Running minds, racing hearts: Inside ADHD
A persistent pattern of the following symptoms characterises ADHD:
1. Difficulty sustaining focus
People with ADHD struggle to focus on tasks that require mental effort. They are easily distracted by other things, thoughts, or activities rather than finishing a task.
There’s one confusing sign of ADHD. Most people with trouble focusing can often hyperfocus on tasks or activities they find interesting or exciting. For example, a child might focus for hours while playing games on a tablet and drift off five minutes after starting homework. Hyperfocus is a state of intense concentration or focus on an activity or task, often to the exclusion of other stimuli. An adult may hyperfocus on social media to the point that they don’t hear their name being called.
One of the main things that people with ADHD complain about is trouble staying tuned. They are easily distracted. It’s like the problem you have with a cell phone, where you're in an area where you don’t have good reception. You can get part of it, and then the talking keeps fading in and out. People who don’t have ADHD, as well as people with ADHD, see and hear things that are happening around them. The difference is that people without ADHD can push stuff out of the way and focus on what they’ve got to do, whereas people with ADHD can't do that. An example is when a kid with ADHD reads in the classroom, and when somebody drops a pen, they have to check and see where the pen went. Then they’ll be back on task for a few minutes, thinking about a video game from the previous night, and the soccer game the next day. The focus comes and goes.
2. Procrastination
Adults with ADHD also tend to procrastinate on tasks that require more focus and attention, leading to missed deadlines and workplace issues. They don’t finish because they get overwhelmed, distracted, or criticized.
Everybody has trouble with deadlines sometimes. People with ADD, it's almost like they can't get started until it becomes an emergency.
3. Trouble sleeping
People with ADHD have trouble sleeping because their brains are too busy. It is like a few television screens before them. They can't shut their head off. They are still thinking of stuff.
4. Misplacing items
Misplacing everyday items (i.e., car keys or wallet) is standard among people with ADHD. They are storing things in the wrong Places. They are losing track of where an item is placed after a moment of inattention. The result is that they are constantly retracing steps to find lost items.
5. Always running late.
Due to poor time management, adults with ADHD often run late for meetings, appointments, or social plans.
Reasons include being unable to find required items (car keys, wallet, meeting notes, etc.), forgetting dates and times, underestimating the time needed to complete tasks, and getting distracted while preparing for an appointment or event.
6. Relationship strains
Some ADHD traits may lead to relationship strains. Examples include not actively listening to the other person, forgetting important dates like a birthday, blurting out hurtful statements, trouble regulating emotions, and being unable to read other people’s body language. People with ADHD find it difficult to choose the best response to different people.
They may talk excessively and struggle to wait their turn to speak. So they often interrupt others. They also struggle to stay on the topic or keep track of the conversation. They talk too fast and too much.
7. Struggle to prioritize
The person with ADHD is often bombarded with all these stimuli and has difficulty prioritizing what’s important. You may struggle with prioritization for any of the following reasons: Feeling like you have too much to do (which can overwhelm you. Hard to say: That should be first. That should be second. That should be third. They struggle to prioritize, and all tasks feel equally important.
8. Problem with short-term memory
Another thing that’s very important for people with ADHD is their working memory. If you ask people who have ADHD: How’s your memory? Often, they’ll say: I've got the best memory in my family. I can remember, and they remember all in detail. But even though they might be very good at remembering things like the details from a long time ago. If you ask them what happened just a few minutes ago or yesterday, they often can’t tell you. The problem with memory with ADHD is not long-term storage but short-term working memory. An example is if they are working on a project and go to the kitchen for something to eat, and see something else that’s interesting. Soon, you’re up to your elbows in project number two, having forgotten you were in the middle of project number one upstairs.
They study for a test the night before the test, go over it, and quiz themselves to make sure they’ve got it. They go into class the next day thinking they’re going to get a grade on this, and all of a sudden, the big chunk of what they knew the night before has evaporated.
Can't pull it out of their head when they need it. But then, a few hours, a few days later, something jogs their memory, and it's all back again. It's not that they didn’t have it. They couldn’t retrieve it when they needed it.
9. Mood swings
An estimated 70% of adults with ADHD experience mood swings. Adults with ADHD may notice signs of emotional turbulence, like impatience when under stress, persistent irritability, and explosive outbursts of anger, while being unaware of the other party’s feelings.
10. Restlessness
They can constantly fidget in an attempt to stay focused when a task doesn’t provide enough stimulation for the brain.
They have trouble sitting still and have a hard time staying seated in the classroom or in other situations. They get up and move around when they’re supposed to sit still. Children often jump and run when this is not permitted.
11. Impulsivity and engaging in risk-taking behaviours
People with ADHD frequently act and speak without thinking. They may drive recklessly.
Research shows that adults with ADHD are more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviour like substance misuse, overspending, and gambling.
