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  • Understanding your ADHD: Guidance for adults  – Session 1

Session 1: Understanding your ADHD

What we’ll focus on today:

  • What ADHD is and its main characteristics (Inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity)
  • The different types of ADHD and how they present
  • How ADHD affects the brain and executive functioning
  • The impact of ADHD on daily activities, relationships, and emotional health
  • How ADHD symptoms can change from childhood to adulthood
  • Practical reflection: Recognising ADHD traits in your own life
  • Strengths and the positive aspects of ADHD

Definition of ADHD

ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) is a neurodevelopmental condition. It typically shows up in three main areas:

Inattention:

Finding it hard to stay focused, easily distracted

Hyperactivity:

Feeling restless or needing to move

Impulsivity:

Acting on urges without thinking them through

ADHD affects both children and adults. It can impact school, work, relationships, and daily life. Importantly, ADHD isn’t about laziness or lack of motivation – it’s a real, brain-based difference that can feel overwhelming. But with understanding, support and the right strategies, ADHD can be managed and even become a source of strength.

Core symptoms

Here’s a quick look at the main symptoms:

Reflection: What symptoms do you experience? You may find it useful to complete a symptoms tracker for you to become more aware of which ones you notice.

  • Trouble focusing, especially on boring tasks
  • Getting distracted easily
  • Forgetting daily things (keys, tasks, appointments)
  • Struggling to stay organised
  • Feeling restless or fidgety
  • Acting on impulses, interrupting others
  • Making quick decisions without thinking
  • Finding it hard to wait for your turn

Types of ADHD

Research by Barkley (2015) indicates that inattention in ADHD isn’t simply a difficulty in focusing. It also involves challenges with working memory and self-regulation of attention.

There are three primary subtypes related to ADHD:

  • Predominantly inattentive type: Mostly trouble focusing, forgetfulness
  • Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type: Mostly physical restlessness and impulsivity
  • Combined type: A mix of both inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms

How ADHD affects daily life

Now that we know the common signs, symptoms and subtypes of ADHD, let’s explore how these might show up day-to-day:

Academic and work performance: Struggling to finish tasks, meet deadlines, or concentrate in classes or meetings.

Socialising and relationships: Finding it hard to follow conversations, pick up on social cues, or manage impulsive comments and behaviours.

Emotional regulation: Experiencing intense mood swings, low frustration tolerance, and trouble coping with stress.

Self-esteem: Ongoing challenges can lead to feelings of self-doubt or thinking you’re not ‘good enough’.

Time management: Difficulty estimating how long tasks will take and managing your time effectively

Planning and prioritising: Struggling to organise complex tasks and set clear priorities.

Emotional responses: Difficulties managing emotional reactions and navigating strong feelings.

Reflection: Do any of these feel familiar to you? Can you think of examples in your own life where these challenges have shown up?

ADHD presentations

While commonly diagnosed in childhood, ADHD symptoms often persist into adulthood, although they may present differently at different stages:

  • Childhood: More obvious hyperactivity and impulsivity.
  • Teenage years: Hyperactivity typically reduces, but issues with inattention and impulsivity remain.
  • Adulthood: Hyperactivity may present as internal restlessness, while inattention and impulsivity continue affecting everyday life.

Predominantly inattentive presentation:

This subtype of ADHD often includes the following symptoms:

  • Difficulty sustaining attention, especially on tasks perceived as boring or challenging.
  • Easily distracted by external or internal stimuli.
  • Poor organisational skills; difficulty tracking tasks, belongings, or managing time.
  • Forgetting important deadlines, appointments or daily responsibilities.
  • Avoidance and procrastination of tasks requiring sustained mental effort.

Hyperactive-impulsive presentation:

This subtype often includes the following symptoms:

  • Excessive physical movement (fidgeting, squirming).
  • Persistent restlessness or feeling ‘driven by a motor’.
  • Struggling with quiet activities.
  • Making impulsive decisions without considering the consequences.
  • Frequent interruption of others.

Prevalence of ADHD…you’re not alone

We have so far covered common symptoms, the impact of ADHD and subtypes. However, how common is ADHD?

