Attention deficit or distraction? Understand ADHD in adults – 02/24/2023 – Mental Health

Is being distracted enough to receive a diagnosis of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)?

It’s not just the difficulty in concentrating on certain tasks that characterizes the condition, explains biologist and neuroscientist Lívia Ciacci, speaker at the Supera Method, brain gymnastics.

“Attention deficit disorder is a neurobiological disorder that, unlike distraction, has a physical cause behind it”, emphasizes Ciacci.

In the brain of a person with ADHD, says the expert, there is a biochemical alteration in the prefrontal and premotor regions. As the frontal region regulates human behavior through self-control, failures in the biochemistry of this region lead to changes in impulses and restlessness.

These changes usually manifest themselves in childhood and extend into adulthood. The disorder has genetic influence and it is common for several people in the same family to have the same disease.

“Unlike someone who gets distracted because they focus attention on the television, some noise or a parallel conversation, the person with ADHD gets distracted because, in addition to increased sensitivity to the environment, they also have an excess of thoughts in their own mind. thoughts added to the difficulty of self-control generates impulsive behavior and the difficulty of focusing on just one stimulus”, says Ciacci.

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), about 4% of the world’s adult population lives with attention deficit disorder. In Brazil alone, there are 3 million adults with the condition.

ADHD has three most striking symptoms: lack of concentration, impulsivity and hyperactivity (excess energy), says Ciacci.

Among the behavioral characteristics of a person with attention deficit disorder are aggressiveness, excitability, hyperactivity, impulsivity, restlessness, irritability, and lack of moderation.

Difficulty in concentration, forgetfulness or lack of attention are some of the effects on the patient’s cognition. As for mood, the person may have anxiety, depression or learning difficulties.

ADHD symptoms are confusing because they are things we’ve all been through, even those who don’t have the biological change in the brain, but the difference for a diagnosis is in frequency and intensity.

The risk of looking superficially at these characteristics and diagnosing yourself is to end up relying on an imaginary “excuse” and fail to know and evolve, observes the neuroscientist.

“Even if the person really has the disorder, self-diagnosis alone will not guarantee improvement in performance or relationships. functioning. All this will only be possible with medical and psychological help”, he emphasizes.

Still according to the specialist, until reaching the correct diagnosis it is necessary to recover the individual’s life history to understand what the characteristics were like in childhood and what the family environment was like.

That’s why it’s important that the person looks for psychologists and psychiatrists who understand the disorder and who will pay due attention to the patient’s history.

The biggest difficulty is not only identifying the symptoms, but also understanding how this person went through childhood and adolescence with the disorder, as the appropriate treatment depends on it.

“It is not enough to prescribe a medication. It is necessary to guide them regarding self-knowledge, because children and adolescents who grow up without the correct diagnosis tend to have low self-esteem and a history of misunderstood failures”, warns Ciacci.

The neuroscientist compiled a list of ADHD symptoms in adults, but points out that noticing these is not enough to define a diagnosis. “If you checked more than eight items on the list, seek psychological and psychiatric help”, she indicates.

Top warning signs for ADHD in adults

• Difficulty organizing daily tasks and starting work before the deadline
• Being frequently disorganized and losing objects
• Procrastinating or having difficulty completing repetitive tasks
• Starting to speak before the end of a question or answer in interactions, interrupting others’ speech
• Constant distraction and “daydreaming”, to the point of getting lost in the subject of a meeting
• When you have an important appointment on the day, not being able to do other tasks until this appointment time
• Sequence memory failures. For example, he went to wash the dishes, stopped because he remembered the clothes and went to the washing machine, stopped because he saw the garbage, took the garbage out, came back and went to watch TV
• Impulsive behavior, talking and acting without measuring consequences
• Very rapid mood swings or outbursts of anger over minor reasons
• Engage in high-risk situations by seeking out strong stimuli, such as driving at high speeds or engaging in extreme sports
• Tendency to be very creative and combine information easily
• History of school problems in childhood and adolescence
• Having people with a diagnosis in the family

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