Long thought to only occur in children, more and more adults are now realising that their daily mental health issues could also be down to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
When Kat Brown, a freelance journalist, was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) almost two years ago, at the age of 38, she was finally able to find the right treatment after years of battling depression, anxiety, and insomnia.
Like so many of her generation, she had no information about disorders like ADHD, and had relied on food and alcohol as coping mechanisms for most of her life. “It was interesting looking back and going, ‘Oh, well that makes sense,’ and matching things up,” she says.
For a disorder once thought to only occur in children, data shows that diagnoses of adult ADHD are growing four times faster than among children in the US.
Coming to terms with your diagnosis
With information from experts and personal experiences now readily available, more adults are realising that their daily struggles can be explained by a missed diagnosis of ADHD.
Adults without proper diagnoses are often given non-specific medications and therapies, which have a minimal impact on ADHD symptoms.
In gathering material for this article, a tweet was sent out asking for people who had been diagnosed as adults to talk about their experiences. Within 24 hours, there were more than 200 people ready to tell their stories. A common feeling reported following diagnosis, was relief.
One of these people was John-Michael Aurednik, from West Virginia, who says his diagnosis allowed him to make sense of many things in his life. “Getting diagnosed puts into context every single ‘trivial’ struggle that this disorder contributes to,” he explained.
Understanding your ADHD
Developing an awareness of how your ADHD affects your life is essential in finding the right treatment, and improving your wellbeing.
Stephen V Faraone, professor of neuroscience at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, explains how studies have shown that adults with ADHD frequently struggle to be insightful about their symptoms. Hearing the perspective of those close to you can be beneficial in understanding your symptoms from an outside perspective.
Kat Brown began “taking charge” of her mental health, and researching how to look after herself after her diagnosis, which allowed her to figure out what her life was going to look like moving forward.
Allow yourself to grieve what could’ve been
It’s no surprise that those who were diagnosed as adults felt that their life would have been different if they had received an earlier diagnosis. Nevertheless, half of the respondents said that their diagnosis allowed them to offload feelings of guilt and shame as they understood how their ADHD had influenced their experiences.
But the truth is that only 120,000 out of the estimated 1.5 million adults in the UK who have ADHD have received a