Young adults with ADHD anxiety and learning disabilities often experience varying degrees of impairment, so it can sometimes be difficult to diagnose. For girls, ADHD usually translates to internalized anxiety, depression and social withdrawal. For boys, ADHD is displayed more outwardly, through aggression, obstinacy or disruptive behavior. Perhaps this is why it appears that boys are three times more likely to be diagnosed as special needs adults, as it’s more difficult to hide.
A 2005 study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders found that young adults with ADHD had a more difficult time adjusting to college academically, socially and emotionally, when compared to their non-ADHD peers. Researchers found that nearly all the students with ADHD anxiety had never been previously diagnosed or received any prior treatment. They also concluded that universities need better support services like specialized counseling programs and labs for reading difficulties to help these students. Despite the difficulties students faced, researchers added that the potential to succeed was there.
Ricki Linksman, Director of the National Reading Diagnostics Institute in Illinois, says that young adults diagnosed with ADHD anxiety are not completely incurable. She explains, “Once they are given the opportunity to learn through the proper methods, their ADHD-like behavior often disappears.” Most people with ADHD have a kinesthetic learning style. This means that they absorb information through more direct, active methods. It may seem agonizing to take notes or sit through a long lecture, but they grasp new information quickly and easily through field trips, skits, experiments, songs, model building and group work.
Young adults with ADHD can be successful at just about any type of career if it meets their interests. It’s just important that they avoid some ADHD anxiety “workplace traps.” For instance, working adults with ADHD often get easily distracted. Therefore, it’s wise that they seek jobs with flex-time, desks facing away from traffic or a varied work day. To minimize internal distractions, they can keep lists, check off tasks and work on one particular task for brief periods of time before switching to other tasks. They may also experience hyperactivity, so they should actively take notes at meetings, plan productive days, exercise during their lunch breaks and find a job where they can spend a lot of time moving about. Lastly, to overcome a poor memory, ADHD adults should subscribe to the mantra “do it now or write it down,” set cell phone reminders, keep a calendar and live with a detailed agenda nearby at all times.
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