Times of India
31 May 2008
New Delhi, India
By Kounteya Sinha

It Is Most Common Psychiatric Condition
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) an under–diagnosed and underrecognised psychiatric condition that is now affecting adults, could be seriously jeopardising your productivity at work.

A multi–national study conducted by the World Health Organisation has found that workers with ADHD do 22 days less work every year than people who do not have the disorder. In a study published in the international journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine on May 27, researchers from 10 countries screened 7,000 employed workers aged 18–44 years for ADHD as part of WHO’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative. They were asked about their performance at work in the last month.

The study found that, 3.5% of workers had ADHD from the 10 countries studied. People with ADHD were found to spend 22.1 more days not doing work than other workers per year. Many adults with ADHD did not know they had the condition and only a small minority of workers received treatment for this condition. Age did not appear to be associated with ADHD risk. This was diagnosed in children and, over the past decade, has been increasingly diagnosed in adults.

Dr. Samir Parikh, psychiatrist at Max hospital, said, “ADHD is the commonest psychiatry disorder in school children globally. In India, around 5% of schoolchildren suffer from it. We believe in India, 20% of the children suffering from ADHD will continue to suffer from it even through adulthood”. Professor of psychiatry at AIIMS Dr. S.K. Khandelwal added, “Most children grow out of ADHD when they reach 13 years or attain puberty. A small percentage do suffer from it during adult life too.”

According to experts, adults suffering from ADHD find it difficult to concentrate because they may be hyperactive, easily distracted, forgetful or impulsive. They make careless errors, and find it difficult to execute complex tasks. Because of their hyperactive nature, they can’t stay at one place for a long time and will be more irritable resulting in emotional outbursts. “These adults are likely to be absent from work, costing their productivity and hampering their quality of work”, he said.

Attention Please!
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a common behavioural disorder that affects around one in 20 people worldwide. Until recently, it was thought that a child outgrew ADHD during adolescence. However, experts say seven out of these 10 children grow into adults with ADHD

A person with ADHD has difficulty paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviour and keeping thoughts on track. They forget deadlines, are bad with time management, hyperactive and impulsive and can be distracted easily

A person with ADHD has unpredictable mood swings, makes careless mistakes at work, doesn’t follow instructions, finds it hard to remain seated and has low self–esteem

ADHD creates challenges for the adult in the workplace, just as they do for the child in school
ADHD affects around 5% of all school–going children in India. Around 20% of them go on to have ADHD in adult life
New research shows workers with ADHD do 22 days less work per year than people who do not have the disorder