Listen up, hyperactive adults! You may have attention deficit disorder. If you recognise any of the attention deficit disorder symptoms in the following article, then make an appointment with your doctor. Your practitioner is armed with new information and research to diagnose a variety of disorders on which the medical practice is still deliberating. And while ADHD used to be known as a child's disorder, now adults are coming forward for treatment too.

ADHD - not just child's play

Up until the mid 1980's, it was widely believed by physicians and psychologists that ADHD and the numerous was outgrown by the time a child hit adolescence. Though many clinicians still hold on to this belief, it is now accepted by many in the medical community that childhood ADHD does indeed continue into adulthood. As a matter of fact, the DSM-IV, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, describes the attention deficient disorder as one that can affect anybody.

Is the following scenario familiar to you?

Hyper Henry Hawkins in 4th grade, who was unable to sit still in Mrs. Jones? homeroom, became Mr. Hawkins, who at age 35, is unable to sit through business meetings. His legs kick under the table while his eyes dart around at the different posters on the wall. The doodles on his notepaper keep his fingers busy. And he doesn't hear a word the presenter is saying. Yes, ADHD is alive and well, living in adult bodies.

It is estimated that between 5-7%- or more- of all children suffer from . But what happens when these children grow up? Some are lucky enough to have learned to compensate for their poor attention span, impulsivity and distractibility by finding a good career match. And yet others are still struggling, trying to figure out why they cannot seem to work up to their potential. Worse, many adults with undiagnosed ADHD find themselves living a life of shame, poor self esteem, and worse.

Common ADHD symptoms

All adults have some symptoms of due to the stresses and strains of real life. Some of these are: distractibility, impulsivity, inattention, difficulty staying on task, having many projects going on at one time and rarely completing any of them, irritability, difficulty falling asleep and difficulty waking up ?but when an adult has a significant amount of symptoms that impair his daily living, then he may indeed have attention deficit disorder. Attention deficient hyperactive disorder can mimic other disorders, like depression, anxiety, and some medical problems like hypothyroidism. And ADHD can co-exist with other disorders. If after your reading you still wonder if you may, indeed, have ADHD, then you may want to consider going for an evaluation.

Many ways to treat your ADHD symptoms

First, check with your medical doctor to make sure you aren't having ADHD symptoms due to a medical problem. Talk to him/her about the possibility of ADHD. Chances are, he may not know enough about it to offer a diagnosis. Therefore, consider going to a mental health clinician who has done extensive work with adult attention deficient hyperactive disorder. The treatments include dietary changes, lifestyle changes and a combination of prescription drugs. Try the milder options first for a more complete turnaround in your busy daily life. New disorders are being tested on for better and better treatments all the time, and ADHD is no exception!