Is it common to develop ADHD in late teen/adult years?

Is it common or even possible to be a 'normal' child but develop ADHD as you become an adult?

Magnum Opus -

ADHD is greatly misunderstood. Let me see if I can help with your question:

The criteria for diagnosing ADHD suggests that symptoms must be present before age 7 to truly be ADHD. Now, in many cases - ADHD might not get diagnosed that early - so then we look at history. That's why a good clinical interview is so important in diagnosing ADHD.

Now, some people will mention that ADHD is over-diagnosed or not real.

This simply is NOT true. ADHD has a bad reputation. Why?

There are many (too many to list) conditions, disorders, and health problems that mimic symptoms of ADHD. There are also too many things that can make behaviors appear to be worse that they really are.

ADHD is a diagnosis of exclusion - meaning that we really need to rule out a whole # of different "things" before we understand it to be ADHD.

Unfortunately, this is not typically how it happens. I wish I knew why - but most people look for the hallmark symptoms (hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention) and call it ADHD.

These symptoms are really like going to a Dr. with a fever. It's just a sign that something is wrong - and we need to take great care to figure out what is causing these problems.

In some cases - it is really ADHD.

Hope this helps.

Dr. Rory Stern
http://www.thetruthbehindadhd.com/tips.h...

Oops - almost forget. Yes - it is not unheard of to appear 'normal' as a child and then be diagnosed later in life. ADHD is a spectrum disorder - meaning it appears different in different people.

I'm not certain, but it's definitely possible for it to become more noticeable as an adult. That happened in my case, and in retrospect, it is probably attributable to a change in the types of activities I was performing.

As I progressed through my teen years and into adulthood, there was a shift from smaller, more narrowly-defined tasks and expectations into more long-term, arching projects with more layers, details, and so on. Further, there was less 'hand-holding', and I was expected to be more autonomous. I no longer had someone reminding me to do this or that, or pointing out something I had overlooked, or redirecting my attention to what I was working on.

Most people with ADD unwittingly develop techniques that help them work 'around' the affliction, and those techniques have varying levels of success.

I've noticed a huge improvement in some areas since being diagnosed, and in other areas, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference at all.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it may be possible to develop ADD/ADHD as an adult, but it's probably more likely that its effects were simply more noticeable in adulthood, whether by comparison to 'normal' adults or as a result of performance of a different genre of daily tasks.

Sorry, it is something at birth.
There are those who do not get diagnosed until later in life.
ADHD is also a sub symptom of conditions as autism,sleep deprivation, and traumatic stress disorder and I am sure more.
Read up on it.....

Only reason I got on the drugs (off them now) is my kid refused to go to the mental health doctors and I told him I would go if he would go.....turns out this is just one of are diagnoses (and something they wanted us on drugs for) and another son is supposed to have it with side order of autism and epilepsy.

Go see a doctor maybe you are not getting enough sleep or like us you have other issues?
Wish you well!

I don't think so if it is diagnosed at a later age it's just that it was missed in early childhood. Some drugs may make you hyper and less attentive. Have you been put on medication lately? There maybe a underlying health issue such as pituitary or thyroid problems check with an endocrinologist to r/o any.

I believe ADHD is made up