What Is ADHD? Starting ADHD Awareness Month With the Basics
October is ADHD Awareness Month. This year’s theme, chosen by the coalition of CHADD, ADDA, and the ADHD Coaches Organization, is “A Community of Support.” It’s a good fit for how we think about ADHD here at Austin Biofeedback & Neurofeedback Center. Rarely does someone with ADHD get through it on their own, and the people around them can only help if they understand what they’re seeing. So for the next four weeks we’re writing about ADHD, starting with a discussion of what it actually is.
ADHD is common. About 12 percent of U.S. children between 3 and 17 have been diagnosed at some point, according to the CDC. Adults have it too. In a 2023 CDC survey, roughly 15.5 million American adults reported a current diagnosis, and more than half of them didn’t get that diagnosis until adulthood.
What is ADHD?
ADHD stands for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. It’s a neurodevelopmental condition, which means it has to do with how the brain develops and organizes itself from early childhood on. The name points to attention and hyperactivity. Ask people who live with it, though, and many will tell you the hardest part is executive function, the set of mental skills you use to plan, get started, keep track of time, and hold information in mind while you work.
Most people with ADHD know exactly what they need to do for the task at hand. The taking action with the right timing is where things fall apart. A child spends two hours on homework that should take thirty minutes. An adult who is sharp and well regarded at work has a stack of unopened mail at home and a half-finished project in the garage. To a parent or a boss it can look like they don’t care, when often they’re working harder than anyone else in the room and still falling behind.
Emotional dysregulation can be a part of the ADHD "big picture". Frustration and excitement can arrive fast and strong, and it may take a while to settle afterward. That part of ADHD isn't reflected in the name, but parents and partners usually notice it before anything else.
The three presentations of ADHD
Clinicians describe three ways ADHD can show up, called presentations.
The inattentive presentation is the quiet one. People with this type lose track of details, drift during conversations or reading, misplace things, and leave tasks half done. Because they rarely disrupt a classroom, they’re easy to overlook, and girls and women often land in this group and get diagnosed later. Some people who daydream a great deal may also have a related pattern researchers now call cognitive disengagement syndrome, which often shows up alongside ADHD. If that sounds familiar, bring it up by name during an evaluation.
The hyperactive-impulsive presentation is what most people picture when they hear “ADHD”: the child who can’t stay in a seat and blurts out an answer before the question is finished. In adults it usually looks quieter. The restlessness moves inward and turns into fidgeting, or a mind that won’t switch off at night.
The combined presentation has strong features of both and is the most commonly diagnosed. Presentations can also change with age, especially during the teen years.
Myths about ADHD worth retiring
A few ideas about ADHD keep circulating, and they make it harder for people to get help. The first is the myth that “everyone is a little ADHD.” In fact, everyone loses their keys or zones out in a long meeting now and then. With ADHD, those things happen often enough, and in enough places, that they get in the way of daily life.
Another common myth is that kids grow out of it. Some do see their symptoms ease with age. Many don’t, and the adult survey numbers show how many people carry ADHD for decades before anyone puts a name to it. Many adults that we see at Austin Biofeedback & Neurofeedback Center who have a recent diagnosis of ADHD report that they were hyperactive and impulsive as kids with academic problems, but as adults they are more ruminative and still can't initiate action or keep up with task-oriented activities for very long. The presentation for many adults has shifted as they age, but the difficulties with focus persist.
Bad parenting and sugar still get blamed for ADHD. Research points instead to strong genetic and developmental factors. Parenting can make day-to-day life easier or harder, but it doesn’t cause ADHD, and the shame or blame keeps many families from asking for help.
Then there’s the parent who says, “He can play video games for hours, so how can it be ADHD?” It’s a fair question. People with ADHD can often lock onto things that grab their interest and stay there for a long time. What they struggle with is pointing their attention at things that matter but don’t grab them, like a page of math problems or an expense report. Many parents also report that their kids have a hard time "shifting gears" when it is time to put the video games up and come to dinner, or start homework, which often leads to the extreme emotional dysregulatory states mentioned above (a.k.a. tantrums).
What support looks like
If you suspect ADHD in yourself or your child, support starts with a good evaluation by a qualified professional. From there, most people do best with more than one kind of help. That might mean more structure in place at home and school, coaching, counseling, medication prescribed by a physician, or training that builds self-regulation.
At Austin Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Center, our licensed therapists begin with QEEG brain mapping and a computer-based attention test, so we have a clear view of how attention is working before training starts. Neurofeedback training teaches the brain to have greater flexibility. For most people, that means shifting into focus more easily when a task needs it and also the ability to shift away from focus afterward (for example, when it is time to finish homework and start the bedtime routine). Neurofeedback fits in with whatever other support a person already has, and progress looks different from one person to the next. You can read more on our ADHD page (click here to learn more).
For the rest of the month, our blog looks at ADHD from a few other angles. Next week covers home and school, and week three is for adults who found out about their ADHD later in life. We’ll close out October with information about sleep and self-regulation.
Have a question about ADHD, or wondering whether an attention test or brain map makes sense for your family? Call us at 512-794-9355 to schedule a consultation.
