“Adults with ADD–The Problem Doesn’t Automatically Go Away”

Adults with ADD generally present with the same symptoms as children.  However, the stakes tend to be higher and the ramifications of the problems are much broader.  There is a long-held misconception, even among some professionals, that children will “grow out” of their ADD, thereby becoming “normal” adults.    In reality, ADD does not always go away as effortlessly as some predict.  Long term follow-up  studies on children with ADD have found that as many as 80 percent of children with ADD take their disorder into adulthood.  Experts in the field indicate that 1 to 2 percent of the adult population, including men and women, have some degree of ADD.     This could mean as many as several million adults have the disorder.  The hyperactivity component usually disappears, but the majority of people with attentional difficulty take the problem into adulthood.  This generally means we take the worst part of the disorder into the workday world, and unless someone is hyperactive, the problem may not be recognized.       The hyperactive child tends to be a problem for everyone around him, but the child may be having fun.  They do not realize there is a problem; they are into everything, having a great time.  The ADD component of the disorder is what causes the individual to have difficulty with academic success, job performance, and relationships.  So, when it comes to something like schoolwork, the child begins to suffer.  Their poor academic performance is usually followed by low self-esteem. loss of motivation, and even depression.     Since the adult usually continues to have the attentional problems rather than the hyperactivity, the ramifications are far-reaching.  Low self-esteem, poor motivation, lack of follow-through, trouble sustaining attention, and depression become serious problems in adulthood.  ADD interferes with every aspect of one’s life.  (Next we will look at how the adult with ADD may behave in the workday world.)     Adults with ADD respond very well to Neurofeedback.  They tend  to take longer than children to make optimal changes.  This is because the brain has been running ADD patterns for more years.