8 Things You Need to Know If You Think You May Have Undiagnosed ADHD as an Adult

When you picture someone with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you likely picture a young boy in constant motion, bouncing from one toy to a project to another toy and on and on. He gets in trouble at school because he can’t sit still or focus. While ADHD can look like this, it’s important to remember that it’s not just boys, nor just children.

ADHD occurs in childhood, but it isn’t always diagnosed when a person is young. Some kids are better at “masking” or hiding their symptoms, and sometimes, the issues a child is having simply aren’t recognized as ADHD. Kids don’t always grow out of ADHD, either.

According to an article in Psychiatric Research, a review of 57 primary studies found that about 3.1% of adults have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Here’s what you need to know if you’re an adult and you think you may have undiagnosed ADHD.

Defining ADHD

According to Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder “characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity.” So, along with hyperactivity, people with ADHD may struggle with inattention and impulsive behavior. CHADD also states, “The DSM-5 lists three presentations of ADHD—predominantly inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive and combined.” In the combined version of ADHD, a person displays both inattention and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms.

An ADDitude Magazine article quotes psychologist Kathleen Nadeau, “People who think ADHD means having a short attention span misunderstand what ADHD is. A better way to look at it is that people with ADHD have a dysregulated attention system.”

ADHD isn’t just inattention

Along with inattention, people with ADHD may also become hyperfocused on something.

“When an adult with ADHD is hyperfocused, they become completely engrossed in a project, and the rest of the world disappears. They often completely lose track of time, known as time blindness,” says Fraser Psychologist Nick Spangler. This can cause you to miss appointments, meetings, phone calls, get-togethers with friends, interviews and even meals.  

Some are better at masking

As previously mentioned, some people don’t get an ADHD diagnosis as a child because they’re good at masking their symptoms. Masking means you hide your symptoms and act in a more socially acceptable way. You may be struggling with inattention or racing thoughts, so to mask these things, you work much harder to focus.

“Because you’re working so hard to stay on top of everything and appear ‘normal,’ you feel exhausted and may withdraw socially or feel depressed,” says Spangler.

Some people who mask their ADHD also become perfectionists. Not only is this extremely stressful to maintain, says Spangler, but if something doesn’t go right, it can be particularly hard for you to accept. It can even lead to developing depression or anxiety.  

Adults can show hyperactivity differently

Like kids, adults with ADHD may need to stay active constantly. However, they may also fidget, bounce their leg or tap their foot as an energy release. Their hyperactivity may also be internalized, so they experience racing thoughts or feelings of inner restlessness, says Spangler. What can be read as anxiety might be symptoms of ADHD.

Other ADHD symptoms look different in adults

ADHD shows up differently in adults. You might forget things like appointments, important dates, deadlines or grocery shopping. You may also misplace things like headphones, hats, purses and car keys.

Or perhaps, you enjoy your job, but have difficulty concentrating on and completing paperwork. You might also become hyperfocused on a project at work, and then forget to reply to email, text messages or skip an important meeting.  

All these tendencies can negatively impact your work life. Your boss might say you’re always distracted, suggest that you procrastinate or that you don’t know how to prioritize your time. These traits can also impact your relationships.

Have a harder time managing emotions

Like kids, adults with ADHD often have a harder time managing their emotions.

“They might have strong, immediate emotional reactions to things, even if those emotions don't persist over time,” says Spangler.

ADDitude Magazine states, “A momentary emotion can gobble up all of the space in the brain, just like a computer bug can devour a whole hard drive. That one emotion crowds out any other information that might help modulate the feeling and regulate behavior.”

According to HelpGuide.org, this can include emotional reactions like:

• “Being easily flustered and stressed out
• Irritability or short, often explosive, temper
• Low self-esteem and sense of insecurity or underachievement
• Trouble staying motivated
• Hypersensitivity to criticism”

Can be sensitive to criticism

Adults with ADHD may also have rejection sensitivity or rejection sensitive dysphoria, meaning that they're quick to feel rejected, feel like they've done something wrong or overreact to being criticized. When you have rejection sensitive dysphoria, you also experience an intense emotional pain in response to rejection or perceived rejection.

“This can have a pretty significant impact on relationships and seems to be related to a lot of people with ADHD having been told repeatedly (and often angrily) as a child that they've done something wrong without realizing it,” says Spangler.

An article from the American Psychological Association quotes Paul Rosen, PhD, a clinical psychologist, “When kids get all that negative attention, they respond with negative emotions, and it becomes a feedback loop. These are kids who are sensitive to criticism and things going badly because they get a lot of criticism and experience a lot of things going badly.”

You don’t need all your childhood records

If you suspect you may have ADHD, you may worry that you’ll need all your childhood records to pursue a diagnosis. However, having information from your childhood, like report cards or talking to your parents, is an ideal case scenario for an adult ADHD diagnosis, says Spangler. But this isn’t required to be assessed for ADHD.

“The main thing is being able to share examples with the clinician about how you’re having a hard time focusing, or the other ways your life is being impacted,” says Spangler. You’ll also want to contact a mental health professional who has experience diagnosing adults with ADHD