ADHD Is Different for Women When you live in total squalor—cookies in your pants drawer, pants in your cookies drawer, and nickels, dresses, old New Yorkers, and apple seeds in your bed—it’s hard to know where to look when you lose your keys. The other day, after two weeks of fruitless searching, I found my keys in the refrigerator on top of the roasted garlic hummus. I can’t say I was surprised. I was surprised when my psychiatrist diagnosed me with ADHD two years ago, when I was a junior at Yale. In editorials and in waiting rooms, concerns of too-liberal diagnoses and over-medication dominate our discussions of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. The New York Times recently reported, with great alarm, the findings of a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study: 11 percent of school-age children have received an ADHD diagnosis, a 16 percent increase since 2007. The idea that young adults, particularly women, actually have ADHD routinely evokes skepticism.
ADHD: The Facts | ADDA - Attention Deficit Disorder Association Written by Michelle Frank, Psy.D., as adapted and updated from Peter Jaska’s article, “ADHD Facts” originally posted on the ADDA website in 1998 Auerbach, J.G., Atzaba-Poria, N., Berger, A., Landau, R., Arbelle, S., Raz, Y., & Ebstein, R. (2010). Dopamine risk and paternal ADHD symptomatology associated with ADHD symptoms in four and a half-year-old boys. Psychiatric Genetics, 20(4), 160-165. doi: 10.1097/YPG.0b013e32833a1f27. Barkley, R., Murphy, K.R., & Fischer, M. (2008). ADHD in adults: What the science says. Castellanos, X. (2002). Castellanos, X., Lee, P., Sharp, W., Jeffries, N., Greenstein, D. Cho, S., Son, J., Kim, B., Kim, J., Yoo, H., Hwang, J., Cho, D., Chung, U., & Park, T. (2012). Kessler, R., Adler, L., Barkley, R., Biederman, J., Conners, C., Demier, O., Faraone, S., . . . Faraone, S. (2007). Gizer, I.R., Waldman, I.D., Abramowitz, A., Barr, C.L., Feng, Y., Wigg, K.G., Misener, V.L., & Rowe, D.C. (2008). Lee, S.S., Humphreys, K.L., Flory, K., Liu, R., & Glass, K. (2011).
Adult ADHD Test | ADDA - Attention Deficit Disorder Association | ADDA - Attention Deficit Disorder Association Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a relatively common, often unrecognized condition. It affects 4.4% of U.S. adults, but most adults with ADHD live with the symptoms and suffer the often-devastating effects of ADHD in their lives without identifying the source of their struggles. Instead, their difficulties are attributed to their own shortcomings. Once diagnosed, many adults are happy to learn that they do not have a character flaw as aptly described in the title of one popular book on ADHD, “You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?!” Adult ADHD Exists Many adults who suffer from untreated ADHD avoid diagnosis or treatment due to the negative stigma associated with ADHD. Regardless of the stigma surrounding ADHD, knowing about your adult ADHD is preferable to struggling unawares. It’s Better to Know An ADHD diagnosis is not a death sentence, nor does it guarantee a lifetime of taking pills. The World Health Organization Adult Self-Report Scale (ASRS) Screener
New to ADHD? ADDA’s Got the Resources You Need | ADDA - Attention Deficit Disorder Association Congratulations! If you’re new to adult ADHD, you’ve found your best source of information you can trust, resources you can count on and caring people you can connect with. At ADDA, the Attention Deficit Disorder Association, we’re a little different (ok, we’re really a lot different!) On the other hand, we don’t come down on the side of “ADHD is a debilitating condition”, “Adults with ADHD are disabled” or “if you’re diagnosed with ADHD, give up all hope for a normal life.” So which side ARE we on? It’s Better to Learn Educating yourself on your ADHD and how it manifests will help you understand what resources will serve you best. On top of that, for our members, we have an enormous library of articles on virtually every aspect of adult ADHD, all written by ADHD professionals and conforming to ADDA’s standards. But don’t take our word for it! It’s Better to Know Many adults who suspect they have ADHD don’t get tested. If you suspect you have ADHD, we recommend you find out for sure.
12 Best Tips for Coping with ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms can easily disrupt your daily life. Fortunately, there are many ways you can successfully manage your symptoms. Below, experts — some of whom have ADHD — share their best strategies. 1. Accepting your diagnosis is key because it paves the way to positive action, such as learning about ADHD and finding strategies that work for you. Click through to read 11 more great tips… 2. She suggested checking in with yourself throughout the day. Exercise also is key for ADHD. Taking care of your health makes it easier to manage everything else. 3. Also, when you haven’t gotten a full night’s sleep, it’s hard to determine whether your medication is working, Maynard said. Unfortunately, people with ADHD tend to have sleep problems or sleep disorders, Olivardia said. 4. 5. 6. She also suggested keeping a pad of Post-It notes and a pen by every phone. 7. 8. Start with one room and put everything in either bags or laundry baskets, she said. 9. 10.
Managing Adult ADHD – The 5 Rules ADDers Should Live By Do you feel like you're on a treadmill? Managing the daily details of life with adult ADHD is hard. Deadlines at work come and go, unmet. Impulsive comments alienate friends and possibly cost you your job. ADHD medication can level the playing field, but you can do more. It's hard to resist impulses. Your boss proposes doubling your sales goals for next year, and before you can bite your tongue, you laugh and say, "Are you crazy?" Your neighbor buys a new lawn ornament and asks you if you like it. You see a gorgeous pair of designer shoes in a store window and rush in to buy them, even though every penny of your paycheck is already spoken for. You don't give yourself time to think and measure your words and actions. STRATEGY: Make a list of the situations in which you are most likely to behave impulsively. When you are about to enter one of the situations you’ve identified, buy yourself a few thoughtful seconds by performing any of the following actions: page 1 2 next »
Adult ADHD Life Management Skills - Guide to Adult ADHD Management From forgetting to pay bills on time to missing dates with friends, the consequences of unmanaged attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be life-altering. But how can an adult who struggles with attention-deficit difficulties move past these roadblocks to enjoy a fuller, less anxiety ridden life? ADHD at the Office Creating to-do lists with deadlines can be a big help to people with ADHD, says Kirk Martin, executive director of Celebrate! And while it may seem counterintuitive, Martin says controlled external "distractions" can actually help those with adult ADHD concentrate better. People with adult ADHD are messy by nature, says Ari Tuckman, PsyD, a clinical psychologist and ADHD specialist in West Chester, Pennsylvania. ADHD at Home People with adult ADHD tend to crave new experiences and often act impulsively, according to Lara Honos-Webb, PhD, a clinical psychologist in San Francisco and author of The Gift of Adult ADD. ADHD and Coaching Other ADHD Coping Strategies
Adult ADHD Help: Diagnosis and Treatment Advice Studies show that adult attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD) is treated successfully with a combination of medication and behavior therapy. But not all adults diagnosed with attention deficit embrace ADHD help and seek treatment. Many see their ADD-related traits of creativity, ability to multi-task, and entrepreneurial energy as germane to who they are and their successes in life. "People worry that ADHD treatment will change how they work and how others view them — and they're afraid of what the changes in themselves will bring," says David Fassler, M.D., a clinical associate professor of psychology at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington. As Jet Blue Airways founder and out-of-the-box thinker David Neeleman told us in our last issue, "If someone told me you could be normal or you could continue to have your adult ADD, I would take ADD." Today, he remembers school years filled with angst because of his inability to focus. page 1 2 3 next »