One thing that all ADHDers agree about is the fact that ADHD is a horrible name for ADHD, and it is misleading, insufficient, and unqualified. However, its previous titles, such as Brain-damaged child, Minimal brain dysfunction, and Organic brain damage fare a lot better.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Is of Three Types
Inattentive type, hyperactive or impulsive type, or the combined type. And being one of the most common neurodevelopment disorders of childhood is also the most researched medical condition ever. According to the American Psychiatric Association, about 8.4% of children and 2.5% of adults have ADHD.
Every day feels like a War!
As with any other psychological condition, ADHD comes with its own set of scuffles. The DSM uses most of them as symptoms to diagnose itself. However, a few hundred things about ADHD that the DSM and sometimes, by default, the doctors leave out.
Despite what the name suggests, ADHD is not just having insufficient attention, being hyperactive, or both. ADHD is, quite literally, having a brain that is structurally, functionally, and chemically different from a neurotypical brain. It struggles to do certain things like planning, organizing, emotional processing, controlling impulses, etc.
ADHD affects every part of your life, and it has a say in everything you do. It rules your thoughts, emotions, and controls, so when you have ADHD, every day feels like a war, especially if not being treated.
Challenges That ADHD Poses
1. ADHDers struggle with self-regulation:
So it comes as only a little surprise that, according to the research by Dr. John Fleming, people who compulsively overeat are at least five times more likely to have ADHD.
2. Lack of self-awareness:
more often than not, ADHDers miss their cues for hunger and fullness. Hence, they might end up unintentionally starving, or stop eating, only once they feel stuffed. And diet seems like an impossible task, as it involves a high degree of organization and planning.
According to John Fleming, people eat for many reasons other than physiological hunger, such as boredom, excitement, anger, sadness, food availability, reward, and stress relief. Moreover, food gives immediate compensation, which further makes it more enticing.
And surrounded by tempting, available food, it gets strenuous for patients to not give in to their impulses. Lack of serotonin and dopamine only fuels the action. Food, especially the one high in sugar, serves as a ready stimulant for the ADHD brain. Therefore, a lot of binge eating comes forth.
Distractions like someone talking, YouTube, or just thoughts, might lead to abandoning eating. Even ADHD medication can harm the appetite. These conclude that eating and hunger might pose an enormous challenge to ADHDers. They might even end up developing severe eating disorders.
3.Coherency is a dream:
As you can imagine, for someone whose thought process ends up going in tangents in a matter of mere seconds, it is pretty hard to communicate effectively. Listening aside, ADHDers also struggle hard with speaking and writing.
Not only is it extremely taxing for them to organize their thoughts, but they also struggle with retrieving the right words or ideas. They often impulsively blurt out the first things that come to their mind and end up rambling a lot.
ADHDers might even stutter a lot while speaking. But it’s not like “I-I want an ic-ce-cr-cream, it’s more like “Um, I wan, I don’t know what I want. I mean, I-I think I want ice cream. But, yeah, yeah, I, I want ice cream.
There are too many thoughts and ideas running through the brain in a short period. And every idea seems significant. And you try to remember them all, but too many times, you forget them. With all these problems, coherency, while speaking or even while writing, becomes a daunting feat.
4.The Red-Eyed Monster: Anger
Anger is a big issue with ADHD. Negative situations, even the small things sometimes, could set off Anger Spirals. It can often cause ADHDers to implode or explode outwardly. Sometimes both. The former ends with bashing themselves, and the latter ends with rage, untamable rage.
Not only do ADHDers tend to feel emotions more intensely than other people, but they also have a hard time regulating them. Kids might lash out at their siblings for taking their toy. An adult might tell off a co-worker for taking something from their desk, etc.
Despite their actions, those who have this disease feel guilty and ashamed as soon as their anger has passed. And believe me, sometimes it happens in astonishingly times.
However, they would still have the consequences of their actions. As a result of their outburst, they lose their jobs, friends, and family. And because of their in-burst, they end up self-loathing.
