“My biggest struggle is with expressing my thoughts in a way that other people understand. My brain feels like a cloudy input mechanism that doesn’t store data coming in with appropriate priority.” – Anonymous

This is especially painful with a spouse or child interaction – they feel like I don’t care about what they have to say. I have social anxiety and I’m easily distracted during conversations, which make me miss important information. “I am quiet and withdrawn, but there is plenty of hyperactivity in my head. My mind is a whirl of worries, ‘what ifs,’ and ‘should haves.’ Others would never guess my inner turmoil based on my calm, albeit slightly distracted, exterior.” – Anonymous “My biggest challenge is managing the physical and emotional exhaustion that comes from my mental hyperactivity. I’m chronically late, extremely messy, and I’ll frequently forget what I’m doing, walk into a room and say, ‘Why am I here?’ This is mostly a problem while I’m working, but I also have trouble staying mentally present in social situations, most frustratingly in my sex life!” – Anonymous “My thoughts are constantly jumping from one thing to another, and I can’t stay focused on reading and writing tasks. It can be physically painful to sit down and work on the minutiae.” – Erica This has limited my career since I’ve avoided multi-stepped projects. I’ve put off making appointments until I can’t handle the tooth pain anymore or my car is about to break down without repairs. Sometimes it feels like a Herculean effort. “My biggest challenge is finding my internal drive to move from where I am to whatever my next task is. While I may look like I’m doing nothing, my brain is at work.” – Anonymous I am diagnosed with inattentive type, but like all people with ADHD, I have a hyperactive mind. My relationships are impacted because I forget things, I become very quiet when I’m drained, and I overreact because I can’t regulate my emotions. My symptoms make it easy to get behind, get overwhelmed, and then get burned out. “My biggest challenges are staying on task, procrastinating, socializing, and remembering that I’m not lazy. I actually thrive when it counts and the pressure is on – it gets me out of the endless loop of thoughts.” – Anonymous I think my intelligence and ability to act under pressure is often underestimated. “The long periods of time that I sit still might have the appearance of laziness, but I am actually just overwhelmed by the rapid-fire making and changing of plans going on inside my head. Commonly Misinterpreted ADD Symptoms in Adults Share your experience with inattentive ADHD in the Comments section bellow. This leads to inadequate treatment, academic frustration, social setbacks, and shame that can last a lifetime.ĪDDitude recently asked adults with ADD these questions: “What are your biggest challenges and how do your inattentive ADD symptoms affect your daily life? How would you explain your presentation of ADHD as opposed to ADHD with a strong hyperactivity component?” Below are their stories of daily struggles to conjure motivation, to finish tasks, to pay attention in conversations, to overcome time blindness, and more. ADD symptoms in adults are commonly misunderstood and misdiagnosed by caregivers and medical professionals. People with inattentive ADHD sometimes make careless mistakes because they have difficulty sustaining focus, following detailed instructions, and organizing tasks and activities, but these are not personal defects. Forgetfulness, distractibility, and emotionality are all manifestations of inattentive ADHD, or ADD, in adults.

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