Contents
Many people notice behaviors that hinder their daily functioning. They have trouble concentrating, lose things, frequently forget something, feel inner anxiety and feel that they are unable to grasp reality. The source of these difficulties may be ADHD, which is not just a childhood disorder. The psychologist Sabine Bernau, who deals with the therapy of such people, explains what their everyday functioning looks like and what challenges they have to face. Below we publish excerpts from her book entitled «ADHD in adults».
- ADHD is a disorder that affects up to 6 percent. adult population
- Among the most characteristic symptoms of ADHD are: concentration and attention disorders, frequent forgetfulness, lack of time management and planning skills, and hyperactivity
- These symptoms do not have to appear together, they are also more or less severe
- Biological factors determine the appearance of ADHD, a person suffering from the disorder has no influence on its appearance
- ADHD therapy takes place under the care of a psychologist and psychiatrist
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Everyday life of adults with ADHD
This is the last chance. Curled pages of thesis lie on the table in front of him. Markus H. wants to finally get to the end. And it even has to. At the university, he has already used all the possibilities of postponing deadlines – if he does not throw the finished work into the university letterbox by midnight by next Friday, he will lose everything.
Markus has reached the twentieth semester – if he does not hand over his job on time, he will be struck off the student list. He leafs through the manuscript nervously. Three more days left, then it’s over! He pushes the binders aside. First he will call Marga, she can cheer him up like no one else. There is a program on TV, Markus glances at it out of the corner of his eye. Anyway, he has to drink something first. A garbage truck makes a noise outside the window. It’s hard to get to work.
This can only happen to Hanna. As always, anyway! A thirty-six-year-old woman, an appraiser by profession, is constantly haunted by bad luck. He’s not good at work. In the apartment: the battlefield. Professionally: just before the disaster. Partners: run away after a short time. Hanna lives in chaos – inside and out. She manages to concentrate only with great difficulty, and only for a short time, she is bored with everything. His tongue is sharp and he can’t keep it in check. This does not please my colleagues at work. She had already been reprimanded by her boss. How will it go on …
Petra cannot sit still, she turns, sways in a chair, drums her fingers on the table, does not listen to what is said to her, becomes irritated, asks nervous questions in the middle of her speech. Already at school, she always sat in a separate desk.
From childhood, Stefan lives at a dizzying pace and no one can keep up with him. Even the fact that he is eminently gifted did not benefit him. He irritated everyone around him and he got angry for just about any reason. A car that his father bought for him “pulled up”. Without his parents, he wouldn’t be able to cope with anything at all. They support him and support his sports abilities, because that’s what he is really good at. Stefan has no idea who he would like to become in the future.
Markus, Hanna, Petra and Stefan already know what is happening to them. Their suffering arises from ADHD – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This symptom complex, named and defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is now the most common neurobiological disorder among children and adolescents.
And what next? Does it grow out of it? “Unfortunately no,” says Dr. B., who works with many young people. «Many adults suffer from ADHD, from early childhood to old age. As people age, people learn to live with it, which is seen as symptoms diminish«. Apparently, however, this does not happen very often, as evidenced by the number of patients visiting him.
When the “fidget” grows up …
Heinrich Hoffmann first described the “drill” as early as 1845. This description is a quasi-metaphor of a child with a concentration disorder, hyperactive and impulsive. This pediatrician and neurologist outlined in his book for children many of the nuances and forms of ADHD in children.
His Struwwelpeter was created with the intention of presenting the most common mental illnesses and behavioral disorders in children to the society of that time. Dr. Hoffmann knew what he was writing about, because in his daily work with children he often had the opportunity to observe the phenomena described above.
More than 170 years have passed since then. However, we still meet children such as Pawełek Wiercipięta, Dyzio Marzyciel, Kasia thinking about blue almonds or naughty Karolek. Thanks to modern research, however, we now have a clearer picture and more knowledge about the causes and course of the disorder. Also outside the field of clinical trials, knowledge about ADHD is increasingly disseminated among doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists. Often these specialists are able to offer competent help to people with ADHD.
