Telling Signs of A.D.H.D

It wasn’t that long ago when professionals firmly believed that ADHD was strictly a child/adolescent disorder, and that it could not exist in adults. Now we know that symptoms and behaviors associated with ADHD can exist a lifetime. But defining “inattention” and “impulsivity” in the adult world can be somewhat confusing, so we thought we’d give you some real world examples. So, without further ado…

You May Be A.D.D. if:

• You’ve been pulled over for an expired inspection sticker.

• You can remember every word to “Rapper’s Delight,” but can’t remember how many months have 31 days.

• You walk into a room and immediately forget why you went there in the first place.

• Your definition of time management is shaving (brushing your teeth, applying makeup, etc.) in the car.

• You’ve ever found your car keys in the refrigerator.

• You organize the kitchen and nobody can find anything anymore.

• You put your passport in a safe place so that you won’t lose it again. Ten minutes later, you’ve forgotten the location of the safe place.

• You honestly believe that you can fit an hour’s worth of activities into fifteen minutes.

• Your dentist, doctor, accountant, professor, and hair stylist are always screwing up the date and time of your appointments.

• Your friends and family know that when you say you’ll be there at 8:00, you really mean 8:15.

• When budgeting for a vacation, you have to account for the “A.D.D. Tax,” or money you’ll spend buying all the things you know you’ll forget to bring with you.

• You’ve given up buying expensive sunglasses because you know you’ll just lose them.

• You’re laughing as you read this because this totally sounds like you.

• Winter is one of your favorite seasons because you always manage to find long lost items in the pockets of your jacket. Like your expensive sunglasses.

• You’ve ever left your cell phone:

  • In your pocket before jumping in the pool,

  • On the roof of your car before a road trip,

  • Somewhere. You don’t know where. You’re still looking.

• Organizing your work area means placing all the papers on your desk into a large pile.

• It’s August, and your Christmas/Hanukkah lights are still on the roof.

• Your idea of “relaxation” is doing ten things at once.

• There are roughly 17,345,891 versions of torture that you prefer over being bored.

• You’ve tried, but you just don’t get the appeal of opera…or yoga….or Ernest Hemingway.

• You go to work and realize you can't use your computer because you left the power cord of your computer at home. The next day, you make a concerted effort to remember the power cord, and end up leaving the computer at home.

• You make a detailed list of all the things you need to do, and then promptly lose it.

• It’s taken you three days to read this far.

Or maybe after taking out the trash you go to get a new trash bag from the pantry, and notice that the pantry light bulb has burnt out. So you go to get a new light bulb from the cabinet and notice that the hinge is loose on the cabinet door. You go to the garage to get your screwdriver to fix the hinge when you notice that there’s a pipe leaking in the garage. You put down the screwdriver, shut off the water, and begin to fix the pipe. Your wife comes into the garage, dripping wet, with shampoo in her hair and asks you what in the world you’re doing. You reply, quite simply, that you’re replacing the trash bag. Sheesh!

By: Walker Peacock, Psy.D.