{"id":1058,"date":"2017-12-18T07:54:47","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T07:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veryhealthy.life\/?p=1058"},"modified":"2021-07-15T12:52:26","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T12:52:26","slug":"14-common-symptoms-adhd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veryhealthy.life\/14-common-symptoms-adhd\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Most Common Symptoms of ADHD"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"ADHD affects more than 3 million people in the United States each year. Treatment can definitely help, but the condition is incurable. It does require a medical diagnosis to confirm you have it. Its symptoms, including difficulty concentrating, hyperactivity, and no impulse control, can be mistaken for garden variety bad behavior or low intelligence. It\u2019s important to get a diagnosis for ADHD because being told that you\u2019re stupid or a bad child isn\u2019t to anyone\u2019s advantage.<\/p>\n

ADHD often starts in childhood, and it can last well into adulthood. Because childhood can be so difficult already, and because the teenage years require a lot of hard work and academic discipline, it\u2019s important to get a diagnosis for ADHD early and confront it head-on. There is no sense in having a child work much harder because he didn\u2019t get the right treatment for an underlying condition. ADHD has been proven to hurt self-esteem, make relationships harder, make school and work harder, and lead to feelings of inadequacy, shame, and low self-worth. Hopefully, this article will help you get a clear overview of the symptoms of ADHD so that you will be armed with more information when you go to a physician to see whether you have it or not.<\/p>\n

1. Short attention span<\/h3>\n

People with ADHD<\/a> can hardly sustain their attention on the same thing or task. They seem to lose interest very quickly and can rarely persevere in what they are doing. ADHD makes it difficult for people with this condition to organize tasks or make plans because they can’t get all the way through without losing track of their thoughts.<\/p>\n

They easily get lost when they are handling too much information or quickly forget all things they need to keep in mind when making complex decisions or planning an activity. As a result, they switch activities often and rarely complete any complex task in which they try to engage.<\/p>\n

\"\"2. Difficulty following instructions<\/h3>\n

In many cases, people with ADHD don’t follow instructions and do what they want, and this behavior<\/a> is mistaken as a rebellious or bad attitude, so these people are labeled as bad or uncontrollable.<\/p>\n

However, they do what they do because it’s difficult for them to control their impulses and remember all instructions given. It isn’t uncommon that people with ADHD fail to complete assignments at work or school, which increases the negative impact this condition has on their lives.<\/p>\n

They turn out incomplete or poorly executed assignments because it’s the best they can do at the moment.<\/p>\n

\"\"3. Body movement<\/h3>\n

Even if all people with ADHD are somewhat restless and move a lot, this symptom is particularly evident in children and young teenagers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can observe this symptom in many forms. For example, they move the hands or feet a lot, play with their fingers, tap tables or the floor. They move on their seat, turn around all the time, and change positions more often than other children.<\/p>\n

It’s important to note that it’s pointless to tell them to stay still or punish them if they don’t because they lack the self-control needed to stop moving this way.<\/p>\n

\"\"4. Incapable of sitting down for long<\/h3>\n

This symptom has to do with the previous one, but it has a particular impact on a person’s life, especially if they are attending school or working at a desk, which isn’t uncommon these days.<\/p>\n

People with ADHD<\/a> rarely last long sitting on the same chair. They stand up, walk around, and move in different ways. It is very difficult to keep them sitting down, even in situations when it would be expected.<\/p>\n

Again, this particular difficulty is often seen as misconduct and punished, because of the way our culture works.<\/p>\n

\"\"5. Restlessness<\/h3>\n

People with ADHD often feel the impulse to move all around the place. Again, just like any other hyperactivity<\/a> symptom, this one is far more evident in children and young teenagers.<\/p>\n

In the case of adults, they have more like a subjective feeling of restlessness. Children tend to spend their abundant energy jumping, running, and climbing up and down objects.<\/p>\n

This is one of the symptoms that becomes more evident when they are in a situation that requires being still or silent, or when climbing or jumping constitutes a transgression of the norms.<\/p>\n

\"\"6. Bad memory<\/h3>\n

People with ADHD often forget things and seem to be oblivious in many situations, even when important things are at stake.<\/p>\n

This is one of those ADHD symptoms that can easily be misinterpreted. ADHD doesn’t actually reduce the capacity of our memory<\/a> or our ability to evoke, but rather, it is the difficulty to concentrate and persevere in a mental task that makes people with ADHD forget things easily.<\/p>\n

