How many adults have ADHD?

Answer 1

Up to 70% of children with ADD/ADHD will continue to have symptoms into adulthood. The main symptoms of ADD/ADHD in adults are trouble managing time and struggling with memory and disorganization. ADD/ADHD in adults is often referred to as the "hidden disorder" because its symptoms can often be confused with other problems with relationships, organization, mood disorders, substance abuse, employment or other personal difficulties.

Diagnosing and treating ADD/ADHD in adults can help them put their problems into perspective, better understand the reasons for many of their lifelong symptoms, and improve their self-esteem, work performance and skills, educational abilities and social skills.

OH, YOU ARE SOOOOOO not alone! Everything you are struggling with is a perfect description of how I have been all my life. It wasn't until recently that I looked into this as being a legitimate problem instead of just a character flaw. I know exactly what you mean about feeling inadequate. I can't stand for people to think of me as a big flake and an airhead, yet my actions and inability to "get it together" seem to prove them right time and time again. It's very frustrating when I KNOW I'm not stupid, but sadly, the whole "walking and Chewing Gum at the same time" phrase is a realistic challenge for me. Okay, so maybe I could pull that off, but I serously struggle to get my brain to concentrate on one thing -- adding a second is usually not an option!

Let your doctor sort it out. I am going through this with my son and I believe with the medication, there is improvement and you will know it. Try medication.

I am so relieved, although a little saddened at the same time, to hear other people suffering with the same problems as I do. I was recently diagnosed with ADD and have just started medication. For everyone, that takes some 'tweeking' to find the right combinations, but Wellbutrin has started making me feel calmer and more able to manage with my 'flaws'. I never even thought I had something wrong with me. I knew I was relatively bright, but no rocket scientist. I could always talk myself into high powered jobs, but I couldn't manage the work load when I was there. My career is one of constantly multitasking and needing to be tremendously organised and needing to be able to work well under stress. A nightmare for someone with ADD. I tried coping by throwing more hours at the job but I never got to the end of anything while seeing my peers coping around me. I was nervous about answering the phone, and tended to let everything go into voicemail so I would not get caught short - asked a question I could not answer because I could not 'remember'. I'd read the last page of a book first, reread and reread each page of a book, begging information to sink into my head. I cannot remember numbers, directions or peoples names. It makes you feel dumb and stupid and it has made me embarrassed and lowered my self esteem to an all time low. I thought part of it was post partem depression, but it has been going on most of my life, so that could not be the case. Over the space of a few weeks everything came to a head and I could not cope with anything. I made more and more mistakes and felt more and more stupid as I knew they were silly mistakes I had no business to make. What I thought dit not come out at the end of my pen or in emails. It was a shock to find out it was adult ADD but in a way it was a relief. Then you start looking at those around you and wondering if it is a world ailment, who 'hasn't got ADD', not who has! Thanks for being there and we will all get through this together!

Answer 2

Usually when people ask that they mean are some people being diagnosed incorrectly. That is always true with any diagnosis. If you are asking across the population then no. Epidemiology shows that ADHD in adults is underdiagnosed. Most adults enter treatment because a child they are related to was diagnosed.

(I am the mother of a child with ADHD, and psychiatrist)

However, don't always trust what a doctor says because he is only following partial research as (100 patients) maybe out of 5,000 that have been diagnosed with A.D.H.D. Look for symptoms and if you or the person you are caring for, don't have at least 6 out of 10 of those symptoms get a 2nd and 3rd opinion. My nephews were both wrongly diagnosed and so was I. I have O.C.D.

Answer 3

You find a doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, neurologist, or licensed clinical social worker who understands ADHD and has experience in diagnosing it.

Unfortunately since many medical schools haven't adequately taught their students about how to diagnose and treat ADHD (as several medical professionals have told me), you can't assume every medical professional knows enough about ADHD to give you a proper diagnosis. Often is can be very difficult to find someone who knows enough about ADHD to accurately diagnose it. Unfortunately it's harder to find someone to diagnose an adult with ADD than a child.

Most of the medical professionals that do know ADHD have usually gone out of their way in investing in time and money to learn about ADHD to their credit and hopefully our gratitude.

You might want to attend a local ADD Support group to get a list of people known to diagnose ADHD in your area. Even if it's a parent support group vs an adult support group, they might know who can diagnose ADHD in adults, since ADHD is 80% genetic, (if a child has it, unless they're adopted, the parents should be screened for ADHD).

Make sure you ask them what training they have on ADHD. Maybe ask them which ADHD books they've read and how many adults they've diagnosed with ADHD. Many just diagnose children with ADHD.

Finding someone who can diagnose ADHD.

You can search for directories or ask at your local ADHD support group.

Directories

ADDA has a list of ADD Professionals

http://add.org/DirectoryHome.aspx

so does ADD Resources

http://www.addresources.org/adhd_directory.php

and ADD Consults

http://addconsults.com/directory/index.php3

ADHD Support Groups Listings

You can also try searching the web to find a local ADHD support group in your area. Or if that doesn't work (many don't have websites) here's a list of places you can look to find ADD support groups in your area.

Canadian ADHD Support Groups Listings

http://www.addcoach4u.com/canadianadhdsupportgroups.html

US ADHD Support Groups Listings

http://www.addcoach4u.com/support/usadhdsupportgroups.html

International ADHD Support Groups Listings

http://www.addcoach4u.com/internationaladhdsupportgr.html

Answer 4

Yes.

Because the symptoms of ADHD, i.e. tendency to be easily distracted, impulsiveness, hyperactivity, difficulty concentrating, etc., can stem from other sources, some people are misdiagnosed with ADHD. It is not uncommon for parents to try to blame bad behavior (or bad parenting) on supposed ADHD. Some symptoms of ADHD are also simliar to Tourette's Syndrome, e.g. apparently impulsive, inappropriate behavior. It is also common for kids with ADHD to be just labeled as rowdy, rude, stupid, or "bad". Taken together, these two situations suggest that ADHD is both overdiagnosed and underdiagnosed (a lot of kids are being treated for it that don't have it and a lot of kids who have it are not getting any help for it).

Answer 5

Psychiatric drugs are not the only method of treatment for children who have been labeled with ADHD. These drugs do not cure anything. They are used to treat the symptoms of the problem, but not the problem itself.

Many children are mislabeled with ADHD because they display unwanted behaviors at home or in school. Children who are mislabeled and then prescribed medication to "treat" their problems, can become ovemedicated with psychostimulant drugs.

Answer 6

adhd starts off when you are a child. Some children will and can simple grow out of adhd where as others who dont grow out of the symptoms may be stuck with the disease for life.

Answer 7

8-9 million but only about 5% are actually treated.