adhd symptoms

Various Samples of What ADHD Can Look Like

impulsivity

  • You want it “NOW”

  • Waiting feels unbearable

  • Interrupt people

  • Make spontaneous decisions without fully evaluating them

  • Can react quickly

memory Slip ups

  • Lose track of what you were just doing

  • Forget instructions on step two, or what was just said

  • Lose your place in multiple step process (cooking, math

Emotion Regulation

  • Small issues can have big emotional reactions

  • Frustrated easily

  • Apologize often for outbursts

  • Feel defensive often

Procrastination

  • Often say, “I’ll do it later”

  • Wait until the last possible moment to start

  • “Procrastivity” Doing anything but the hard thing

  • Now vs. Not Now Thinking

Distractibility

  • Focus? What focus?

  • Every noise or visual stimulus demands attention

  • Jump from one task to another

  • Wait… What?

Disorganized

  • Desk is an assortment of piles

  • Clothing in disarray

  • Lose keys, wallet…

  • Counter tops a mess

  • Organized systems don’t work for long

planning

  • Plan? What Plan?

  • Difficulty breaking down projects into steps

  • Over plan without execution - perfectionism

  • Systems at work, but no system at home.

  • Where to begin…?

Time Blindness

  • Misjudge how long things take

  • Can lose hours of time scrolling on phone or doing something you enjoy

  • Often run late, even when you plan to leave early!

  • Procrastinate until panic mode

Transition Challenges

  • Takes awhile to mentally shift from one thing to another

  • Brain resists unplanned changes.

  • Getting started is hard, but stopping is just as hard.

Goal Directed Persistence

  • Struggle to stick to a system or goal

  • Start strong, and fade out of exercise, saving plan, eating healthy, or any goal

Self Awareness

  • Same mistake, different day

  • Have no idea what your partner is talking about, “Of course I don’t…”

  • Feedback doesn’t lead to long term change.

motivation

  • Things you love - no problem

  • Other people’s agenda - not happening.

  • Motivated by deadlines and challenge, but without it, it’s not happening today.