15 ADHD Symptoms in Adults

The symptoms of ADHD can manifest in different ways in adults. Despite the fact that the diagnosis is essential to think about the suffering of each person, there are several indicators that mark the presence of problems to sustain attention in activities of daily life, as well as in the regulation of movements. Many adults have shown alterations in the areas of attention and hyperactivity when there are conflicts in work, social, family and love relationships. Detecting this type of manifestations in time will help to find tools and solutions to deal with these situations in an efficient way.

In this Psychology-Online article we will provide you with information about the main ADHD symptoms in adults.

Index

1. What is ADHD in adults
2. Lack of attention
3. Spatial and temporal disorganization
4. Impulsiveness
5. Low tolerance to frustration
6. Low self-esteem
7. Memory problems
8. Anxiety
9. frequent oversights
10. harmful behaviors
11. Troubled money control
12. emotional instability
13. Apathy
14. focused concentration
15. unstable relationships
16. project abandonment

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a clinical condition characterized by a difficulty sustaining attention and impulsive movements. Although ADHD is diagnosed in many children who have obstacles in their school performance, many People live with this problem during their lives and become adults who suffer from the consequences.

According to the DSM-V^[1], attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can be detected based on a series of specific diagnostic criteria. Here we show you the most relevant:

• Errors in the execution of tasks due to carelessness.
• Lack of auditory attention.
• Reluctance to perform tasks that involve mental effort.
• Hyperactivity and impulsivity.
• Symptoms occur in two or more locations.
• Deterioration of social, work and family relationships.
• The symptoms have a duration of six months or more.
• The alterations cannot be explained from the presence of other mental disorders and the intake of toxic substances or medications.

However, evaluation and diagnosis should always be carried out by a specialized mental health professional. In this article you will find information about the Types of ADHD and their characteristics.

It is common to observe that adults with ADHD present difficulties sustaining attention. In general, this can be seen in work settings and social gatherings as details of relevant conversations are omitted. On the other hand, the lack of attention can produce low academic and work performance when the proposed goals and objectives are not carried out.

People with ADHD have complications to establish an adequate planning of activities. Similarly, generally they often lose track of time and spaces due to a lack of concentration that cannot be sustained over time. This leads to certain social ties being lost and not sustained over time.

Another symptom that is reflected in adults suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is impulsivity, which manifests itself in specific acts. In this sense, the person may not be able to control their emotions in situations that arouse discomfort and anger, and they act accordingly.

This pathology involves living with permanent frustrations because it is not possible for a person to achieve everything that is proposed. In turn, the lack of attention causes that certain work and social objectives cannot be accessed, which will also have an impact on the scale of tolerance to frustration that is not bearable.

In this article we explain What is low frustration tolerance and how to work on it.

Many people with this clinical picture develop low self-esteem for the unpleasant experiences they have lived in their life. This includes labor disputes, family disagreements or loving separations, among others.

Although it is true that each person is different, the characteristics of the deficit disorder attention and hyperactivity usually produce a detachment with the environment if they are not treated properly.

Attention deficit can lead to inability to store memories in short and long term memory. In relation to this aspect, it has been verified that this disorder can affect memory functions, for what people with ADHD can forget places, addresses, events, relevant data, details, among others.

Even though the anxiety It can be classified by a special clinical picture due to its qualities, it can be part of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In many cases, this can be seen by the appearance of a implicit need to achieve goals in a short time, but without actually carrying out a process.

If the goals that a person sets are not met within the appropriate time frames, it is possible for the person with ADHD to experience high levels of anxiety.

Forgetfulness is common in people with diagnosed attention problems. This is due to the difficulty in sustaining a high level of attention for a long time, which causes a loss of relevant details of some specific event or situation.

In other words, it is common for adults with ADHD to have difficulties remembering events, places, data, etc.

Another of the symptoms of ADHD in adults are behaviors that are harmful to the individual. This includes the consumption of toxic substances, injuries in different parts of the body physical fights with other people, etc. Mainly, these behaviors are due to the way they process the anguish they feel in the face of some situations they face.

In addition, on many occasions, they do not have adequate resources to alleviate the discomfort they feel and, consequently, it is possible that they carry out any type of harmful behavior.

Impulsive behaviors and poor attention can lead to a poor money management. This question reflects that people with this clinical picture can lose their money without any type of record on the expenses they make, as well as generating large debts that cannot be afford.

ADHD in adults can also cause complications in emotional regulation as a result of a predominance of certain emotions. In general terms, the hyperactivity characteristic of the diagnosis goes hand in hand with feelings of anger, frustration, distress, and sadness.

This causes the person to live with emotional instability that prevents them from enjoying certain moments of daily life.

Another symptom of ADHD is apathy, which consists of a lack of enthusiasm for carrying out any daily activity that can awaken some feeling for the person. In this sense, people with ADHD can develop high levels of apathy as a consequence of the lack of attention typical of the clinical picture.

This means that they do not have details that could be interesting about various topics and, consequently, lack of motivation to develop professionally and socially.

Although ADHD is often associated with unstable and unstable attention, in some cases people may focus on a single stimulus to avoid any other factors that could distract them.

The focus on a single detail makes these people make great mental efforts to obtain as much information as possible on the subject in question. However, this can cause them to lose or forget about other situations in their life while they are focused on that aspect.

The social ties of a person with this pathology are usually unstable because, due to the attentional conditions, they usually present Difficulty engaging in lengthy dialogues without omitting important details.

Likewise, the presence of hyperactivity and impulsivity can cause conflicts and distancing with the closest environment of the person, such as family, closest friends, co-workers, partner, etc.

The obstacles that are manifested in this clinical condition can determine that the person abandon the projects you had started. This condition can be denoted in any area of ​​life, the work area being more prevalent. The main cause of this is usually low self-esteem and a low tolerance for frustration.

This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to ADHD symptoms in adults, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

1. American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edition). Arlington: Panamerican Medical Editorial.

• Ortiz Leon, S., Jaimes Medrano, A. L. (2016). Attention deficit disorder in adulthood and university students. Medigraphic Magazine, 59 (5), 6-14.
• Valdizán, J.R., Izaguerri-Gracia, A.C. (2009). Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults. Neurology Journal, 48(2), S95-S99.