Lesser recognised ADHD issues

Do you deal with any of these?

Hello, friend! Nice to see you.

If you’re taking the time to read this you likely already know a fair bit about ADHD.

Maybe you’re diagnosed, or, awaiting a diagnosis.

Perhaps a friend or relative has ADHD.

Maybe you’re just here to learn. That’s cool too.

When ADHD is mentioned people usually imagine a hyperactive child (probably a boy) who’s naughty in school and doesn’t listen to his parents.

But what if I told you the ‘hyperactive child’ stereotype is incredibly inaccurate?

Keep reading to learn about some of the lesser known issues those with ADHD are facing.

Introduction

First & foremost; it’s important to understand that ADHD affects everyone differently. We have unique combinations of symptoms, with differing severity. We’ve had different lives, different childhood experiences, different levels of education and support (or lack of).

Have a look at the current official ADHD diagnostic criteria as per the DSM5:

There’s plenty to be improved in these criteria but we’ll discuss this another time.

For now we’ll say this:

The criteria should not be centred around the symptom’s impact on other people. It should be focused on the immediate impact upon the individual first, and wider impacts later.

The individual. The person’s life riddled with guilt and shame amidst desperate attempts to “just be normal” yet, always coming up short.

Have some water, do a quick stretch, and we’ll continue!

Onto the lesser recognised issues…

While the symptoms shown above absolutely do impact our daily function, in various ways, the issues discussed below have a drastic impact upon our daily life as well.

Sleep regulation issues

An estimated 25-55% of individuals with ADHD report persistent sleep disturbances doi: 10.1007/s00431-013-1969-8

This can look like:

• Struggling to go to sleep.

• Struggling to stay asleep.

• Regular waking/less deep sleep.

• Waking up too early.

• Never really waking up even if you do sleep.

• Wide awake at night/zombie all day.

Regardless of neurotype; humans really need sleep.

Lack of sleep in the short term can cause:

Headaches, abdominal pain, muscular aches, joint stiffness.

Emotional dysregulation.

Decreased productivity.

Increased cardiovascular stress.

Memory formation deficits.

Lowered attention span.

Just to name a few…

See a trend in there somewhere?

Yeah. Many symptoms associated with ADHD become much worse when we aren’t getting adequate sleep. Go figure.

The longer we go without sleep the worse our health becomes; both mentally & physically. With increasingly greater impacts upon our daily function.

Let’s dive into the next lesser recognised issue.

Financial problems

Although there is limited objective evidence upon this subject, it is commonly reported by those living with ADHD.

Bangma (2019) studied the financial decision making abilities of adults with ADHD. The researchers found “adults with ADHD reported to have a significantly poorer financial situation than healthy* controls, including having less income, more often debts and less often a savings account. Furthermore, adults with ADHD showed significantly lower scores than healthy** controls in standardized tests measuring financial competence and capacity (i.e., understanding bank statements/protocols and evaluating financial problems) as well as in a test measuring decision making with implications for the future. Furthermore, compared with healthy*** controls, adults with ADHD reported more often to buy on impulse and to use an avoidant or spontaneous decision-making style.”

* not our description. Just FYI.

** also not us.

*** three for good measure - not us.

Those with ADHD face many challenges in managing their finances. Some may struggle with dyscalculia (a learning disorder affecting a person’s ability to understand numbers-based information). Couple this with potential time blindness, less efficient working memory, poor planning skills…

It’s easy to see how this can impact upon a person’s financial situation. And, by default, their levels of stress & anxiety.

Still with us?

You’re crushing it.

Go get a treat before the final one.

Ready? Onward.

Sensory processing issues

See B, C & H from the list of inattentive symptoms.

Then check A, B, C & E from hyperactive/impulsive.

I realised after typing that, that it may not be the best exercise to get a bunch of ADHDers to try out in the middle of a post.

But I’m feeling lucky. If you’re this far into the post I think you can manage it. Good luck.

Anyway, back to the sensory process issues and DSM symptoms.

We can see a connection between the inattentive and the hyperactive/impulsive symptoms in the context of sensory processing issues.

The ADHD nervous system’s sensory processing network is described as “bottom up”. Essentially, this means we take in all the stimuli/input first and all at once. Then we try to decide where to direct our attention.

Real life example:

Your friend is telling you a story from the weekend. There’s a fly in the room though. Bzzz. They went to a gig. Mumford & Sons, you think? Bzzz. You haven’t been to a gig for a while. Probably not since before the pandemic. Where did you go? Bzzz. Should I open the window? Is the fly annoying anyone else? Nah, leave it, pay attention. *Focus* When did they start talking about the world cup? I haven’t even watched any yet. Bzzz. F*** sake that fly’s getting too annoying now. Wait who got a red card? Is that a penalty or kicked out of the game? Bzzz. I got kicked out of PE when we played rugby once. Shaun tripped me over so I ripped his jersey. Those jerseys were awful, the most scratchy material. Kinda like the label in this t-shirt. Why do they make them out of sandpaper? Bzzz. It feels like its scratching inside me! Bzzz.

We’re trying out best to follow a conversation. But our mind is repeatedly tugged away by irrelevant noises or lights. It’s impossible to pull our mind away from a consistent stimulus like a scratchy label.

This can make it seem like we’re not paying attention, and that can seem quite rude. We know that. We hate that.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sensory processing issues for ADHDers. Largely thought to be relating to ASD, we’re still learning about sensory processing in the ADHD nervous system.

Phew. All done. Did you enjoy the read? I had fun writing it.

Thanks so much for joining us today!

Take it easy, team.

Chris & Sarah

Hey!DHD