5. Mood Swings:
ADHDers are known to experience mood swings of various intensities. They often give examples of how their mood shifts throughout the day. A cheerful mood might suddenly swap into a sad mood, an angry mood, a frustrated mood, or any other mood. For an outsider, it makes no sense whatsoever why or even what is happening.
Mood swings are generally associated with bipolar disorder. Though ADHD mood swings seem like bipolar mood swings, there are few differences between both. For instance, ADHD mood swing occurs because of a trigger (may be internal or external).
Mood swings happen due to emotional dysregulation. They are the reason there is an anger problem with ADHD. Though mood swings are not like much trouble, they might feel debilitating to the person experiencing them.
6.ADHD Brings Along Friends:
ADHD is a friendly disease. It rarely comes alone. According to MentalHelp.net, the chances of ADHD occurring with other psychological disorders are 60 to 80 percent. Research has shown that mood (e.g., depression) or anxiety disorders are present in 1/4 of all children with ADHD.
The presence of comorbid (existence of two or more disorders at the same time) situations can make it hard to diagnose and then even harder to treat the symptoms.
Some of the common comorbid disorders with ADHD are Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Sensory Integration Disorder, Learning Disorder, etc. Research has also found that there are significant ADHD and substance abuse comorbidities.
Therefore, untreated ADHD might also lead to the development of so many other psychological disorders. Like the eating disorders discussed above.
7.What is time even?
ADHDers have difficulties in estimating time and discriminating activities. They also have the feeling that time is passing by without them being able to complete tasks accurately and well.
8.Executive Dysfunction:
Executive function is a set of cognitive skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. Moreover, they use function skills every day to learn, work, and manage life. The trouble with executive function can make it hard to focus, follow directions, plan, organize, etc.
The difficulties often look like signs because ADHD is a problem with executive function. But executive dysfunction can be present in people who don’t have ADHD too. Several pieces of research have been to study this subject. One article by the ADDitude magazine discusses the same in great detail.
9.Rejection sensitive dysphoria:
Nearly 99% of ADHDers are more sensitive to rejection than neurotypicals. Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria refers to extreme emotional sensitivity to what other people think or say about you. People who have RSD don’t handle rejection well.
They get very upset if they presume someone has shunned or criticized them, even if that’s not the case. RSD leads to extreme emotional pain that might cause suicidal ideation and instantaneous rage at the person responsible for the pain.
ADHDers cope with RSD using two fundamental mechanisms:
a.They become people pleasers.
b.They stop trying.
These two not mutually exclusive. The most important thing to be understood about RSD is that it’s not just “feeling bad”. It physically hurts people with RSD to face rejection or even perceived rejection.
10.Hyper-focus and Hyper Fixation:
Often known as the superpower of ADHD, hyper-focus is the experience of deep and intense concentration. It occurs almost only with ADHDers and is hence known as the superpower of ADHD. Hyper-focus, when subjected to the right tasks, will lead to unbelievable achievements.
And that’s the catch here–when focused on the right tasks. Hyper-focus, when subjected to unproductive tasks, its effects might prove detrimental. They might lead to setbacks in school, lost productivity at work, or failed relationships.
While some people refer to hyper-focus and hyper fixation as the same, they are different. And hyper-focus is a momentary thing that might last for a maximum of few days. Therefore, hyper mania is being obsessed with something.
It starts as a stimulating method for the ADHD brain, and it might end up craving more adrenaline and more stimulation that often leads to reckless behavior.
In Conclusion
ADHD is a challenging disorder to live in, and it presents many problems other than just lack of attention and hyperactivity. The above topics are just a few of them. Despite being the most researched disorder, there is still a deficit of information regarding ADHD. Even more, studies need to do regarding the matter.
Tough love is necessary strategies and techniques are available to cope with ADHD challenges, often given by them. Medication and therapy helps too. Just know that not every day will not be the same. On some days, ADHDers’ might still struggle to do basic things.
But that’s okay, and it’s not their fault. We can handle it With some love, communication, and patience.
Written By - Chandana. C. K
Edited By - Susan Ismail
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