LARRIKIN- A Look At Adult ADHD

A piece about Adult ADHD.

Larrikin is chiefly Australia and its first known use was about 1868. Larrikin can be define as:

“Hoodlum, Rowdy.”

When someone says ADHD, we think of a specific type of ADHD which consists of young children, who are on the go in a million different directions. But in another context, it can manifest itself in a way that is quite the opposite.

As I look around the room, all I see are faces. Faces ignoring me, judging me, and or mocking me. As hard as I try, it continues to be difficult for me: why do people react to me the way they do? Attempts at friendship and social interaction are rendered useless by accusations. I get the cold shoulder from those I approach. Though I try, I lack feeling for others. Isolation circles all around me as everyone’s opinions and perceptions close in. Panic strikes through every core of my being, sending me into a gloomy, painful hole with no hope of escape.

“It’s me; it’s my fault. I must have a flawed personality… I don’t know what to do because I don’t know how or if I can control it.”

This is a simple sketch of how it feels to have adult ADHD. At the core of this mental disorder is the inability to make natural connections necessary to form successful and high quality interpersonal relationships. Adult ADHD plays a huge role as the individual enters a social environment and tries to understand how he or she fits in. ADHD greatly impacts emotional regulation, which is defined as social and behavioral skills that allow appropriate responses to surroundings.

If emotions are stable, people have the ability to enjoy the interaction with others. They feel stable, secure and how to follow emotional/behavior cues to understand others. Without that emotional stability, every emotion is heightened. These intense emotions wreak havoc and leave the victim cowering, fearful of everyone who might come across them. Adults with ADHD can’t focus on others, as they are too distracted from the torment from inside.

Adult ADHD is something that is not very well understood or tolerated. Well- meant advice that “it is all in your head” or “just shake it off and be happy” don’t exactly help the issue either. Mental disorders in general have a bad reputation. In the past, mental disorders were treated by lock up suffering individuals in institutions with the prayer that time and isolation would make everything better.

From personal history, I have learned this is how my grandmother was treated. She lost her second daughter due to a nurse dropping the infant on her head at the hospital. The baby passed away after an emergency baptism, done in an attempt to put my grandparents’ hearts and minds at ease.

Years later, Grandma looked at her new bundle of love in her arms, her third and last daughter. All Grandma saw was a breakable china doll that could be ripped from her at any moment. She was frightened and couldn’t care for her baby, my mother. These days, she would have been diagnosed with the “baby blues” or post-partum depression. In the early 1960’s, she was locked up for a year to simply get “over it”.

ADHD has created similar situations of isolation. Others don’t know how to help the tormented see the light and relieve the guilt of being flawed. It proves challenging as knowledge of ADHD pertains mostly to children since symptoms are more visible. It is not hard to see a child who is unfocused and bouncing off the walls. A common stereotype of ADHD in children of which I am certainly guilty of thinking myself.

ADHD is deceiving, as it can manifest itself at any age. It can manifest itself in any situation in many different ways. Children are hyper and change thoughts, actions, and feelings at the drop of a hat. These attributes produce stress and contention as parents are at a loss of how to cope, so they seek help from professionals. After a child is diagnosed and labeled with ADHD that child learns that they are different. That they have high a risk of being limited, as learning and education proves challenging. However, not all hope is lost, in my personal experience. I believe that those diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood gain the most from their diagnosis. They come to understand themselves and realize that there was something wrong from the start. They realize how they lacked the ability to make and keep friends. They fail to understand descriptions of harsh, unfeeling, and negative views from some in their surroundings. The heavy weight of stigma or labels follow ADHD suffers for years.

With study and understanding comes relief from all their personal darkness and at last they can see light and hope. Hope that there is help available without the fear of being locked up somewhere separated. Understanding and support imperative to success. Improving the quality of life becomes a reality just as the feeling of acceptance.

As proven in child cases, adults with ADHD have just as much chance at success in the world as any other. ADHD diagnosed people operate and think differently because their brain works overtime finding solutions to cope with incorrect levels of chemicals in the brain. They allow themselves more time for task completion and they focus on something that they are good at to help lift their self-confidence to prove to themselves that they are good enough, despite thoughts and treatment from others.

ADHD is a disorder or illness that is hard to see, thus hard to believe. Diabetics require and receive insulin to control blood sugar levels to keep them as healthy as they can be. Cancer patients are treated with the utmost respect as enduring radiation and chemotherapy is visibly painful and exhausting. Would you refuse to acknowledge the need for medical treatment to ease the suffering for these illnesses? Probably not because of common knowledge and personal experience.

I believe that ADHD requires similar treatment and respect. It may not be life threatening initially, but it is a heavy burden to carry. If not addressed, it can lead to people harming themselves, others and has a high risk of substance abuse or suicide. Death is death, whether it stems from physical or mental health.

Those with adult ADHD, I urge you to seek help. Help yourself understand that there is more than guilt and isolation. Strive to better understand that you can feel fulfilled, and happy in treasuring the relationships you have. To understand that there is no need to fear other’s reactions to you as you improve your coping skills and learn how to enjoy social activities. Life is meant to be lived and full of color. Life is something that is meant to be conquered as we dare ourselves to stretch and grow.

Those without ADHD, I hope that one day you will understand how your perceptions and treatment of ADHD peers can easily break them or support them. Adults with ADHD already break themselves. It is so important that we all reach an understanding that no matter what is wrong or whoever is trying to cope, they are not viewed as hopeless or different. Adult ADHD requires attention to develop effective treatments.

Though adult ADHD has only received attention over the last few years, much has yet to be studied and researched. Treatment, at this time, is trial and error thus it can be a painful process, no matter which option of treatment you choose. Medication, therapy, a healthy diet and exercise help tremendously in easing the heavy weight of ADHD as the chemicals are balanced and emotions are stabilized. The ability to focus is granted and all of a sudden, the world doesn’t look quite so terrorizing.

Adult ADHD is real. No one wakes up in the morning and says, “Today I am going to act like I have ADHD.” Instead, those with ADHD wake up and think, “How am I going to make it through today, as I am a failure, flawed, and misunderstood.” It creates instability within oneself as intense emotions flood through the body, generating distractions from other’s attempts of friendship and interaction, ADHD behavior isn’t chosen but an unchecked behavior that sometimes isn’t larrikin behavior.

YouTube Episode Available — Click to Watch : 34. LARRIKIN — A Look At Adult ADHD