What are the symptoms of ADHD in adults?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can cause a sometimes bewildering variety of symptoms. Psychiatrist Sudeepta Varma, MD, discusses key signs of the problem.

Transcript

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[MUSIC PLAYING] So sometimes I ask a person-- take a snapshot of your desk. And that tells me so much in terms of the disorganization. You'll find bills every place.

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They can't find their checkbook. They can't find the pens. They didn't even know that they had bills to pay.

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So some of the common symptoms of ADHD in adults is distractibility, forgetfulness, procrastination,

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difficulty tying up loose ends of a project once the project has been started, easily getting frustrated, a lower frustration

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tolerance, and simple forgetfulness. And when you look at a person's life, you will see chaos taking the place in many forms.

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So sometimes I ask a person-- take a snapshot of your desk. And that tells me so much in terms of the disorganization. You'll find bills every place.

00:53

They can't find their checkbook. They can't find the pens. They didn't even know that they had bills to pay. So as a result of having all these symptoms that we

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mentioned of difficulty focusing, irritability-- some people have restlessness. Some people have that motor excitability

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so that they can't sit still. They're interrupting people. They're fidgeting. A constellation of physical symptoms and emotional symptoms

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and cognitive or mental symptoms-- when you put this all together you can only imagine how much havoc is being caused in people's lives as a result of ADHD.