ADHD

Ayaan makes the videos half of Gen Z Dhaka has watched. He also has three missed brand deadlines this month, a dozen projects started and none finished, and he has never once found his keys on the first try. At school his teachers called him clever but careless. At 26, he has started calling himself worse things.

An illustration drawn from common experience. The person is invented; the pattern is not.

Understanding ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition: a lasting pattern of inattention, hyperactivity or impulsivity, or both, that begins in childhood and gets in the way of school, work or relationships. It is not a lack of intelligence, effort or discipline. Many people reach adulthood without a diagnosis, having spent years being told they were careless or lazy.

How common is ADHD?

A 2021 global meta-analysis in the Journal of Global Health estimated that 2.58% of adults have ADHD that began in childhood and persisted.

Signs and symptoms of ADHD

• Trouble keeping attention on tasks, conversations or reading
• Losing things, forgetting appointments, missing deadlines despite real effort
• Restlessness, fidgeting, talking over others, acting before thinking
• Starting many things and finishing few
• A long history of “could do better if only he tried”

Treatment for ADHD

A careful assessment looks at the whole life story, school reports, and how symptoms show up at home and at work, and checks for conditions that can look similar, such as anxiety, depression, sleep problems or thyroid disease. UK national guidelines (NICE) offer medication to adults whose symptoms still cause significant impairment after practical adjustments, and it is effective for many people; for children, parent training and support at school come first, with medication for school-age children only if symptoms persist.

What getting better can look like

Ayaan’s first change may be a sentence: this was never a character flaw. Then come tools that fit his brain, and one project delivered on time.

Common questions about ADHD

Can adults have ADHD, or is it only a childhood problem?

ADHD begins in childhood, but in many people it continues into adult life. A 2021 global meta-analysis in the Journal of Global Health estimated that 2.58% of adults have ADHD that began in childhood and persisted. Many adults were never diagnosed as children and were simply called careless or lazy. A careful assessment can be done at any age and looks at the whole life story.

Is ADHD caused by bad parenting or laziness?

No. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition, a difference in how the brain manages attention and activity, not a lack of intelligence, effort or discipline. For children, UK national guidelines include parent training and support at school in the plan because they help the child, not because parents caused the condition.

When to see a psychiatrist

If problems with attention or restlessness have followed you, or your child, from one setting to the next, an assessment is worth it at any age.

Care here is personal: built around your history, your health and what you want to change, and reviewed with you as it goes.

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999 or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.

Sources

• Song et al., Journal of Global Health, 2021
• NICE guideline NG87, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder