How ADHD affects adults: experts on symptoms, causes, tests and treatment, and why men and women present differently
- Many adults consider whether they have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after a diagnosis for their child makes them look at their own behaviour
- Adult symptoms can include inattentiveness, impulsiveness and low frustration tolerance, and sometimes also restlessness, forgetfulness and daydreaming
Symptoms often start in early childhood, but a lot of adults only begin to consider whether they might have ADHD following a diagnosis for their child.
When a child is diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), many parents begin to look at their own emotions and behaviour with new eyes. Might they also have ADHD, as yet unrecognised? After all, it can run in families.
“For a lot of adults, an ADHD diagnosis for their child is the first impetus to be tested themselves,” says Dr Matthias Rudolph, a specialist in psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy in Boppard, Germany.
ADHD is a genetically determined, neurobiological metabolic disorder in which the brain is hypersensitive to sensory stimulation and there is an imbalance of the neurotransmitters dopamine and noradrenaline.
Adult ADHD symptoms can include inattentiveness, impulsiveness and low frustration tolerance, and sometimes also restlessness, forgetfulness and daydreaming.