Over at CareerHub, Andrea Kay has a great post about people seeking career assistance who claim they have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).  She names some workplace strategies for coping with the disorder – including executive assistants, coaching, personal organizers, software and timers – but maintains that there are no particular jobs or careers that cater to ADHD. According to Kay, because the condition causes problems with attention, being impulsive and hyperactive, it affects careers dramatically.  ADHD sufferers find themselves missing deadlines, having trouble making decisions, and running into conflicts with bosses and co-workers.

Now my husband’s a clinical psychologist, so I don’t doubt that ADHD is a very real phenomenon.  But I wondered about the likelihood of hoards of true ADHD sufferers storming career coaches’ offices searching for the magic bullet.  So I did a little research and came across a recent National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in April 2006.  The study, which tracked the prevalence of attention deficit/hyperactivity symptoms found that an estimated 4.4 percent of adults ages 18-44 in the United States experience symptoms.  Those with attention deficit/hyperactivity symptoms were more likely to be white males who were divorced and unemployed or unable to work.  They also tended to have more problems with alcohol and drug abuse.

Given all this, it seems more likely that the majority of people who use ADHD as an excuse for professional difficulties are not actually mentally ill, just stressed out, de-motivated, and frustrated with some of the unpleasant realities of sustaining a career in Corporate America (e.g. poor work/life balance, impatient bosses and colleagues, and an ever-increasing workload). 

These individuals have taken the right step by approaching career coaches like Kay.  But instead of seeking an instant remedy, or even worse, insisting that they find a career that will tolerate their impaired functioning, they should take advantage of professional development and therapeutic resources that will help them develop the long-term skills (multitasking, problem-solving, stress management, and diplomacy, to name a few) necessary to get through the day-to-day of today’s frenetic business world without going insane.  It’s okay – and perfectly NORMAL – to admit you need help!