About ADHD in Men and the Routes to Mental Health

You may be struggling to meet career goals or not be as concentrated as a stereotypical male should be. Together with the burden of societal expectations, men’s lives are weighed down by untreated ADHD and, as a consequence, other mental health conditions.

Even though ADHD diagnosis is more prevalent in males, it doesn’t mean that their ADHD experience is any less challenging. Many men still find themselves unable to cope with basic chores, struggling to maintain relationships, and falling into addictions. Now, it’s finally time to find out more about ADHD in adult men and learn how to lead a normal life with its inconveniences.

Key takeaways

• ADHD is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by an imbalance of neurotransmitters. This leads to difficulties with concentration, impulse control, and working memory.
• ADHD is more commonly diagnosed in men, but this does not lessen the challenges they face. Many men with ADHD struggle with basic daily tasks, maintaining relationships, and avoiding addictions.
• Symptoms in men often include hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention. These can manifest as restlessness, difficulty in organizing tasks, excessive talking, and poor time management.
• Men with ADHD may struggle with anger management and expressing emotions, often turning to substance abuse as a coping mechanism.
• Societal pressures and perceptions of masculinity can cause men to resist seeking diagnosis and treatment, seeing it as a sign of weakness.
• Effective management of ADHD symptoms in adult men can include medications (stimulant and non-stimulant), natural remedies like meditation and physical exercise, and psychotherapy, particularly cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
• With the right treatment and coping strategies, men with ADHD can lead fulfilling lives, leveraging their strengths to manage the challenges posed by the disorder.

Understanding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

ADHD is a developmental or neurodevelopmental disorder that starts in early childhood and persists all throughout the lifetime. One of the causes of the disorder is the disbalance of neurotransmitters, i.e., brain messengers that carry signals from one neuron to another.

In a normal brain, the neurotransmitters (dopamine, adrenaline, serotonin, etc.) are responsible for communication with special groups of neurons, or neural circuits. They tell them when to turn on and off the working mode (when we’re engaged in a task) and the default mode (when we’re doing nothing and don’t need to focus).

The ADHD brain experiences a deficiency of neurotransmitters, so they’re unable to tell neurons when to concentrate and when to idle. It’s only one of the reasons why people with ADHD have trouble with their executive functions, which include the abilities to curb one’s own impulses, effortfully concentrate, and engage the working memory.

Can ADHD be developed in adulthood?

It’s a complex congenital disease, and all its causes remain unknown. As people are born with it, ADHD can’t be developed in adulthood. Sometimes, neurotypical people find separate ADHD symptoms in themselves, such as the loss of long-term focus, for example. However, it doesn’t mean that they have the disorder, as one of the criteria for ADHD diagnosis is that its onset should be in childhood.

Adult ADHD symptoms

Males mostly demonstrate impulsive-hyperactive symptoms of ADHD, which are easier to spot and, hence, diagnose. Women, on the other hand, tend to develop inattentive ADHD. This doesn’t mean that the disorder is so strictly subdivided by sexes. ADHD symptoms of both types can be developed in men, and the severity of their manifestation is affected by upbringing, social surroundings, the quality of treatment, and a lot more.

The American Psychiatric Association worked out a general set of criteria to diagnose ADHD adults. It’s called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which outlines 3 subtypes characterized by the following traits:

Inattentive type

To be identified with inattentive ADHD in adulthood, you need to have the following symptoms:

• Struggling to concentrate and pay attention even when spoken to directly.
• Poor time management skills, difficulty meeting deadlines, and general time blindness.
• Bad at organizing spaces, and tasks, and performing sequential activities.
• Making careless mistakes and struggling with instructions, even while understanding them.
• Forgetting about plans, people, calls, and things.
• Avoiding monotonous tasks and reading long papers.

Hyperactive-impulsive type

To be diagnosed with hyperactive-impulsive ADHD, you need to have the following symptoms:

• Difficulty sitting or staying still, hence constant fidgeting, squirming, and moving.
• Excessive talking, interrupting other people, and finishing sentences instead of them.
• Taking over others’ activities and conversations.
• A general feeling of restlessness of mind and body.

Combined ADHD

In this case, males with ADHD have symptoms of both types. Combined ADHD is usually revealed in a more severe form and has a higher possibility of co-existing with other mental disorders.

Males mostly demonstrate impulsive-hyperactive symptoms of ADHD, which are easier to spot and, hence, diagnose. Women, on the other hand, tend to develop inattentive ADHD. This doesn’t mean that the disorder is so strictly subdivided by sexes. ADHD symptoms of both types can develop in men, and the severity of their manifestation is affected by upbringing, social surroundings, the quality of treatment, and a lot more.

