Health
Social Symptoms of Adult ADHD
If you are suffering from Adult ADHD, you have probably noticed that you have a difficult time in work the same way a child has difficulty in school. Managing tasks, focusing on assignments, and learning to pay attention are all concrete abilities that can seem impossible if you have an ADHD mind.
But how does ADHD affect relationships? Statistically, people with ADHD are at a higher risk of divorce, and most of them have at least some problems with making and retaining strong friendships. If this is something you have trouble with in life, it’s not entirely your fault. ADHD can be hard to truly understand for those who have never suffered from it.
1. Self-esteem Issues
Problems with low self-esteem are not exclusive to children with ADHD. Adults, too, can have the feeling of not fitting in, or of being strange or different than everyone else. They might ask themselves why tasks that seem so easy for someone without ADHD, like listening or being organized at your job, can seem so difficult for them. ADHD can make you feel isolated and self-conscious, which is why support groups are important. A person with Adult ADHD needs to know that other people in their community are facing the same feelings.
2. Trouble Listening
Everyone wants to be listened to, whether it’s by your friends, coworkers, or especially your spouse. Someone with ADHD who has trouble focusing on what a friend or loved one is trying to tell them can end up causing resentment and hurt feelings. Someone who enters into a close relationship with an ADHD person must often learn new ways of speaking to them, as well as learning not to take it personally if they don’t feel heard. It can be a big challenge for both people involved.
3. The Need for Stimulation
Many people with Adult ADHD find that their friends and significant others simply can’t keep up with them. Their temperament and lifestyle might be all about change and excitement, while everybody else moves at a slower pace. People with ADHD are impulsive and chronically bored. Even if their relationship is incredibly exciting, they can still fall prey to the temptations of cheating or simply ending their marriage or partnership for no real reason. In the search for new experiences, they often don’t know how to consider the long term.
4. Avoiding Responsibility
It’s important that in situations with friends and colleagues, people with adult ADHD are able to separate the disorder from themselves. If you have ADHD, you will find it’s valuable to avoid blaming everything on your condition and also do not see it as a barrier to social interaction or romantic relationships.
ADHD is not the reason for everything about your behavior, and you shouldn’t let it be. If you’re taking steps to control and manage your ADHD, you can begin learning how to not let it be responsible for your life.
People with Adult ADHD require some extra patience from others, and extra patience is also required from them. As the public becomes more aware of this disorder and what its implications are, it will get easier for people to be open to learning about ADHD and how to interact with those who struggle with it.