Hello lovely peopleeee. It’s been a whole month of silence here on Olives Corner, nevertheless I am back with more informative juices on certain aspects of Mental Health you may skip over in your everyday life. Today we are going to be looking at ADHD or Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder.
Most of us growing up did not know what ADHD was or still is, but mental health awareness is becoming increasingly important and we need to know these things.
ADHD is mostly known to be diagnosed in children. Which is quite ironic because the nature of this disorder is similar to the nature of a normal 4, 5, 6 or even 7 year old so diagnosing is often times a daunting task. However, the highlight of this post will be on ADHD in adults, some symptoms, certain struggles they face and how to handle these types of people.
ADHD in adults does not just appear overnight like a flu. Every Adult who has ADHD had it as a child, it just went undetected or diagnosed, and for some it was played as off normal childhood behaviour.
Now there is no bias when it comes to gender, ADHD affects both males and females equally. Unfortunately there is no cure, fortunately it is not fatal…whew! Now here’s the interesting part, research has shown that while a good number of children outgrow it, 60% still have it, even as adults.
Symptoms
There are a number of problems an adult with ADHD can face. You may find it difficult to
- Follow directions
- Remember information
- Concentrate
- Organize tasks
- Finish work on time
- Prioritize
These symptoms may differ from person to person, and can also differ in severity. They eventually end up causing trouble for the individual but most people find ways of coping or adapting, as is human nature.
Diagnoses
Most at time the tendency to self –diagnose is very high but there is good chance that your diagnoses, if you are not a mental health professional will be wrong. In order to get an accurate diagnoses you would have to see mental health professional who would be able to fully diagnose you using a battery of psychological tests, an investigation into your childhood and health history. Although Psychologists have not agreed on an age at which ADHD can be diagnoses, they also don’t believe that it is developed overnight. It is therefore imperative that during diagnoses the elementary behaviours or even academic performances of the individual are investigated.
I would like to end this blog with this, ADHD is not written on the foreheads of people, it is a disorder people silently battle with, some unknowingly, so before you decide to lash out at someone for not following directions or fault someone for not being organized, give the person the benefit of the doubt. So until next time, this has been Olives Corner, bringing psychology to everyday life.
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