Posted on November 21, 2011 by Dan Weigold

You may have seen this person before; a person who forgets appointments, a person who has trouble with tasks that require attention to detail, or the person who has to read the same thing over and over again before it makes sense.This person may be very intelligent but just doesn’t seem to have their life together like other people do. As they were growing up others noticed that this person wasn’t exactly like everyone else.

“I know what to do, I just can’t seem to get things done”, and those words are a clue to a brain disorder known as ADHD (Attention Deficit / Hyperactive Disorder). There are many clues that people with ADHD have and when those clues have been part of a lifetime pattern life may not be  what it should be and it may be time to visit a professional to find out for sure. Let’s look at three faces of ADHD, loss of focus, managing details and loss of self-esteem.

Loss of Focus

One face of ADHD that is prevalent is loss of focus. Listening to someone talk on and on are often times that the ADHD person takes a vacation, loses focus and is thinking about something that isn’t even related to the topic being talked about. In just a few seconds the person with ADHD can think about any number of things, it is a mental vacation, it is a place of dreams and opportunities, or it could be a place that they would like to run away from. Who do you know that seems to fade away quickly in a conversation or during a long talk?

Lost in the details

Many people with ADHD have trouble managing details, reviewing long documents, following up on matters or ensuring all the numbers are correct. People with ADHD see the words, see the numbers and the words and numbers just don’t seem to be something that can be focused on and so they look at it again and miss errors or details that others find quickly. “Oh, I didn’t see that when I looked at it”, they may say.   “Oops, I missed that in my review”, they tell their manager, once again looking somewhat foolish. What are evident to most people are lost for some people with ADHD.

Not good enough

A third face is the psychological impact of ADHD in the life of the person who is living with the disorder. Often the messages they hear or experience about themselves are related to these micro-failures that happen over time. They hear how they aren’t measuring up or their manager has had to have a talk with them about their performance. Perhaps it was the fact that other children bullied or taunted them when they were young. Or maybe it was the teacher that said, “You won’t be able to do … “. Whatever it was, for many people with ADHD, there was a time that they were singled out, that they were pushed aside and those feelings of rejection follow them throughout their life. Some of the stories are shared in AttitudeMag.com and for many people it is a place where they can share the trials of life for maybe the first time.

Finding  hope

There are many faces of ADHD, and the impacts to daily living can range from mild to severe. Some people take medications to manage the ADHD symptoms and many others don’t even realize that they are living with ADHD until their son or daughter is diagnosed. If you have a lifelong history of losing focus, daydreaming, not being able to focus on details, or felt that you were pushed aside or had learning disabilities you might want to see a professional. If you have ADHD and are still struggling then an ADHD coach may help you learn ways to be more successful.

“Time engraves our faces with all the tears we have not shed.”
Natalie Clifford Barney