Written by Jennifer Ramirez, Medically Reviewed by Damla Ricks
Attention-Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a mental disorder affecting how your brain works. Symptoms often start in childhood and can last into adulthood. It is important to understand symptoms, diagnosis, and tools to help teens navigate living with ADHD in their daily life.
There are many resources available to help teens and their families affected with ADHD. Therapy, including those offered at Healing First Counseling, can help teens learn tools in addressing ADHD symptoms.
Primary care doctors, psychologists, and psychiatrists can also assess a child for an ADHD diagnosis. This is a process including medical exams to rule out other issues that may correlate with ADHD symptoms. In many situations, ADHD is best treated with a combination of medication and behavior therapy.
Understanding ADHD in Teens
ADHD is a disorder characterized by one or more of the following symptoms occurring frequently and across multiple settings, such as school, work and home:
- Difficulty paying attention, staying on task, or being organized
- Feeling restless or constant need to move;
- Fidgeting
- Excessive talking; interrupting conversations
- Impulsivity; acting without thinking
- Hot temper or frequent mood swings
ADHD can directly affect daily life. Family life, school and work life can all be impacted. For teens, it can result in difficulties with job performance at both school and work, such as maintaining employment or following instructions. These daily impacts can carry on into adulthood. Other ways ADHD can affect life include:
- Strained relationships with friends and families
- Impulsivity can lead to risky behaviors such as substance use or unsafe sexual activity
- Peer rejection and bullying
- Impaired social skills
- Lower self-esteem and increased stress; some
- Difficulty completing daily life requirements such as managing appointments, sticking to daily routines
- Financial woes due to overspending or missed bills and poor budgeting
Challenges Parents Face
Parenting teens in general can have its ups and down, but a wide range of new challenges can emerge in parenting a teen with ADHD. These additional stresses can lead to relationship difficulties and mental health struggles for both parents and teens.
Many parents start to see struggles in their own personal life such as marital stress, financial strain, and feeling helpless or not having support. Costs associated with therapy, medications, and other support can affect finances. Some parents feel that family and friends don’t understand what they are going through and that they are being judged or misunderstood. These challenges can lead to parental stress and burnout, including mental exhaustion and depression.
Effective Strategies for Parents
Parents can play an active role in helping their teens manage ADHD. Encouraging a healthy lifestyle and creating structure can help balance daily life. Here are a few things parent and teens can work on together:
- Create structured schedules; It might be helpful to break a big task into smaller tasks
- Develop Healthy Eating habits with fruits, protein and vegetables
- Limit screen time and social media use
- Get plenty of sleep
- Create a safe environment to validate feelings and manage frustrations together
- Parents can set clear expectations
When to Seek Professional Help from a Counselor for Your Teen’s Behavior
When symptoms are continually disrupting daily life, it may be time to talk to your primary care doctor or time to reach out to a licensed professional counselor to get you started on a healing path.
Healing First Counseling offers teens and families support in managing ADHD symptoms in North Richland Hills, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas. Working together, our qualified therapists help set goals, teach tools, and talk about mental health affects to help teens feel a sense of control and lead a healthier lifestyle. Schedule a session today or reach out to a local ADHD support group.
Damla Ricks is a Licensed Professional Counselor working on her Ph.D. in Family and Marriage Counseling. She is trained in trauma and system based therapy. She works with adults, couples, and families. On the side, she is also a full time college instructor in Communication Studies with 17 years of experience in higher education.