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The ADD Adult
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The ADD AdultLife-Size Chaos in Action!Does an ADD child always become an ADD adult? Approximately half of all children with ADD symptoms and behaviors will retain these behaviors into adulthood. However, the impacts are now much more troublesome since they affect a person's ability to develop and enhance a career, have a successful marriage and suceed at the parenting of children, cope with complex financial arrangements, and stay compliant with the myriad rules and laws that regulate society.
Here are the variety of ways that adults with ADD may experience problems: Constant Mental Activity and Anxiety: ADD adults generally report they feel constantly bombarded with thoughts touching on a hundred subjects at once. This is especially true when they are bored. The majority of these thoughts have nothing to do with the tasks at hand, causing the ADD adult to be distracted, overwhelmed, confused, and unfocused. This has the obvious related outcome of a half-finished or poor effort at completing the desired task. The primary coping skill recommended for ADD adults is to maintain written notes and keep detailed calendars. If there is a common, predictable, organized place where a person can record information, schedules, steps, plans, appointments, deadlines, etc., then they can develop the habit of using this calendar, and they will have the information they need to stay organized. Physical Restlessness: ADD adults may not be as visibly hyperactive as the ADD child, but they feel it in their bones. While sitting still, at work or during entertainment, the adult with ADD may be tapping feet, doodling, playing with pens or other nearby instruments, flitting their vision from place to place, etc. Although this energy can be very powerful when harnessed, it more often just exhausts the ADD adult and the people around them. A useful coping skill for the nervous energy common to adults with ADD is to develop and practice a moderate exercise regimen that fits easily into the person's existing schedule. However, beware, if a too-difficult regimen is attempted, the logical result of poor follow through will result! Impulsivity: Impulsivity in children gets them into trouble for bad behavior. In ADD adults, impulsivity can have disastrous consequences, such as spending thousands of dollars on a whim, telling off the boss, having an emotional outburst that damages a relationship, or bending and defying the rules injudiciously. Impulse control is a learned skill. The ADD adult's best chance to curb impulsivity is to learn to identify when he or she is about to act on impulse and then to walk away from the action for 15 minutes. If the ADD adult still wants to proceed after the 15 minute cooling off period, then it's probably an acceptable action to take. External Distractibility: In addition to the ADD adult's constant inner mental activity, there is an additional layer of chaos introduced by the stimuli of the outside world. Everywhere he or she looks, the adult with ADD takes in millions of bits of visual, auditory and sensory information, adding to the person's already overworked mental processes. This factor makes it harder for the ADD adult to function in certain environments where there is excess noise, color, or other stimulating content. As a coping skill, the adult with ADD can attempt to modify his environment to reduce this effect. When attempting to complete a task, turn off music or reduce background noise, move to a quiet location and look for an environment with calming colors and style. Poor Social and Relationship Skills: Due to the distractibility and mental busyness of the ADD adult, it is often difficult for them to see what others around them might need, including their spouses, friends, children, bosses, and co-workers. In addition, the impulsivity factor may lead to inappropriate emotional outbursts or behaviors that put off the person's closest allies and deteriorates the level of trust that exists. In order to improve in their social skills, the ADD adult must learn to stop, take a breath and look around themselves. This will have the dual effect of warding off impulsive and inappropriate responses while also forcing them to seek information on what the other person might need from them. Inability to Plan Tasks and Manage Time: ADD adults have a very difficult time understanding work flow, estimating time, and organizing their efforts. In starting a task, it is impossible for them to visualize a plan with sub-tasks and to estimate the amount of effort required at each step. The result is an uneven, disorganized effort which is invariably completed late. The planning calendar described above is the perfect instrument to use for improving task planning and time management skills. Unreliable Short-Term Memory: Due to the overall distractibility of ADD adults, they often have difficulty remembering their immediate thoughts, ideas, and plans. Even as they are formulating their response to a task, conversation, or problem, their mind changes subjects and the plan is gone. Actually, it's not uncommon for an adult with ADD to even forget the details of the task or problem they are trying to respond to! The planning calendar described above is the perfect instrument to use for capturing thoughts, plans, and ideas. Continued Reading and Cognitive Disabilities: Learning issues, including reading, spelling, and language/mathematical processing issues, do not disappear as we grow to adults. If these are present in the ADD adult, there will be corresponding difficulties in performing work duties, managing personal finances, helping children with homework, conducting personal and business transactions, and staying current on the news and community events. There are many skill-building methods now available that can help improve an ADD adult's performance in the area of their learning disability. Disorganization: Disorganization of an ADD adult's overall life (business, family, finances, etc.) is the logical outcome of the factors discussed above. When you combine impulsivity, poor social skills, weak time management, continued learning disabilities and distractibility, it's a wonder that adults with ADD function as well as they do. The coping skills discussed above, combined with nutritional or pharmaceutical support, can help ADD adults lead much calmer, more focused and successful lives. Nature's Plan for ADD Success
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