How ADHD Impacts Adults Differently

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is often associated with kids, but remember, kids do grow into adults who still struggle with the condition. Here’s a look at how ADHD can present itself in adults.

There’s a good reason attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with kids — symptoms typically start to reveal themselves between the ages of three and six and the average age of diagnosis is seven.

As of 2022, there are an estimated seven million kids in the United States who’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, yet we don’t hear that much about ADHD in adults.

The millions of kids diagnosed with ADHD do grow up, and many of them bring their ADHD with them — about 4% of Americans over the age of 18 deal with ADHD in their adult lives, but the condition can look a little different than it did in childhood.

To shed some light on adult ADHD, our team at Point of View Mental Health in Scottsdale, Arizona, reviews a few of the ways in which this neurological disorder can present itself and how we can help.

Can you grow out of ADHD?

There’s a disparity in the number of kids diagnosed with ADHD as opposed to adults — 11.4% of kids have ADHD as opposed to 4% of adults. There are a few explanations for this.

First, some kids grow out of their ADHD symptoms naturally as brain development continues into adulthood. And many kids get good treatment that sets them on a better path to managing their symptoms.

Lastly, through more socialization, people with ADHD learn to manage their condition better and figure out suitable workarounds.

All that being said, ADHD doesn’t just magically disappear, and there’s no cure for the condition, so the odds are good that symptoms will still follow you into adulthood.

ADHD in adults

There are two sides to ADHD:

Inattention
Hyperactivity and impulsivity

In kids, the symptoms that fall into these two categories can be very obvious as kids are less inhibited about displaying them. For an adult with ADHD, the struggle may be more internal, especially as the pressure to perform at work or school increases.

Still, symptoms will poke through and often include:

Avoiding harder tasks
Not finishing projects
Trouble meeting deadlines
Being fidgety — shaking a leg or needing to get up and move
Issues with social boundaries
Troubles with conversations — blurting things out
Frequent mistakes
Being easily distracted
Hyperfocus — focusing on one thing and ignoring everything else

These are just a few examples, and most adults face one or two of them. With ADHD, there’s a pattern and persistence in these behaviors.

The National Institute of Mental Health describes ADHD in adults as people who, “Currently experience at least five persistent symptoms of inattention and/or five persistent symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity. These symptoms must be present in two or more settings (for example, home, work, or school; with friends or relatives; in other activities) and interfere with, or reduce the quality of, social, school, or work functioning.”

We feel the definition of ADHD can be less restrictive and, if you feel you or a loved one is struggling with inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity and it’s affecting your life, it’s worth seeking our help.

Treating adult ADHD

When we treat ADHD in adults, we typically recommend a combination of:

Behavioral therapy
Medications
Workplace adjustments
Lifestyle changes

It’s tricky to say here what your specific ADHD treatment plan might look like, but we’re happy to work with you to find one that best suits your needs and goals.

For expert treatment of adult ADHD, we invite you to call our office at 520-999-9114 or connect with us online. We also offer telemedicine services for your convenience throughout the state of Arizona.