Could be, but I think affective disorders might be more of obstacle to defending. Anxiety of writing up, finishing, or defending plays into it. Even doing an experiment that needs to be done to complete the thesis might be put off for fear it won't work, and overwhelming worry. Anxiety often leads to avoidance behaviors, including avoiding your prof mentor or avoiding lab. Depression, contributing to feelings of hopelessness, loss of interest in the subject, sleeping more or having insomnia that affects performance, lack of concentration, rumination on problems that distracts the student from work, and ultimately giving up on the thesis. Lack of self worth gets mixed up in there too, feeling that one is deserving of the doctorate for the work they have done. This is not something I have researched. I don't have data on this. It is my opinion as someone who knows a fair deal about ADHD, anxiety, and depression, and who has seen people more often sidelined from finishing by depression and anxiety, than ADHD. Of course, ADHD goes hand in hand with affective disorders as well, but is it the procrastination and sitting down to work for long times on a thesis that is holding someone back from finishing, or is it the depression and anxiety that is truly at fault?

Dear Jill ,

I think you are asking

Do PhD students or successful PhD's suffer from Adult ADHD?

My response:

Adult ADHD is mostly an extension of Paediatric ADHD, which is a proven neuro organic disorder. Etioligical factors are genetic, or familial.

There is a literature suspecting highly intense and prolonged stress could possibly attribute Adult ADHD. But acute stress or anxiety is not considered to be significant cause of ADHD in adults. Without history of paediatric manifestation of ADHD diagnosis of Adult ADHD remains not confirmed.

Examination stress do aggravate symptoms of ADHD or may trigger mild Adult ADHD symptoms to impairing symptoms.

ADHD in adults do present with psychiatric co morbid conditions like depression, bipolar disorder, Anxiety disorder, OCD, intermittent explosive disorder, etc. But co morbid conditions cannot be included under etiological factors. Can it be ?

So conclusion is --- presence of ADHD among PhD candidates is merely a finding. There cannot be a causal relationship in between ADHD and PhD's.

This is hard to say, what I understand is that higher IQ somehow protects during life when you have adhd. In girls the diagnosis is missed all the time because they tend to have more Add than Adhd hence less disruptive. Also a lot of people don't seek help for symptoms because of the wish to tackle things themselves, or in a natural way

a bit of topic maybe, but it seems the less X-chromosome you have the more risk on adhd: Turner syndrome XO 25 % adhd, fragile x syndrome (don't have the number ) and of course males in general have more adhd and less X-chromosome ;)

@ Wijnand Van den Berg Thanks. That is a great answer - that people with it tend to want to solve it rather than have it diagnosed. I find that to be so true with academics and with women. Great study idea to check that out!

In DSM-V, ADD and ADHD are combined to ADHD-Inattention and ADHD-Hyperactivity/Impulsivity. People I talk to have difficulty with the term hyperactivity in the name when it is only the condition of inattention.

Tnx @ Jill! I think it is time for renaming this handicap, e.g. LIEF limited inhibition in executive function

Well, if one focuses on LIFE , then holistic comprehension may be missed.

ADHD adults not only have limited inhibitions but do experience limited Working Memory, Limited self esteem, unlimited fluctuations in mood every single day, and of course limited gender based ratio of epidemiology.

@ Madhav Gajananrao Raje Thank you for your answer. I have found in my research that adults with ADHD often are not diagnosed as youth due to a wide range of factors including gender, socioeconomic conditions, school environment, parental awareness and type of presentation of symptoms. Adults with ADHD do not have "unlimited fluctuations in mood every single day" unless they have co morbid bi-polar disorder. ADHD alone does not drive mood swings. My research has provided much data showing high levels of corporate and educational success in adults with ADHD when they are able to select the environment that is most conducive to the needs generated my their personal manifestation of symptoms.

Like Science Jill Hosmer! I think I would DIE in a corporate environment.

Dear Jill,

Very true, clinical picture and sociocultural background does not compel patients and their care takers to seek help of experts when they are young.

I have come across some patients who were not diagnosed because of ignorance. Ignorance on the part of patient, parents, teachers and above all ignorance of paediatricians and psychiatrist also. Teachers whom I have educated do often refer such child ADHD and their parents to me for consultation and treatment.

I have personally talked with many of psychiatrist colleagues, juniors/seniors, who have not seen or diagnosed adult ADHD in their clinical experience of couple of or decades of practice.

It is a real truth, which has shocked me. That is why I have started awareness campaign.

To diagnose child hyperactive ADHD, psychiatrist do not need clinical skill or acumen, because these children diagnose themselves by their own hyperactivity.

But adult ADHD is a very tricky business to diagnose. Adult ADHD presents differently, their symptoms mimic many diseases. Secondly they many times suffer from co morbid conditions, which become main reason for them to seek expert's advice. So unless the treating or examining doctor is very well versed with varying picture of adult ADHD, underlying ADHD remains undiagnosed.

This is really a tragic story of many adults with ADHD.

I know such patients closely because I happen to be their treating psychiatrist who have been diagnosed for the first time. Couple of my patients are in their early or late fifties when they were diagnosed for the first time!

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Unlimited fluctuations in mood is experienced by many symptomatic adults with ADHD. This mood fluctuations if they experience at all is because of emotional lability/instability/dysregulation. Emotional lability occure because of dysfunction of basal ganglia, & defective striatal neuroconnectivity.

Philip Atherson says emotional instability is a core symptom of adult ADHD. 'The report'. He further says approximately 80 % of adults with ADHD experience or suffer from emotional dysregulation.

Salvatore Carbisiero, Caroline Skirrow, etc researchers too corroborate it.

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Yes madam, you are quite correct to say conducive atmosphere helps Adult ADHD to succeed.

Success in education or at corporate level depends on multiple factors.

Couple of months before I happen to diagnose ADHD for the first time in a retired 70 year old pilot. He never had any bothering symptoms when he was in service. He came to me for main complaint of Insomnia, which started after retirement. Retirement itself is a challenging transition, which caused him sleepless, which he could not negotiate, may be because his passion flying cannot be engaged now.

ADHD makes person suffer most whenever he or she confronts stress/nonconducive/nonnegotiable things.