ADHD Awareness Month
The inattentive type experiences more trouble paying attention than struggling with impulsivity or hyperactivity, however they can still experience some impulsive or hyperactive behavior. More females are diagnosed with the inattentive type than males. Symptoms of Inattentive ADHD include the following:
Easily distracted, have issues focusing on a single task
Difficulty organizing thoughts and objects
Misplacing important items
Easily bored
Process information slower and less accurate
You can imagine this can make completing tasks in a timely manner difficult. In fact, people with ADHD have an extremely hard time completing tasks when they don’t feel a sense of emergency or urgency. Something I do to cope with that is to actually make deadlines for myself earlier then when a project is due, so that I can give myself that sense of urgency before it's actually urgent. Say I have a project due by Friday of next week, I will then tell myself it's due Tuesday or Wednesday.
Other things that can be done is having a balanced lifestyle, eating healthy, sleeping well, and exercising regularly. Yoga and meditation are said to be helpful, as well as spending time outside and limiting screen time.
Finding what works is based on the individual and every person is different. ADHD doesn't have to define who you are, or rule your life. October is ADHD awareness month. I want to help people understand ADHD, and let people with ADHD feel cared about, loved, and heard. Maybe you can help spread some awareness too.
Thank you,
Kindred Causey
ADHD.
What is it?
What are the symptoms and what do they look like?
How does it make people feel?
What treatments are available?
Who does it affect?
Where does it come from?
Maybe this can help you understand the ADHD loved one in your life (or even yourself!) a bit better.
ADHD affects people of all ages, genders, and ethnicities with more than three million cases a year in the US alone. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is used to describe an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development. It is thought to be hereditary, however this is not always the case. There are three basic types of ADHD. Inattentive, Hyperactive/Impulsivity, or Combination.
Hyperactive/impulsive ADHD is used to describe ADHD people who are predominantly impulsive and/or hyperactive compared to people with the inattentive type. Symptoms and signs of this type include:
Restlessness
Constantly talking
Fidgeting with things even when inappropriate
Trouble with quite activities
Constantly going
Impatient
Blurt out things without thinking much
Combination ADHD is what it sounds like, meaning you suffer from both of the other types. Everyone experiences some degree of inattentiveness or impulsive behavior from time to time, but in people with ADHD this interferes with their day to day life every day. It's constant and uncontrollable without treatment.
I personally have inattentive ADHD. I would say my biggest symptom would be hyperfocus. Basically that means that I could be excited to start a new project or read a new book, but five minutes into the task I'll lose interest and abandon it altogether. However, when something truly peaks my interest I will literally lose myself in whatever it is, I will obsessively focus on that one thing until something else catches my attention and the cycle starts again. You can see an example of this in children who have a hard time focusing in school, but can spend hours being super focused on video games.
Another symptom of ADHD I have is Anxiety and Depression. Unfortunately, nearly everyone with ADHD will suffer from some level of Anxiety and/or Depression. This is because our brains chemically don't produce and process dopamine correctly. Dopamine is the chemical in our brains responsible for how we feel pleasure. ADHD doesn't always look like a person who can't sit still, sometimes it can look like a person who can't leave the bed.
So what do people do who have ADHD do to cope with it? Unfortunately, there is no cure, but there are treatments available. Therapy is a good place to start. You can work with a therapist and possibly a physiatrist to find the best treatment for you or your loved one. Treatments include behavioral therapy, psychotherapy, and/or medication.
Behavioral therapy can help manage behavioral issues stemming from ADHD that affect daily life. Psychotherapy is mostly talking about how ADHD affects life and working with a counselor to find coping mechanisms. If these treatments aren't enough on their own the counselor may suggest trying medication. The two types of medication are stimulants, and nonstimulants. They are used to regulate the irregularity of dopamine in the brain.
