Adult ADHD - What You Need to Know - Part IV - Diagnosis

ADHD is now recognized as a relatively common mental disorder of teens and adults, affecting 4-5 percent of the adult population and accounting for an increasing number of referrals mental health and family practices in this country. The disorder has a pervasive impact on most major domains of daily life activities, including occupational, educational, and social functioning and health-related behavior. It is therefore imperative that mental health, medical, and educational professionals have as much up-to-date knowledge of this adult disorder and its treatment as possible.
This presentation will provide current information on the nature, comorbid disorders, adaptive impairments, and underlying nature of ADHD as it occurs in adults. Dr. Barkley will provide guidance on the diagnosis of ADHD and the need for clinical judgment beyond just employing a DSM-5 algorithm. He will also describe the most effective treatment components focusing particularly on counseling, medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy for executive function deficits, and Adult ADHD Coaching, as well as the need for educational and workplace accommodations.
This is Part IV of this lecture and covers the steps involved in making a diagnosis of adult ADHD as well as why adult ADHD existed in prior decades and centuries even if not officially diagnosed as such.

[@annabackman3028]

I believe that the reason why ADHD wasn't noticed in the 60s and earlier, is as simple as there were a lot more jobs where you didn't need any education, barely not some sort of elementary school. More physical jobs, where you weren't sitting still on a chair all day. Especially within the agricultural sector most jobs have been taken over by machines. You don't need 50 people to pick up potatoes, one person and a machine does double the work in half the time.
It's contradictorical that people that so easily get bored, can find satisfaction in doing monotone work, IF the other circumstances are right. Not sitting still. Good spirit among the coworkers, and if there is some kind of variation, maybe doing the same kind of work, but in different places for example.
I used to work at a service facility for the Swedish State Railroad, doing very heavy work in a dusty and dirty environment. In the sleeping cars, pulling out the used bed linen and changing the number of beds in the compartments, by a booking list. I was the only girl, it was normally too heavy for females. But we had fun, much joking and playing, even if we had to finish every train quickly. Humor is what we need to find most anything, if not joyful, so at least endurable.
I took a course (within the company) and began testing the brake systems on the trains, and hooked the engine to the trainsets. The job was more interesting, and not as heavy, but it was mostly done alone. Sometimes I missed that joking and laughing. (I still do. It's good for the soul to laugh a lot.) But I didn't have to breathe all that dust, and I didn't wear so hard on my body. Those are the kind of work that fit ADHD really well, and in hindsight I'm pretty sure that many of the guys had ADHD.
There was no chance that someone could sneak away, or not doing their part, we always worked as a team, everybody checked everybody. Actually not to see if somebody cheated, but to make sure you were the fastest! Only to let the rest know how slow they were.
To be that kind of job, where no education was required, the salary was good too, so I had nothing to complain about.
Unfortunately I injured a foot pretty bad, and nearly a year and a half of sitting, I couldn't walk, destroyed me and my life.
A warning for ADHD went by unnoticed: I got exhaustion syndrom from doing nothing. My nerves couldn't handle that situation, and my stress levels skyrocketed.
That's also a sign, when you collapse of doing nothing. I don't mean a little sighing and whining. I talk about apathy, depression, not caring about anything, not even if you lived or died.
If someone you know starts to go down that spiral when forced to be still, but usually is very physically active, give ADHD a thought.

[@katieroeder6840]

40+ year old female, just diagnosed after seeing THREE different practices. The first one said I was "too smart" yet didn't even do an IQ test. I know that's not accurate as my son is PG with ADHD. Second one also said "too smart" after doing an IQ test and suggested I hire a laundry service and a maid to help me get things done around the house. Ha! Useless. Third practice, FINALLY listened, and confirmed diagnosis. It should not be this difficult. But I'm grateful to have some answers and begin finding ways to manage, both myself and my son. Any books on PG kiddos and ADHD? Or PG kiddos in general? Any research suggesting ADHD and excessive deep sleep are related? Since starting meds, I'm up every morning before the sun for the first time ever, and I've always been a heavy/long sleeper. It's life changing!