Research has shown:

  • Approximately 5% of children and 2.5% of adults have ADHD globally.
  • Meta-analysis (Polanczyk et al., 2015) found worldwide ADHD prevalence of 7.2% among children and teenagers.
  • Adult ADHD prevalence is around 2.8% globally (Song et al., 2020).
  • Around 60-70% of children diagnosed with ADHD continue to meet criteria into adulthood.

Common myths about ADHD (and the facts)

When we don’t fully understand something, we may believe something to be true when it isn’t. Some common myths about ADHD include:

  • ADHD isn’t real, it’s just an excuse
  • People with ADHD are just lazy or lack discipline
  • Only children have ADHD
  • People with ADHD can’t pay attention

The actual facts about ADHD:

  • ADHD is a recognised neurodevelopmental disorder with clear biological differences in the brain.
  • ADHD affects executive functioning, making tasks related to planning and organisation genuinely difficult.
  • ADHD often continues into adulthood. Many adults are diagnosed later in life after years of struggling without understanding why.
  • People with ADHD can often hyper-focus intensely on tasks that interest them.

Reflection: Are there any here that you have heard or thought about before?

Neurobiology of ADHD

ADHD involves differences in brain structure and function. Key areas affected include:

Frontal lobes: Important for executive functions such as planning, organisation, decision-making, and impulse control. Reduced activity or structural differences here can lead to difficulties with executive functioning, attention regulation, and impulse control.

Prefrontal cortex: Responsible for managing attention, working memory, and emotional regulation. Individuals with ADHD typically show reduced activation in this region, contributing to issues with sustained attention and emotion management.

Basal ganglia and reward pathways: These regions are involved in motivation, reward processing, and movement regulation. Altered dopamine functioning here can cause restlessness, impulsivity, and challenges in motivation.

Neurotransmitters: ADHD is associated with dysregulation of neurotransmitters, especially dopamine and noradrenaline (norepinephrine), which play critical roles in attention, impulse control, and executive functioning.

Finding the strengths and positive aspects of ADHD

It can sometimes be hard to view your ADHD as having positives, but people with ADHD often have unique strengths, including:

  • Creativity: Original ideas, artistic talent, and innovative thinking.
  • Hyper-focus: Ability to deeply concentrate on tasks of personal interest.
  • High energy levels: Enthusiasm and drive that can fuel productivity and activity.
  • Problem-solving skills: Strong ability to think outside the box and find unconventional solutions.
  • Adaptability: Flexible mindset, comfortable with change and new challenges.

How can we manage these strengths?

Your ADHD strengths can be powerful, but when used too intensely, too often, or in the wrong situations, they may become challenging.

Every strength can become a challenge if it’s overused. Here’s how to balance them:

Creativity – Too many ideas, getting scattered – Keep an ‘ideas journal’ to review later

Hyper-focus – Losing track of time – Use reminders/timers to re-focus

High energy – Overcommitting, burnout – Schedule regular downtime

Problem solving – Overcomplicating things – Pause and ask: “What’s the simplest way?”

Adaptability – Trouble sticking to routines – Flexible routines and clear goals

Self-awareness and compassion

It’s important to remember that ADHD is a neurological difference, not a personal failing. Ensuring you have self-awareness and compassion can be an important part of understanding your ADHD.

Self-awareness:

  • Recognise your ADHD patterns and how they influence your thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
  • Understand your triggers and strengths, empowering you to manage daily challenges effectively.

Self-compassion:

  • Be kind to yourself, acknowledge that living with ADHD can be genuinely difficult.
  • Avoid harsh self-criticism when things don’t go as planned; instead, focus on learning and adjusting.

Acceptance:

  • Embrace ADHD as part of who you are; this helps build self-esteem and resilience.
  • Acceptance doesn’t mean giving up; it means understanding yourself and working positively with your strengths and limitations.

Key takeaways from Session 1

ADHD is a neurological difference affecting attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.

ADHD brings distinct strengths, and embracing and managing them is vital.

Self-awareness and self-compassion are essential for effective ADHD management.

Next session

Create a mind map to help you explain how ADHD affects you to others.

Please note: We are not an emergency service, if you are in crisis and need urgent support or are worried about immediate risk of harm to self or others, please call 999. Alternatively, you can contact your GP and ask for an emergency appointment or visit your local A&E department. You can also contact the following services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: NHS Helpline (111) and Samaritans (116 123).