Not Everything's ADHD: 5 Hidden Causes of Adult Attention Problems

Not all problems with attention are ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). The reason it is important is because you don’t want to take stimulants if problems with attention and focus if these problems are not the result of ADHD.

Here are other problems that can cause you to have trouble focusing and concentrating.
Anxiety
Depression
Insomnia
Bipolar disorder
Stress and having too much to do

ADHD starts in childhood but can continue into adulthood. Some people may have ADHD as a child, but never take medication until they get older such as young adulthood. But with this person, they still would have had problems in childhood. It’s probably not ADHD if everything went smoothly from childhood until age 30 or 40 when your life is now more stressful. If you take stimulants to perform better, you can push your mind to do more than it can naturally do. This can result in burnout that looks like unmanageable anxiety or depression.

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Disclaimer: All of the information on this channel is for educational purposes and not intended to be specific/personal medical advice from me to you. Watching the videos or getting answers to comments/question, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. If you have your own doctor, perhaps these videos can help prepare you for your discussion with your doctor.

[DrTraceyMarks]

LISTEN WITHOUT THE MUSIC
There are now two audio tracks. Go to the settings wheel on the right-hand side of the video player and choose the English (Descriptive) track.

[ems]

It doesn't show up later in life but many people who have ADHD but were not diagnosed as a child can be quite bad about noticing their own patterns of dysregulated attention. It can take a long discussion tracing back through their experiences to uncover the truth

[Mexicochann]

I can't focus on what the doctor is saying because I'm distracted by the comments.

[space]

I got diagnosed in my mid 40's.
I always had the symptoms but was not informed at all about ADD ( grew up in a country where it is not taken seriously ).
I was doing fine as a studient because I was gifted at maths and science, so daydreaming and studying at the last minute was good enough.
Then I was able to focus at work for years because I was very interested in it and usually under pressure.
But then in my 40's various things happened that made me seek treatment ( and medication ).
As I was very experienced, my bosses no longer pressured me ( they expect me to be fully autonomous ) . Also, my work was no longer my main interest in life. So I was not able to focus on it anymore.
Also, I came to realize that I still had not started on any of the personal projects I have been wanting to do for years. And I was not getting any younger. At that rate, I was going to die having accomplished nothing but earn paychecks and pay rent.
That made me realize I had a serious problem that needed to be treated urgently.

[gavingud]

Thank you for making this channel and this particular video. I was put in special education when I was in high school and dropped out for a few years but I took the GED and passed it without studying. My son was diagnosed with ADHD and my daughter. I tried it and at 40 the light came on. I wish my mother let me take the medication instead of special education.
That's why these videos are so powerful. People without insurance like me need some type of help understanding certain things.
Thank you again.
Gavingud

[Brainjoy]

Its taken me almost 30m getting through this because I keep pausing, thinking, getting day dreams and forgetting why I was thinking of it to begin with :( I'm like halfway through right now. I'm pretty sure I've seen this video like twice already but I always rewatch your videos to feel understood.

[eezpmdr]

These adhd videos are really changing my life! I got my diagnosis at 26. 😟

[amandaausman]

My friend just introduced your channel to me today and I jumped right into the ADHD series! I am loving your videos - but I definitely did have to pause and rewind a few times as I zoned out doing chores and had to re-listen to what you said, haha! (I end up having to ask people to repeat themselves a lot). I was diagnosed at 19/20 when I was in the middle of undergrad (Im in grad school now, getting through at a snail’s pace) and it explained so much about my life. It shocked everyone because I was such a “well behaved” child who did pretty well in school overall- but teachers always described me as “spacey”, which is true- my head was always in the clouds and I was a huge daydreamer. Once the people close to me considered how I had always been, they realized how the diagnoses fit me so well. (My mom didn’t allow tv or video games so I read a lot, and my dad was a classical musician so I went to a lot of concerts where I had to sit still and be quiet- and I would slip back into my daydream world and imagine whole stories to the music.) My pediatrician said that the reason I wasn’t diagnosed as a child was because ADHD presents differently in girls, usually. I was wondering if you could do a video on that? Is that common? What social factors can change the way adhd manifests in different people? I definitely feel that a childhood with less tv and video games, and more reading and attending shows forced me to at least look like I was paying attention, haha. I would be super interested to hear your analysis, if you get the chance! Thank you for being an amazing resource :)

[grungeface]

Stims, when effective, completely erase my anxiety.

That was the lightbulb 💡 for me.

[caatabatic]

Start slowing down by 9 ( me: yes, I wake up at 9 tho.)

[MsMeghanSusanne]

So, is adult-onset ADHD real? I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 and ADHD at 20 years old.
I've experienced depression since childhood, but my attention was not an obstacle until college. I find that, unless the stars are aligned and my mood state is balanced, I have hard time focusing on only one task at a time, which makes it very challenging to follow through with things and meet deadlines. When I am down, I feel too slow to focus. When I am hypomanic, I am constantly chasing ideas. My imagination goes into overdrive, and I will often forget my ideas before I even have a chance to write them down.
Could you please explain ADD symptoms within coexisting conditions like bipolar disorder? Do you have any tips or recommendations for managing these symptoms?

