Differences in ADHD in children and adults

(Madrid. Lucila Rodríguez)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that mainly affects children and, if not properly detected, can impair the quality of life of those affected during adolescence and adulthood.

For this reason, Dr. Irene Pascual Zapatero, a neuropsychologist at the Child Neurology Unit of the Neurology Department of the Ruber Internacional Hospital in Madrid, stressed the importance of knowing the symptoms of ADHD in both children and adults.

ADHD can cause attentional deficits and executive deficits, which can vary depending on the stage of the disease. Specifically, in the case of children, the signs that show an attentional problem are absent-mindedness or disconnections in a conversation, tiredness when performing a long task, loss of objects or hyperfocus on an activity that is of interest to the child.

Likewise, executive deficits in children can cause difficulties in planning (they do not know test dates or find it difficult to perform a long task or divide it into several steps); problems in controlling themselves (they may interrupt a conversation, answer before a question is asked or perform an exercise without having read the statement); and emotional dysregulation (tantrums) or motor dysregulation (excessive motor activity).

In adolescents and adults these symptoms may be more subtle than in children, although the most characteristic symptoms at the attentional level are chronic fatigue, difficulties to finish reading a book or to follow a conversation. At the same time, these people may need to write down things in their hands so as not to forget to do something, they schedule many activities in the same day that they cannot do, they are often late to places and feel the need to perform different tasks, get up or move their legs.