For Adults, ADHD Can Stunt Life

If your idea of someone who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a school-age boy or girl who can't sit still in class, can't complete assignments, distracts other children, talks inappropriately, and has poor impulse control, then you're missing a big part of the ADHD picture.

"About 5% of school-age children have ADHD, but this is a chronic condition, it doesn't go away, and what we see is that as many as two-thirds of children with ADHD will become adults with ADHD," says Oscar Bukstein, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

For adults, untreated ADHD is a particularly nasty condition. Children with behavioral problems may get poor marks and have difficulty fitting in with others. But many adults with ADHD have to deal with difficulty holding jobs, financial problems due to poor decision making, substance abuse, and troubled interpersonal relationships.

Trouble at Home and Work

"Most adults with ADHD are not hyperactive, but they may seem fidgety and verbally impulsive," says Bukstein. "Family troubles are common because these people may say stupid things and forget birthdays and anniversaries and have trouble at work. We often see ADHD combined with other problems, such as depression and learning disability."

This combination of disorders -- what doctors call comorbidity -- was highlighted in a recent report from the CDC.

According to the report, which used data collected in 1997-98, about one-half of the 1.6 million school-aged children diagnosed with ADHD have been identified with an accompanying learning disability. And this also appears to hold true of adults.

"This report reinforces what the leading scientific institutions have been telling us all along," says Clarke Ross, CEO of Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or CHADD, a nonprofit support group. "Nearly 70% of those with ADHD simultaneously cope with other conditions such as learning disabilities, mood disorders, anxiety, and more."

But these complex problems have nothing to do with a lack of intelligence or motivation.

"Many people with ADHD are labeled lazy, incompetent or stupid," says Bukstein. "But that's not the case. I've had very bright patients with ADHD. One computer programmer I treated had an IQ of 170, but outside of the tasks of computer programming he couldn't think his way out of a wet paper bag."

Treating ADHD in Adults

Despite increased awareness and identification of the disorder in adults, many adults remain unidentified and untreated, says Ross. Part of the problem is that while ADHD is well-documented in children, it's symptoms tend to be vague in adults. That's one reason, according to CHADD, that the disorder should only be diagnosed by an experienced and qualified medical professional.

"Many AD/HD patients initially seek help for other problems," says Bukstein, such as difficulty with relationships, organization, mood disorders, substance abuse, employment, or after the person's child has been diagnosed with it.