Thank you so much for these videos! What you are doing is extremely important and valuable, and I cannot wait to watch your channel grow!

[Dad-ijqy]

I was just diagnosed with ADD at age 62 (though I knew I had it for 29 years 9 months). Thank you, Dr. Marks, for including all the what-if's and in case-your-also-have anxiety or some other mood disorder remarks. Your providing full detail has helped me become aware that my short-term memory has improved on 75 mg bupropion and that I am not sure that I can consistantly read cues from people when in groups of 6 people or more. I have always been poor at self-monitoring my own behavior. I do think my "attention-shifting" is improved on bupropion. (less likely to be distracted by thoughts 15 to 20 times whilst going up a flight of stairs to fetch one specific tool I need to complete a task).

[mycreativedesignsspace]

This is so true, I’ve had adhd my entire life. However some of my adhd has gotten worse and I honestly believe it’s because my dr’s have tried t9 label me as bipolar or manic depressant…. Then prescribes me meds for those. I have recently been working with a new dr and we have finally gotten me off everything except adhd meds. I feel so much better and my depression is subsiding, I’m also able to get back to being social. It’s a process and this is the first time in my adult life that I feel like the dr is working with me.

[Micah]

My father was diagnosed with adhd in early childhood. My mother who is 35, after her second divorce decided to get a psych evaluation. Turns out she has adhd, even after the doc thought it could be bpd or bipolar

[PattymacMakes]

I love that funny ending!! Oh yes! Let's talk about too much on the plate! I see it as when I have too many programs running on the computer at once and the RAM is struggling. Yeah. That's my brain. And thank you for saying it's normal to be tired by 9 PM! We are not meant to live endlessly in "hustle" culture. I'm definitely tired of that nonsense!

[gracerobinson-dorn]

So since stimulants that are used to treat ADHD can cause anxiety to worsen, how do doctors treat people with anxiety and ADHD at the same time? I am currently diagnosed with anxiety and depression, which I take SSRI for, but am my psychiatrist thinks I may have ADHD.

[STUNTHEINSECT]

I had to study like hell in school to be able to get acceptable grades. When I got to college everything went to hell. I'm suicidal now. Got expelled and had to leave engineering for business management. I really think I have adhd, and have started researching recently about what to do.

[MyselfDisturb]

Is it possible for someone to be ADHD and have a cocktail of other traits that just balance out all disruptive/easy to spot ADHD symptoms?

I had very good grades my whole academic life, but I also played sports a lot. However, I was so constantly distracted that I was known as Alzheimer guy. I have a good memory but at least once a week I forgot my things somewhere or forgot to even close my front door going out and other basic instantaneous stuff like that.

I am not sure I have ADHD, but I've been taking Vyvanse for a year now and boy oh boy is it a boon for me. I can now orally formulate COMPLETE SENTENCES! (I used to cry because I couldn't, searching so much for my words or just disconnecting from the thread and couldn't go back to where I was.)

[b_ferg]

Worked a full and part time job, was on my Strata Council working on reno projects, and was juggling everyday tasks with the gf. I also had just purchased a new laptop (first computer I owned ever) and needed to learn how to navigate Windows and Microsoft Office Suite effectively. I signed up for online school as well so I could get started on finally finishing my high school.

I was doing alright. I was busy, I felt sharper and more focused than I had in years. I had a full plate and I was managing, but I knew I was at my threshhold.

I got a promotion at my full time job to a management position and everything collapsed. It was more than I was capable of and I was sent spiraling into a depression, part of which was because when I went to actually begin my online courses, all the challenges I faced in school came rushing back at me. It had been 12 years. I felt more than ready to take it on, but I couldn't sit down and focus. My distractability was though the roof.

3 months later, I'm still currently navigating the healthcare system, but managed to get an official diagnosis of ADHD at 30 years of age. All this time...if I had known, if someone had spotted it, I could have avoided decades of inner turmoil and torment.

It's a relief to know now what I've been struggling with and I'm so very grateful to you, Dr. Marks, for your wonderfully informative channel. Helping us build the knowledge and skills to adapt to our symptoms and move beyond our circumstances is a gift worth giving that will save lives.

You give people strength. I hope you get all of the kindness and warmth back from the world you serve and more. Thank you.

[madhousediy]

My ADHD was a superpower for me as a technician tasked with troubleshooting complex problems, but being a manager pays more. I would dump the meds and go back to fixing machines in a heartbeat, but I took the job because inflation ate my ability to exist at the technician pay rate. Now the market dictates I have a tedious job that requires me to abandon a billable, supposedly valuable skill set, for one that burns overhead and is much less accommodating to ADHD inattentive. I’m medicating for the first time in my 40s. It is definitely not optimal, but capitalism eats people. Claudia-Katrina 2024.