Adult ADHD: 15 Signs You May Have It

About 4 percent of adults have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and many others have never been diagnosed. (About half of kids with ADHD still have it in adulthood.)

A diagnosis can be important. Adults with ADHD tend to have lower incomes as well as higher rates of accidents, unplanned pregnancies and substance abuse than those without it, says Martin W. Wetzel, M.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha.

Here are 15 signs of adult ADHD.

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You're restless.

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Children with ADHD can be overly energetic, but adults may just feel edgy or restless. "Adults don't show the more obvious signs such as running and jumping," says Colette de Marneffe, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in Silver Spring, Md. "Hyperactivity presents more subtly in the form of restlessness." However, you may recall a rambunctious childhood. Dr. Wetzel had a patient who recalled spending a lot of time in the school hallways because "he couldn't sit still." It's a "classic story," he says. More from Health.com: 10 Things You Should Do If You Have Adult ADHD 10 Tricks for Paying Better Attention 7 Celebrities With ADHD

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Children with ADHD can be overly energetic, but adults may just feel edgy or restless.

"Adults don't show the more obvious signs such as running and jumping," says Colette de Marneffe, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in Silver Spring, Md. "Hyperactivity presents more subtly in the form of restlessness."

However, you may recall a rambunctious childhood. Dr. Wetzel had a patient who recalled spending a lot of time in the school hallways because "he couldn't sit still." It's a "classic story," he says.

More from Health.com:
10 Things You Should Do If You Have Adult ADHD
10 Tricks for Paying Better Attention
7 Celebrities With ADHD

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Comments

[consolidated]

11:44 AM on 07/11/2011

Recently diagnosed as having adult ADHD. And great I've got all of these except the messy desk at work. This article should mention hyper focus as well. Hyper focus is just as debilitating as the attention deficit part and often involves risky behavior

[Tricia LymeMom]

04:00 PM on 07/06/2011

I realize this is about adults but I've had a Pediatrician try to tell me my child has ADD. He doesn't. He has Lyme Disease. Bacteria are literally eating his body from the inside, out. How is he supposed to behave??? Kids (and some adults) can't tell you what's wrong, only show you. Always look for an underlying cause first.

[ctekin]

07:07 PM on 06/02/2011

This article is so ridic.....wait what were were we talking about?

[Robert Nix]

04:04 PM on 06/01/2011

There is no such thing as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.) We are hunters (I've never been diagnosed with any type of disorder but those slides seem to describe me.) Medicating it is like medicating someone for blue eyes or big feet. Lots of Americans are hunters. You have to have that personality type to pick up everything and move here. I think I heard about this first from Thom Hartmann.

[PeaceG]

02:28 PM on 06/05/2011

If you fail at relationships and work, then it's time to stop denying it. You need to read Hartmann again. His explanation doesn't mean that the conditon doesn't cause problems. A lot of people who use the meds are finally able to live 'normal' lives and are happy about it.

[iconoclast6]

12:26 AM on 05/31/2011

ADHD is a label. Nearly everyone fits into some of these "criteria;" it's just one more way that the drug industry hooks us. Because we're not happy-smiley at work all the time, this is somehow our own fault and of course we need heavy-duty medication for life. There are far more basic cultural issues at the heart of this so-called epidemic, not the least of which is the change in work ethic over the past 30 years as well as society's alarming trend toward medicating the different. Read Thomas Scheff's excellent book, "Being Mentally Ill." Dr. Scheff is also a semi-regular contributor to HP.

[Fromageball]

07:52 AM on 05/31/2011

ADHD is over-diagnosed and trendy, but it's definitely real. I'm an example, but I don't take medication because I've found ways to work around each one of these signs without it. I am also sort of terrified of taking prescription stimulants(I've never taken them), and am wary of doctors who listen to me talk for 3 minutes and immediately offer a prescription.

[PeaceG]

02:29 PM on 06/05/2011

Yes, nearly everyone has some of these symptoms - but not all or most of them and not to a degree where they interfere with their lives. Live with someone with ADHD and you'll know there's nothing 'fake' about it.