They may seem absent-minded or careless, but this is a false impression caused by their attention disorder.<\/p>\n

\"\"7. Distractibility<\/h3>\n

All stimuli<\/a> are attractive to a mind with ADHD. People with this syndrome will easily change the focus of their attention, even towards things that may seem irrelevant or even hardly noticeable for other people.<\/p>\n

People with ADHD are easily distracted, which makes it very difficult for them to complete a task or focus on something for a long time.<\/p>\n

They will often look away, listen to background sounds, or follow people or bugs with their eyes; even the movement of small objects will instantly call their attention.<\/p>\n

\"\"8. Inattention<\/h3>\n

People with ADHD often give the impression that they aren’t paying attention. Even when addressed directly or called out, their eyes are usually somewhere else, or they are doing something or moving as if they weren’t listening.<\/p>\n

Sometimes they actually are, but when they do listen, it doesn’t last for long. This makes it difficult for people with ADHD<\/a> to connect with others, and for others to connect with them.<\/p>\n

ADHD may lead to social isolation and people with this condition might even be targeted by bullies.<\/p>\n

\"\"9. Discipline issues<\/h3>\n

It isn’t uncommon for people with ADHD to have a conflicting relationship with power structures or disciplined regimes. They often get in trouble because it’s difficult for them to follow through on instructions, meet deadlines, and compromise with tasks.<\/p>\n

This disobedient attitude might make them seem like rebels or even less talented because they might have trouble finishing assignments or following orders.<\/p>\n

However, the reason behind this attitude is simply the lack of concentration<\/a> and inhibition.<\/p>\n

\"\"10. Difficulty to engage in quiet activities<\/h3>\n

Leisure activities or even duties such as work assignments or homework are very challenging for people with ADHD. They feel the constant need to move, talk, and do many things one after the other.<\/p>\n

Quiet activities such as reading, writing long texts, playing with dolls, building a Lego castle, or watching a movie are very frustrating and irritating for them. They don’t last for long sitting down on the same spot, and hardly spend a long time without talking, singing, or making noises.<\/p>\n

They are very attention consuming for others and constantly require being addressed, so quiet activities<\/a> are practically impossible for them.<\/p>\n

\"\"11. Disrespectful attitude<\/h3>\n

This is another trait of people with ADHD that gets them in trouble in disciplined environments and creates a bad image of themselves.<\/p>\n

The lack of impulse control and the excessive energy<\/a> of people with ADHD often leads them to speak or act in a way that feels disrespectful for others. It is difficult for them to stay silent and wait, so they often interrupt others when they are talking, step on others’ turn or have a generally intromissive behavior.<\/p>\n

This creates an uncomfortable feeling and increases their chances of being rejected or avoided. They are often judged as mean or selfish, even narcissistic, because sometimes they don’t respect social timing.<\/p>\n

\"\"12. Frequent losses and misplacements<\/h3>\n

People with ADHD<\/a> can easily lose objects or forget where they are, even if they had them in their hands moments ago.<\/p>\n

They tend to get distracted easily, so they can drop things at random places simply because something else caught their attention, or they were thinking of something else or looking away at the moment.<\/p>\n

They can forget about many objects, even important things, or items they use in their daily lives. They may also leave things in the wrong place because they weren’t paying enough attention, making it more difficult to find them later.<\/p>\n

Sometimes they can’t perform their tasks because they lose the tools they need to do so.<\/p>\n

\"\"13. Resistance towards tasks that require concentration<\/h3>\n

People with ADHD have different levels of self-awareness, but year after year they all learn which tasks are more difficult, and some actually try to avoid them.<\/p>\n

Any activity that requires a medium or long attention span, or even any sustained mental effort whatsoever, is often too much for their brains<\/a>. They don’t have the mental resources, neural networks, and neurochemicals needed to perform at such a task.<\/p>\n

When presented with a challenge like that, sometimes they try to escape and do something else. This might make them seem lazy, disinterested, or lacking commitment, but it is actually their self-awareness that is behind this attitude.<\/p>\n

\"\"14. Talkativeness<\/h3>\n

One of the quickest ways to identify a person with a possible ADHD diagnosis<\/a> is that they move and talk more than others around them. They are often verbose and speak quickly, jumping from one idea to the next.<\/p>\n

They might even lose their breath while speaking because of how fast they do it. People with ADHD can be very talkative and impulsive when they speak. They rarely wait for others to finish their sentences.<\/p>\n

They answer questions before they are completed and rarely wait to give a response.<\/p>\n\r\n

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