Monthly Archives: February 2011

During the adult years, especially the early adult years, most individuals are faced with many new adjustments and important choices that will shape their future in both the short and longer term. For those who suffer from ADHD syndrome, these challenges are especially difficult. As one young man with ADHD syndrome described it:

I’ve always had a hard time making choices. I switched my major five times in the three years I was in college. I keep trying things out and then I get bored and feel like something else would be better, so I switch. Finally I dropped out to try getting a job. Figured I’d go back to school after I knew better what I want. That was four years ago and since then I’ve had seven different jobs. All of them seemed OK for a while. I came in on time and worked hard to learn the job and do it right. Then I always started getting bored and coming in late and slacking off. And sometimes I’d get in trouble for being too mouthy with the boss. Once I got fired for that. The rest of the jobs I just left because I had an idea of something else that might be better. I do the same thing with everything. When I’m watching TV I have to hold the remote because I always have to keep changing channels to see what else is on. Same with girlfriends. For a while I like this one, then I see someone else who looks better. So I drop the first one and then hook up with the other one for a while, until someone else comes along. Recently though I’ve been remembering something one of my professors said: “As we grow up, life has to be succession of amputations of possibilities.” I always like to keep all my possibilities open, but I don’t know where I’ll end up when I’m forty if I keep doing this.

This young man was very bright. His tested IQ was in the very superior range. He had perfect scores for both the verbal and math portions of the SAT. His grades in college courses varied widely, usually between “A” and “F” with not many in between. He explained, “It all depended on whether I was interested in the course.” Professors in a variety of subjects often commented that his papers were “brilliant” and encouraged him to follow through with more advanced studies. This “hyper” man was also very creative: he was skilled at playing many musical instruments and had won awards for photographs he had taken. He had an appealing manner and a quick wit. But he was also very impulsive, hyperactive, and restless, both cognitively and behaviourally.

What is important for that student is to seek interventions. With a professional partner he could be committing to the following:

Prioritizing
Structuring
Planning
Organizing

How do you know if you really have ADHD? There is no substitute for a careful evaluation by an experienced clinician. However, if you answer six or more of these questions as “Yes”, and you can see these patterns as present for your whole life, then it is likely that you do have ADHD. And if you do, in fact, have diagnosable ADHD, it means that you need to gain a clear understanding of how your brain works so that you can be as organized and successful in life as those around you, who don’t have ADHD.

The ADHD checklist:

1. Do you procrastinate, regularly putting off tasks that, for you, require a lot of mental energy?
2. Do you have difficulty completing tasks or projects?
3. Do you often forget or find yourself late for appointments?
4. Do you feel restless or full of nervous energy and compelled to do things?
5. Do you have trouble organizing yourself to do a complex task?
6. Do you fidget or squirm, needing to move some part of your body if you have to sit or keep still?

Consider, as well:

1. Do you find yourself lost in your own thoughts, even when someone is talking directly to you?
2. Do you have difficulty throwing things away, even if they have little value or specific usefulness to you?
3. Do you react quickly to conflicts?
4. Do you sometimes blurt things out and then wish that you hadn’t spoken?
5. Do you take things to heart, finding yourself easily hurt and sensitive?
6. Do you find that most of these problems disappear when you have something fun or interesting to do?

If you understand why you are the way you are, perhaps with some external support, you will find your own ways of staying clear, focused, and organized.