It’s one of those mornings. You are searching for your keys and, again, can’t seem to find them. You look everywhere: by the door, in your laptop bag, your nightstand, under the bed, and everywhere in between. Like a bad joke in a romantic comedy, where do you find them? They are in the freezer.
Does this sound familiar? Do you regularly find yourself loosing things or having difficulty concentrating? Do you need a tracking device attached to your keys to find where you last left them? You may have Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. Loosing your keys isn’t the only symptom, however. People with ADD as adults may experience the following symptoms:
Five or more of the following symptoms present for at least 6 months, interfere with general functioning, and were present in some form before age 12 years old
- Lacks close attention to detail and/or make careless mistakes
- Trouble maintaining attention
- Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly
- Does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish work
- Trouble organizing around task completion
- Avoidance of tasks requiring long mental effort
- Looses things necessary for daily functioning or important tasks
- Easily distracted
- Forgetfulness
If this sounds like you, you may be wondering what you can do about it to help improve your quality of life. While medication is certainly an option, not everyone can tolerate ADD medications due to side effects. You may also be feeling like you don’t want to take medication for the rest of your life to manage your symptoms. Thankfully, depending on the severity of your symptoms, simple therapy may be able to teach you techniques to manage concentration and attention difficulties. Take the screen below to see if you could benefit from therapy to address problems with attention and concentration:
http://www.addadult.com/getting-help/for-you/online-screening-test/
Need help in learning to manage ADD or interested in a professional diagnosis? Schedule an appointment for therapy or email info@rachelpokorneytherapy.com.
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