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On this National Day for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), it seemed interesting to us to approach the disorder… from the adult side. Because although it is now increasingly better diagnosed in children, ADHD in adults exists and even affects 3% of French people. What are the signs to look out for? We talk about it with Dr. Basile Gonzales.
Attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity or ADHD is not just a childhood disorder. If it is increasingly detected and understood at school age, it can persist into adulthood, especially if you have never started treatment.
“Studies of the evolution of ADHD symptoms show that in affected children, 30% will no longer have detectable symptoms after adolescence, 30% will retain partial residual symptoms and 30% will still have somewhat complicated symptoms,” confirms for Doctissimo Dr Basile Gonzales, child psychiatrist at Rouen University Hospital, specializing in ADHD.
6 Personality Traits That May Suggest ADHD
The ADHD adult often asks himself the question of a disorder, on two occasions, mentions the expert: “Either because your own child is diagnosed and you find similarities (“well, but I had the same inattention, the same need to move at his age”), or because you develop comorbidities (addictions, mental disorders). behavior…) which may suggest untreated ADHD in childhood”.
In case you’re wondering, a recent article in HuffPost listed 6 signs of professional life that can put you on the path, according to American doctors.
The need for everything to be perfect. ADHD affects a part of the brain that controls how you direct your attention. For people with ADHD, this area of control does not function properly. So they really can’t concentrate on what they need to do. It just keeps going back and forth between all these different ideas. And so sometimes that perfectionism can appear as a way of trying to cope with that and thinking, “OK, if I do everything correctly, then I can start.”
Procrastinate until the very last minute. Procrastination is one of the manifestations of ADHD in adults. This may be attributed to their difficulties functioning executively and structuring their tasks in a timely manner. On the other hand, this procrastination can act in different ways: for some, it will be a source of anxiety and paralysis, for others, it will be a motivating factor… at the last moment.
Constantly being late for meetings and work. People with ADHD may struggle to show up on time for meetings and work despite their best efforts, because they suffer from what is called “time blindness,” a difficulty to estimate the time they need to get where they want to go.
Crumbling when work becomes stressful. The brain’s prefrontal cortex controls attention and emotional responses. However, for people with ADHD, this area may be underdeveloped. Which can trigger an emotional response as soon as a pressured situation arises.
Send emails with errors. In people with ADHD, executive functions may be impaired, they may have difficulty concentrating when they need to, and they may tend to rush through what they are doing. But they are not always able to control this attention to read and fully process all the information in front of them.
Being creative, but having difficulty implementing your ideas. People with ADHD tend to be creative in solving problems, but due to their impaired executive functions, these employees may also have difficulty implementing these creative solutions.
What to do next if you think you have ADHD?
The symptoms are therefore more often based on cognitive signs, our expert confirms. “Attentional disorders, fatigue, distractibility, forgetfulness, procrastination, difficulty doing several tasks at the same time… are the best known”. On the other hand, the symptoms of impulsivity are less strong as an adult.not that they no longer exist, but with life, adults have found adaptations to this. Particularly in the professional field: a child who needed to move will be an adult who will work outside or in a physical profession for example”.
However, if you continue to have cognitive disorders that slow you down and handicap you on a daily basis, the child psychiatrist assures you, it is now increasingly easier to receive treatment.
“There are more and more psychiatrists who are trained in adult ADHD, and a recent change in the legal framework also allows medication prescriptions that can help the adult. However, the doctor wants to make it clear: you will be offered rehabilitation, psycho-rehabilitation as well as psychotherapy. Processing only occurs when recourse is necessary.”