Anyone here have any insight into adult ADHD?

[hamsterjill]

We currently have a family member (by marriage) who has struggled with ADHD most of his life, but has recently been having (for lack of a better word) mental health breaks where he is completely out of character. He was aggressive to another family member at one point and that is highly unusual.

He has recently had some life altering stressful events and he we believe he may have had a medication interaction. We are not sure.

He has been seeing a therapist for about six months but the therapist is not helping.

Anyone with any insight? We believe he needs first a good medical doctor who can figure out the root causes, and then a good therapist. But we don’t have any experience with anything like this in our family. How do we go about finding the best care for him?

[I_UndergroundPanther]

1. Sometimes

How aggressive was his out burst?

I find if I am engrossed in something (hyperfocusing) someone interrupting me can startle the hell out of me. And I yell. Dont mean it as an attack. Biut it can sound like one. Because of being shaken out of the intensity of the focus.

When hyperfocusing I sometimes don't realize its time to do stuff like eating,going to the bathroom etc.
I notice when I am on the verge of passing out or I barely make it to the bathroom in time. I have alarms. They help.

Adhd makes it so you have no sense of time 10 minutes an hour all the same to me.

Fidget toys help. Without Adderall life would be unmanageable for me. It saves my ass. Also I get irritated by noises lights. But I need background noise to manage my attention when I do normal things.


Here is a graphic I find really helpful in explaining some of symptoms and effects on people with adhd.

Pm me if you want to talk ok.

[hamsterjill]

4. Thank you so much, Panther.

Yes, I will PM you a little later this evening.

[Wingus Dingus]

2. I have experience with it, in my family and probably myself too.

Usually adults have developed coping methods to reduce the impact of ADHD. That's why it's still seen as a kid's condition. Sudden personality changes, behaviors that are out of character--that calls for something like a medical workup, med adjustment, and even possibly brain scan IMO. I hope you get answers and he gets better soon.

[hamsterjill]

3. That's what we are thinking.

He had been keeping it under control but over the last six to eight months, it has gotten out of control.

Everyone has been stressed from the pandemic and at first, the changes were subtle enough that we chalked it up to stress. But the changes have become more and more pronounced and the last outburst was aggressive. This man realizes that he needs help and is schedule to go to a therapy center as an outpatient beginning tomorrow. But the reviews on that center are horrible. He has private insurance and I want him to get real help and not just go to some center that isn’t going to be of any real benefit. Thank you very much for your reply.

[multigraincracker]

5. Find a good psychiatrist.

They are medical doctors.
I was diagnosed with HDD late in life. I was lucky to find a great doctor while I was in the hospital.
The diagram above is excellent, just remember a few things. It is a spectrum diagnoses and no two individuals are the same. I might have suffered from about half of those listed above. Also there can, and most likely other diagnoses co-mingled. For me it is Dysgraphia, which is a problem writing, spelling and speech.

Might also check out some of the books written by Thom Hartman. His books helped me. Plus he is a member here.

Best of luck.

[hamsterjill]

6. Thank you!

Appreciate your response.

[GPV]

7. I have a dx of bipolar and a suspicion of comorbid ADHD. They can look alike at times.

[hamsterjill]

8. Thank you.

Can you tell me how you are being treated? If you are willing to share.