ADHD is for life, not just for Christmas!

So we have all heard the phrase that a dog is not just for Christmas, it is for life as people were not caring for their dogs such as mistreating them, ignoring them, abusing them or just giving them away.   

ADHD is a medical label that you may well have heard of as it is a disorder that is on the increase since the Covid Pandemic. The term ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactive disorder. However, the definition is misleading. If you are diagnosed with ADHD or know someone who has been, it is not like other conditions that you may recover from, it is for life.  

What is ADHD?

ADHD is a brain disorder that does not go away and presents daily struggles with life demands at work, home and social situations.  It is not just a disorder for Children (whereby according to ADDitude magazine, 6.1 million in the US have been diagnosed), many adults have been diagnosed with it too. Infact, 2.8% of the world population according to a research study done in 2016.   

It is important to state that it is not a life sentence or a terminal illness, it is about the fact that if it goes untreated, you could lose 10 years off your life through the stresses and anxieties that it causes according to the lead researcher in the field Russell Barkley 2019.   

Therefore, it is about how you adapt to your life going forward knowing that you suffer from the symptoms of it and how to develop coping mechanisms to reduce those symptoms.  Coaching can help considerably in developing a holistic plan to reduce the symptoms and harness the superpowers that come with it. Yes superpowers, there are many gifts to having an ADHD brain and people like Bill Gates and Stephen Spielberg have harnessed those gifts to create wonderful creations for humanity.  You can too with the right direction and a holistic approach to managing it.  

How do I know if I have ADHD?

If you are thinking that you are not sure if you have ADHD, here are the well-known symptoms which are hyperactivity, difficulty in paying attention and impulsive thoughts in a busy mind that can’t sit still.  

However, the less known ones that lurk behind them which are difficult in dealing with rejection, please to please syndrome, learned helplessness, imposter syndrome, self-sabotaging, overwhelm, burnout, not being able to manage time and relationship difficulties. 

It has been described as like a busy train station within the mind meaning that some people not so restless physically but they are in the mind with thoughts running constantly throughout the day and not being able to decipher which ones are important.   

Another analogy is like having many tabs open at once on your computer which diminishes your IQ.  It basically affects the executive functions of the brain which provides difficultly in planning, time management, organisation and being able to relax. Performance is affected if not treated so a holistic approach is required whereby the individual is assessed on how well they are sleeping, eating, exercising and calming the mind down.  Therefore, if you want to achieve results, then coaching on these areas is essential along with mindfulness training.   

How can coaching help with ADHD?

What you can expect from coaching is a journey into the past where these behaviours and limiting beliefs were formed as well as reviewing how they are appearing in the present. Once the awareness is there, it is about developing a plan to focus on changing those beliefs in order to live comfortably with ADHD and thrive in everyday life. Mindfulness training can help with overpowering emotions and relationship issues that people face through the ADHD effect on relationships.

Each one of us has a precious human life, so why waste it.  Please don’t ignore or deny your diagnosis, give yourself the opportunity to succeed and get help through coaching to live a life you love in 2022.  Why not to care for you this Christmas?

Reference for ADHD Statistic

Fayyad, J., Sampson, N.A., Hwang, I. et al. The descriptive epidemiology of DSM-IV Adult ADHD in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. ADHD Atten Def Hyp Disord 9, 47–65 (2017). 

Barkley, Russell October 2019, The Adverse Health  Outcomes, Economic Burden,  and Public Health Implications of Unmanaged Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A Call to Action to Improve the Quality of Life and Life Expectancy of People with ADHD.