Parents of children such as Pawełek Wiercipięta or Kasia, thinking about blue almonds, reach for books and attend lectures and seminars devoted to ADHD. Existing support groups create helpful forums, help and provide new information. The Internet provides wonderfully developed, expert knowledge about ADHD, given in a compressed form – moreover, it is the knowledge of updating and organization on an ongoing basis – it often goes unrecognized.
According to the estimates of specialists, up to 6 percent suffer from more or less bothersome symptoms of ADHD. adult population. Up to the 6 percent includes, according to data from the USA, many American artists, politicians, managers and journalists (in the United States, the picture of ADHD in adults has been known for a long time).
Today we know that approximately one-third of ADHD patients lose their intensity after adolescence, and therefore do not need to undergo treatment in adulthood. However, about two-thirds of the disorder, as well as those related to ADHD if untreated in childhood, persist and should be treated. Children and adolescents have a wide range of qualified therapists at their disposal, but for adults it is difficult to find a specialist. You must take into account the distances and long waiting times for the visit.
The rest of the article is available under the video.
Biology is at the root of ADHD
Without the proper filters and blocking processes of our brain, we would be disoriented and incapable of any action. We would be threatened by the domination of irrelevant stimuli over important ones. The thinking process would be chaotic and abrupt. We would not be able to take deliberate actions and make decisions. Due to the simultaneous influx of sensory impressions, our concentration would be seriously disturbed. The brain can learn only by deliberate choices of stimuli that are relevant to it.
The fact that the brain has the ability to learn is of great importance to every human being. For example, remembering the information: “Before you cross the street, look left and right” in long-term memory translates directly into the ability to survive in traffic.
In the case of ADHD, we are dealing with a disorder of data selection into significant and irrelevant. This results in: insufficient concentration, easy distraction, forgetfulness. ADHD does not arise on the basis of one person’s life situation or another, its appearance is determined by biological factors.
Axial symptoms from a closer perspective
Child / teenager / adult
- he / she often does not see details or is sometimes overlooked while performing various activities;
- has difficulty staying focused while working or playing for a long time;
- seems to not hear people addressing him / her;
- often does not fully perform the tasks entrusted to him and is unable to complete them;
- seems to read the text superficially;
- has difficulties with completing the tasks entrusted to him;
- often forgets and does not meet the agreed deadlines;
- often has problems with the organization of tasks and work;
- dislikes tasks that require longer mental effort;
- often loses or forgets items that are necessary to perform specific tasks or activities;
- dispersed under the influence of external stimuli;
- sometimes he forgets things related to his daily activities.
The following symptoms are particularly noticeable in adults:
- not paying attention to tasks, being quickly distracted;
- difficulty following rules due to impulsive behavior;
- poorly educated insight and understanding of one’s own behavior;
- difficulties in collaborating with others based on an action-based pattern of functioning, often at the cost of making mistakes;
- suffering from symptoms;
- their achievements are often disproportionate to the opportunities in professional or social life.
Adult diagnostics
ADHD does not cause any outward signs and therefore cannot be proven by examination with medical apparatus. Hence, the exceptional difficulty in diagnosing it.
In the case of ADHD, we are always dealing with a so-called symptomatic diagnosis, which means that it is made clinically on the basis of the symptoms described or observed by the person diagnosing. In most cases, no testing procedures (medical, psychological or apparatus-related) are used to make a diagnosis without even the slightest doubt, although it is sometimes advisable when reporting symptoms that may not be due to ADHD (differentiation). That is why so much importance is attached to a thorough examination of all available data.
The best solution in this case is the close cooperation of various specialists (psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, psychotherapists). Getting an accurate diagnosis is very laborious and requires many hours of work (many visits). Apart from a medical interview, curriculum vitae, and special tests (attention, concentration and intelligence skills), the relationships of friends, partners, parents and siblings play an important role. School reports provide information on possible behavioral abnormalities that may have arisen during childhood.
Excerpt from the book «ADHD in adults» by Sabine Bernau (MANDO publishing house).
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