It was in a busy hospital office that newly qualified speech pathologist Charlotte Moore wondered if she had made a big mistake.
ADHD is one of the most commonly diagnosed mental health conditions in children, impacting about one in 20 Australian kids. An early iteration of the condition called “hyperkinetic reaction of childhood” was first listed in the practitioners’ standard text, the American Psychiatric Associations Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1968, but its definition has been tweaked several times since.
Across all categories, ADHD impacts a person’s executive function: their ability to complete tasks through higher-level cognitive skills such as working memory and impulse control. When someone with ADHD is forced to focus on something they do not want to for any period of time, it can become almost painful.impossible. She struggled to explain to family and friends why the tips they would give her for overcoming procrastination or refocusing were not enough.
“A huge part of it is differentiating their symptoms from anything else that could cause those symptoms,” says Cavenett. “It’s not uncommon in a child for the symptoms of ADHD to actually be anxiety or trauma.” Stephanie also completed some cognitive assessments as a child – the WISC intelligence test and Neale literacy test – which said she was within the acceptable range of intelligence but easily distracted and needed encouragement to complete challenging tasks. “When I showed the psychiatrist he was pretty shocked nothing came from this, but I guess it just shows how it wasn’t really diagnosed in girls back then,” she says.
In his Melbourne practice, psychologist Dr Arthur Stabolidis has seen an increase in adults with ADHD symptoms. He attributes it to the lack of structure after the city’s lockdown. “Lockdown disrupts your routine and routine is important for all mental health challenges,” he says.
Time blocking: Dividing tasks into smaller tasks of varying intensity. This technique can help people who struggle with procrastination to make it through their work, by offering multiple options to progress with a task.
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