ADHD / ADD in Adults and how it impacts a relationship / marriage
Maintaining a successful or thriving relationship can be difficult at the best of times but when you have to take other factors, like a ADHD into consideration it can become a lot harder.
As a relationship counsellor & life coach Dubai and online I regularly see clients who find that they are struggling with certain areas in their relationship with their partner and believe there is an underlying factor that is causing a rift in their connection to their loved one.
“Dr Gabor Mate offers a groundbreaking and optimistic perspective on this much-misunderstood condition. Seeing it not as a disease but as a problem of brain development in the context of a stressed society often early on stresses in childhood”
It’s common to assume that disorders like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (ADD) are diagnosed only in children, however, there are a lot of people who don’t get diagnosed until they reach adulthood. This can make it even harder to maintain a relationship and this is why on my blog I will share more on –
- How ADHD can present itself in adults
- How it can affect a relationship
- Tips on supporting a partner who has ADHD
- What to look out for if you feel your partner may have ADHD
Check out all the blogs on ADHD or book a breakthrough call with me.
Research has shown that there are around 4.4% of adults in the US have been diagnosed with ADHD, however this number could be much higher because some of the symptoms that are present in adults with ADHD can be milder that children who have ADHD, and therefore they go undiagnosed.
Even if symptoms are milder in adulthood, they can still affect how well a person functions with daily tasks. For example – they might struggle to pay attention, they may act impulsively and make rash decisions. All of which would impact the way they work, how they interact with loved ones and how they lead their lives.
The most common symptoms of ADHD in adults are –
- Acting impulsively without consulting others
- Being really disorganized
- Difficulty focusing on tasks
- Poor time management skills
- Keeping busy and feeling restless if staying still
- Not able to multitask
- Gets frustrated or angry really quickly
- Frequent mood swings
- Struggles to follow through on decisions
- Can’t handle stress well
- Lack of social constructs – interrupting when others are having a conversation
- Gets bored very quickly
Even though some of us may experience one or more of these symptoms at some point in our lives, it is the persistent symptoms that keep on happening and affect a person from carrying out simple daily tasks, that make it more likely to be ADHD.
I have worked with many clients who come to me for breakthrough life coaching and when we explore their beliefs and reasons for lacking time management skills or struggling to focus on work, we realise that there is a set of limiting decisions that they made earlier on in life about themselves and their abilities that have blocked them. There is definitely more to it than being “lazy”. Often it stems from a deeper core belief or fear of failure, sense of not deserving the success, fortune or relationship they want and sabotage themselves time and time again.
The reason some adults might go undiagnosed is because there can be a lap over of symptoms between ADHD and other mental health conditions like anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. In fact, it’s quite common for adults who are diagnosed with ADHD to also have a mental health diagnosis.
According to the Stats studies show –
- Around 5 to 47% of adults with ADHD present with comorbid bipolar disorder
- Roughly one-fifth to one-half of adults with ADHD have major depressive disorder/dysthymia (chronic depression).
- Around 50% of adults with ADHD have some type of anxiety disorder.
- More than 50% of adults with ADHD have a personality disorder.
Again we could look at this and lose hope, however in my experience helping people break free from the cycles of putting themselves down and expecting the worse they can live happy positive lives quickly.
If you would like to find out more about Nicola’s personal breakthrough intensive with people with ADHD in Adult Treatment in Dubai or for Teenagers click here to book a ADHD Freedom Call