.e. they are fidget with hands, squirm in the seat, run around, and are always on the go; adults usually struggle with persistent difficulty in sustaining attention. It simply means that adults with ADHD will probably experience academic and career failure. Thus, adults more often face problems with socializing and getting along with others, because their behaviour might not be accepted by peers and colleagues. People with ADHD usually have several complaints mentioned below:

• bad time management;
• inability to finish work or duties;
• poor memory;
• difficulty in decision making;
• lack of focused mental effort;
• poor career performance;
• academic failure;
• difficulty in getting along with people;
• troublesome relationships.

 

Managing Symptoms

As it has been mentioned above, ADHD can last into adulthood, therefore, many children have never been diagnosed. The thing is that there is no single test to diagnose ADHD, it may have similar symptoms with other disorders. That is why the first step of the diagnostic process involves having a medical examination. Nevertheless, this chronic condition can still be treated. Depending on a case and an individual, it is treated by means of cognitive-behavioral interventions and medication. What works best depends on a patient’s complaints and symptoms. Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists come up with a final individual treatment plan for ADHD.