Focus groups: How ADHD impacts adults

~According to statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health, Attention Hyperactivity Deficit Disorder, or ADHD, is estimated to affect 4.1 percent of adults between ages of 18 and 44 in a given year.

Difficulty concentrating, following directions, remembering information and organizing tasks are just a few of the symptoms that can affect behavior, social interaction and work performance in adulthood.

Dr. Stephen Jordan, a Cape Girardeau clinical psychologist, says there is little difference in the ways adults are diagnosed and treated for an attention deficit disorder. Medications are the same for adults and children. The difference, says Jordan, is that adults typically have more choices in the types of situations they place themselves in, such as what type of job they have, versus children, who have to go to school.

Individuals with attention deficit disorders typically need jobs that require them to be physically active and that change from day to day, Jordan says. However, for every rule there are exceptions, he says.

Recently, Jordan evaluated several young adult patients who had interests in accounting. "That doesn't fit my picture at all. They enjoyed the thrill of trying to get everything to line up. It was like detective work for them," Jordan says. How a person with an attention deficit disorder approaches a job is important, says Jordan. It has to be enjoyable for them and hold their attention.

Another key critical to success at work, at home and in relationships is for an adult with an attention deficit disorder to have help doing things they can't get focused or motivated to do on their own. "If you're going to be in a long-term relationship with someone with ADD, you need to understand symptoms and patterns of behavior so you don't take them personally," says Jordan.

Read more about health and wellness in the spring/summer 2011 issue of Flourish magazine, coming in May. You can pick up a copy of the latest issue at various location around Cape Girardeau, and at the Southeast Missourian at 301 Broadway in Cape.