Diagnosis and Treatment of Adults With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

✍ Scribed by Belinda Jackson; David Farrugia

• Publisher: American Counseling Association
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 406 KB
• Volume: 75
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1556-6678
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.1997.tb02346.x

✦ Synopsis

It is estimated that between 30% and 50% of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) will continue to exhibit symptomatology that is disruptive throughout their adult lives. Identification and diagnosis of adult ADHD, as well as primary and secondary characteristics and comorbid disorders, are discussed in this article. Counseling strategies are suggested to help clinicians treat adults with ADHD, such as educating the client about the disorder and providing training in attention management techniques, self-management skills, interpersonal and social skills, stress and time management, anger management, and problem-solving skills. Clinicians are encouraged to prepare themselves for understanding, identifying, diagnosing, and treating the adult population with ADHD.

A ttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a neurobiologically based disorder, is characterized by a symptomatic triad of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Until recently, professionals viewed ADHD as a childhood disturbance in which symptoms of distractibility, decreased impulse control, insecurity, and restlessness were believed to dissipate during adolescence and seemed no longer evident in adulthood (Wender, 1987). Because many signs of the disorder were believed to cease with maturation and development, ADHD had been viewed as a diagnosis that was not applicable to adults (Nadeau, 1995). Recent longitudinal studies, however, have provided ample evidence that ADHD may be a chronically disabling condition, and researchers have unanimously reported findings of continued and augmented impairment as children diagnosed with ADHD age into adulthood (Barkley, Fischer, Edelbrock,