Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a disorder characterized by inability to concentrate, difficulty in following a plan, and inability to stay still. This disorder, which occurs for many reasons such as genetics, pregnancy, environmental effects and damage to the brain, can also lead to a lack of self-confidence. Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has many treatment options, primarily medication. A positive result is expected to be obtained through the treatment to be followed according to the symptoms seen in the patient with a specialist. The duration of this result varies from person to person. In some patients, the treatment may give results in 1 year, while in some patients this period may be longer.
What is Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?
Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the inability to concentrate on anything and to act on a plan, resulting in a lack of self-confidence and feelings of inadequacy. ADHD, a neuropsychiatric disorder, usually starts in childhood and can affect a person's entire life.
What Causes Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?
Genetics:
ADHD is most commonly inherited. This disorder, which is found in parents or other family members, can also be passed on to other children to be born.
Pregnancy:
Products such as alcohol and cigarettes used during pregnancy can cause ADHD. In addition, infections that occur during this period can also be the cause.
Birth:
Premature or difficult birth can cause ADHD, as can lack of oxygen during labor and prolonged jaundice after birth.
Environment: Lead and lead-containing materials are also known to cause hyperactivity. Exposure to substances containing chemical poisons is also among the causes of ADHD.
Brain Damage:
It has been observed that ADHD occurs as a result of various blows to the brain.
Symptoms of Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
People with adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have the following symptoms.
- Difficulty paying attention to details and making mistakes even in normal life
- When focusing on something, he/she has difficulty and difficulty in focusing his/her attention on that focus
- When a topic is mentioned, they do not listen and are not interested in it
- He/she has difficulty in maintaining and following a given task at work and often fails.
- He/she has difficulty in organizing his/her personal and professional life.
- In his/her private and professional life, he/she is constantly avoiding tasks that require focus and intense thinking.
- He/she has difficulty finding the item he/she has put somewhere and often loses it.
- He/she gets distracted very quickly when trying to focus on a subject.
- He/she disrupts and forgets his/her routine tasks.
What are the Most Distinctive Characteristics of People with Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
A person with adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder constantly changes his/her mind, momentarily becomes happy or restless without any connection to the situation or gives up on his/her decision. People with the disease may also experience mood swings. For example, a person may switch to another job without finishing the one they started. In adults, getting bored quickly and not being able to continue the work are among the most prominent features.
How Does a Person with Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Feel?
In adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, our patients have definitions about the disease. For example, one of our patients said, "My brain feels like a carousel spinning very fast. Another patient said, "I move from topic to topic so much that it's like I have a lot of tabs open on my computer." This also happens in the brain. As the brain switches from topic to topic, the patient cannot focus on a topic and cannot bring it to the end. This situation creates serious problems in family and work life.
How should a person with ADHD be treated?
When we look at people with adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, we see that there are two main symptom clusters of attention deficit and hyperactivity.
One is attention deficit and the other is hyperactivity and impulsivity.
With impulsivity, behavioral problems arise. Over time, this situation can go beyond the classical anger problem and situations such as crime, punishment, traffic monstrosity can arise. The person needs to manage this situation very well, otherwise it is possible to experience behavioral problems at this point. This is not a situation that will happen in every patient. It only occurs if the process is not managed well.
Treatment of Adult Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
The primary treatment choice for ADHD is medication. Both the medical and psychological symptoms of the person should be examined and taken into consideration while administering medication. Along with medication, the application of psychotherapies in cognitive-behavioral approach by psychologists who are experts in this field helps the treatment to progress positively. In addition, social support can be provided by informing the people the patient is close to or by bringing them together with other people with ADHD.
Do ADHD medications give results in treatment?
Since ADHD is a neuropsychiatric disorder, treatment without medication is not sufficient. Medication is the most effective method for treatment and other methods to be added in addition to medication increase the effectiveness of the medication even more.
ADHD Test
The ADHD test consists of questions to find out how adults behave and feel during the day. The questions are expected to be answered with the answers "never, rarely, sometimes, often, very often". If the person answering the test is in a different mood than their general mood at that time, they should answer the test according to their general mood and behavior. Examples of ADHD test questions:
- "I can get very excited very quickly and calm down quickly."
- "I have an unstable mood."
- "I find it difficult to complete a task I am working on."
- "I am more comfortable moving than sitting.