[DrGopal]

12:35 AM on 05/30/2011

Adults experiencing undiagnosed ADHD often have concomitant signs of depression and anxiety, take a long time to read a book, often re-reading pages due to the symptoms of inattention during which they lose focus, lose chunks of information, and forget what they just read. It can be a frustrating and depressing experience for college going ADHD adults and they often spend hours doing what others do in a much shorter while. ADHD, Inattentive Type as it is called, often is undiagnosed in children due to their natural intellect that makes them fall through the cracks of clinical diagnosis as they pass from one grade to another with certain talents such as drawing and excelling in video-games and putting together and dismantling cars and mechanical objects. For a description of the types of ADHD read http://www.thesupportivefosterparent.com/blog.html . Thank you for the excellent slides, very informative. DrGopal

[isis]

10:31 AM on 05/29/2011

I have a messy desk and can't sit and watch tv. I hope this means I get medicine.

[Narella]

03:59 AM on 05/29/2011

Wow, these slides are written really well. "... and suddenly you've lost chunks of conversation." That's exactly what it's like. : ( I'm 18 now and was diagnosed at age 3, so I thought I would have outgrown it but I'm learning to manage, haven't taken meds in 10 years. Good thing I'm going into Zoology or I'd be bored out of my brain with a desk job...

[Pinky Lee]

09:28 PM on 05/28/2011

What's it mean if you have half of them?

[Runtime Al]

11:56 PM on 05/29/2011

And my silly dance
Like a billy goat

[cptkirk1964]

11:19 AM on 05/28/2011

I only made it through three signs.

[Joel Kent Melville]

01:19 PM on 05/27/2011

oh and I seriously disagree with this bullcrap saying people with it have lower incomes that is just marxist nonsense. I can accomplish anything I want to in life I dont need people saying this crud. just because ppl with my condition have it does not mean they make less money. I say PROVE IT.

[GinaPera]

04:02 PM on 05/27/2011

lol! It has been proven that more people with unrecognized/untreated ADHD are undereducated and under/unemployed, when compared with people without ADHD. Also higher rates of bankruptcy. Read the research.

[Joel Kent Melville]

05:25 PM on 05/27/2011

well mine is treated and I have a college degree sooo I'm not part of those statistics.

[onwisconsin]

09:03 PM on 05/27/2011

I have ADHD and a PhD. The research is changing because we're diagnosing and learning how to adapt at earlier ages. I have a niece with ADHD and because of my mentoring she will NEVER deal with the bullying, guilt, and physical abuse that I dealt with as a child. She is, as I was, both gifted and ADHD and she will be understood because she has an aunt who knows how school systems work and how to engage them in productive dialogue to ensure ongoing academic and social support.

[Joel Kent Melville]

01:16 PM on 05/27/2011

yup I sure have it alright. have since I was 8 years old. I have a math learning disability and I cannot keep a job without the medication. I fit the bill for most of those symptoms except I do not smoke. it causes lung cancer.

[Sarah Baldwin-Weissman]

01:11 PM on 05/27/2011

If you need a laugh... looking for followers..
http://imamomgetmeoutofhere.blogspot.com

it's about 3 with ADHD and ME! :) The 'H' is for HELL

xo
The International Laundress :)

[An Fear Bolg]

12:49 PM on 05/27/2011

12 of 15. Yeesh. I hope my wife isn't reading this.

[still hopeful at 55]

08:17 AM on 05/29/2011

LOL faved!

[GinaPera]

11:56 AM on 05/27/2011

Wow, a "liberal press" story on ADHD that isn't bashing the diagnosis or calling it an invention of "Big Pharma." I'm impressed! Thank you!

Gina Pera, author
Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?

[PeaceG]

02:34 PM on 06/05/2011

Hey, Gina! Isn't it great? Good information about ADD in the press. Keep fighting the good fight!
'Merry'