ADHD in adults: Talking a lot and interrupting others can be a symptom

Created: 06/01/2022Updated: 06/01/2022 08:09

By: Natalie Hull Drawbar

Many of those affected do not know that they live with this neurobiological disease - in many cases the symptoms are non-specific.

Berlin – When you think of ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, you first think of a disease that only affects children and adolescents.

Ultimately, around five percent of all adults in Germany are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The number of unreported cases is probably much higher.

ADHD in adults: In many cases diagnosed late or not at all

ADHD is therefore not a "childhood disease" - but a neurological disease of the human brain, which begins in childhood but can persist with its complex symptoms into old age.

What is bitter for those affected: in many cases, ADHD is diagnosed late or not at all.

Children often show the symptoms typical of ADHD, such as inner restlessness and the urge to move - in every fifth family there is a "fidgety fidget".

How severe and in what form the symptoms are pronounced in those affected varies from child to child or from adult to adult.

Some adults who have not known they have ADHD since childhood go about their daily lives without much limitation or difficulty.

Others, on the other hand, find it very difficult to cope due to the sometimes unspecific symptoms in various areas of everyday life and professional life.

The signs of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults are diverse and sometimes difficult to classify for laypersons and even doctors.

A typical symptom that those affected can show: so-called “time blindness”, which means that they live “time-blindly”, so to speak.

ADHD in adults: Unspecific symptoms such as talking a lot, unreliability, depression

“In adults, ADHD symptoms are much more diverse and the clinical picture is therefore more difficult to recognize.

The typical symptoms of attention deficit disorder, impulsiveness and hyperactivity are also present in adulthood, but are different.

In addition, some of those affected have developed secondary diseases - such as drug or alcohol addiction - which can mask the initial disease," the information portal "Neurologists and Psychiatrists on the Net" quotes Prof. Dr.

Alexandra Philipsen from the German Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Neurology (DGPPN) in Berlin. 

One of the non-specific symptoms in adults with ADHD can be talking a lot and interrupting the flow of others.

© Sergey Nivens/Imago

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The impulsiveness characteristic of childhood ADHD is more likely to manifest itself in adults as impatience, thoughtless comments, or spontaneous actions.

Hyperactivity manifests itself in adulthood in the form of nervousness, tension and a pronounced inner restlessness.

For those affected, it usually feels as if there is always "turbo in the head".

Other symptoms that people with ADHD may show up in adulthood include:

• Inability to focus and structure

• Inability to set priorities

• Feel attacked easily

• Barrage of words, interrupting others

• Get bored easily

• Severe mood swings and depressive moods

• Unbalanced diet and irregular food intake

• Inconsiderate purchases

• unpunctuality and carelessness

• lose or forget things

• unreliability

This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication.

In no way does it replace a visit to the doctor.

Unfortunately, our editors are not allowed to answer individual questions about clinical pictures.