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Other problems of ADHD adult males

Aside from hyperactivity-impulsivity, and inattention, men with ADHD tend to have:

Anger issues

The research found that males with ADHD medical history tend to be more violent and abusive towards their romantic partners. This is true for both ADHD adult women and men. The reason can be bad impulse control combined with a lack of learned coping strategies that would curb the anger.

50% of ADHD patients tend to develop oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), which is characterized by an intentionally hostile attitude. Also, society is more permissive towards male angry outbursts compared to women with ADHD, and this is why a lot of men don’t try to change their behavior.

It should be noted that the anger is not only directed outwards to the loved ones but also inwards. Adults with ADHD tend to be less self-compassionate, as they receive a higher level of criticism from their surroundings, according to the research.

Difficulty expressing emotions

Sadly, but anger can be the only permissible emotion for men. Being naturally hyperactive and loud, kids with ADHD are taught to eat up their emotions because they’re ashamed to be shown by a male. These adults grow up to be emotionally numb ADHD teenagers that are unable to express their feelings.

Without knowing how they feel or how to manifest emotions in a healthy way, men fall into addictive behaviors and are easily drugged into substance misuse.

Rejection of the ADHD diagnosis

Shame and toxic masculinity are responsible for men’s reluctance to accept their diagnosis, which they see as a weakness. Also, some men reject being diagnosed with ADHD out of fear of being blamed for their relationship problems and lack of success at work.

Substance abuse

According to the study, one-third of males undergoing treatment for substance misuse are officially diagnosed with ADHD. Compared to women, men in general are more likely to develop addictions to alcohol, nicotine, and drugs in order to “treat” ADHD symptoms. The problem is that the ADHD brain is craving fast spikes in dopamine, while their impulsive behavior doesn’t allow for self-control, especially at a young age.

Aside from the biological predisposition for addictive behaviors, ADHD in adult men often leads to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. These, in turn, can be another factor in abusing substances.

Treatment options for ADHD in adult men

There are two types of ADHD medications: natural and artificial ones. The latter can be prescribed only by a medical professional, who, after an evaluation of your mental and physical health, will understand what type of drugs you need. They can be stimulants and non-stimulants, as well as antidepressants. Each type aims to soothe a specific set of symptoms and balance out the types of neurotransmitters your brain needs. Another good way of managing your ADHD is by installing a specialized app. App stores feature some of the best apps for ADHD treatment that help users ease the pressure of the disorder.

Natural medications, on the other hand, can be tried right away without fear of side effects. We can naturally normalize the level of neurotransmitters and alleviate other ADHD symptoms through:

Meditating

Right, meditations scientifically proved their positive effect on improving trouble focusing and impulsive behaviors. Remember about executive functions? The ability to curb one’s impulses and not fall into risky behaviors is also a skill that demands practice. Meditation is, essentially, a lesson for your brain on how to pay more attention to your present feelings and objectively separate destructive and positive thoughts.

By the way, meditations are also proven to offset age-related inattentive symptoms, not only those connected to ADHD.

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Doing sports

As trite as it sounds, physical activities are another scientifically-based natural neurotransmitter regulator. It alleviates hyperactivity symptoms as it allows for the release of energy excess and normalizes the nervous system.

Regular exercise doesn’t only stimulate faster production of serotonin and dopamine but also has an overall positive effect on brain functioning and quality of life. Sports are considered to be one of the most effective treatments for psychiatric diseases as well. It doesn’t have to be rigorous physical exercise, but anything that will make your muscles contract, for example, a yoga session or a brisk walk.

Going to psychotherapy

A special branch of psychology called cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is also an evidence-based way to improve ADHD symptoms and, in general, help with daily functioning. A CBT specialist can teach you a set of skills for not succumbing to impulses, balancing out mood swings and emotional dysregulation, and even finding a way out of unstable relationships.

CBT allows you to consider the whole variety of your thoughts without judgment, similarly to a meditation practice, and pick those that will serve you best. 

Considering that many adults with ADHD tend to be absorbed by intrusive negative thoughts and catastrophizing, it’s important to acquire strategies that would stop them. Otherwise, it’ll lead to depression and anxiety disorders.

A normal life with ADHD

ADHD is a mental health condition, not a hopeless state that makes normal life impossible. Who else but you can complete a weekly amount of work within one evening? And aren’t you the best at urgent tasks? Just like any state in life, ADHD has its own pros and cons that you need to learn to live with.

The only thing you need is to take a step forward to learn your diagnosis and start adjusting the sharp angles of ADHD in a natural, non-harmful way in the meantime.