How ADHD Symptoms Manifest in Adults

· Often loses track of time or misjudges how much time has passed.  Can be difficult to follow a timed schedule 

· Your mind wanders easily, even if someone is speaking to you or you should be completing a task or project

Hyperactivity in children can be easy to spot. Children can’t sit still for even a few moments or they are constantly in motion.  They may act as if driven by a motor and often jump or bounce around the room

· Needs constant motion, may tap feet, play with a pencil, doodle or fidget

· Easily bored. May move from job to job because you become bored once you have learned the job, may not complete projects because you become bored after a short time. You need be intensely interested in something for it to hold your interest

· Although you can sit still, you feel restless after just a few minutes of inactivity.  You feel the need to get up, walk around the room or do something

· Active, risky or fast paced activities are more interesting and more apt to hold your interest 

Impulsiveness is reacting without thinking first. Children that are impulsive might yell an answer out at school without raising their hand or waiting for their turn.  Children may jump from a play set before thinking of the consequences.  Adults with ADHD can also be impulsive:

· Consistently interrupts others while talking or answering a question before it has been completed

· Enters conversations while others are still talking

· Blurts out comments or thoughts without thinking first causing hurt feelings

· Enters into risky or undesirable behavior on the spur of the moment

· Has difficulty conforming to a budget because of impulsive spending habits

Although the following are not specific symptoms of ADHD, these characteristics are often found in adults with ADHD:

· Easily angered or low tolerance for frustration

· Needs instant success to keep interest level up

· Low self-esteem, even though you can appear confident to others

· Avoid new situations and meeting new people