Too Disorganized: Attention-Deficit Adults Fail to Get Help

More than half the people suspected of having adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are so disorganized that they fail to seek treatment two years after being urged to do so, a study reveals.

They procrastinate, they forget or they blow it off - classic symptoms of ADHD itself, according to a survey conducted by the NYU Medical Center.

The NYU's ADHD program held a screening day in May 2004 at the Helmsley Hotel. Of the 330 adults who attended, 85 percent screened positive for ADHD.

NYU researchers conducted a follow-up survey with 51 people recently. They had all been given a list of doctors to contact two years ago to help treat their illness.

But 27 of the respondents - or 53 percent - admitted they never followed through.

"This data shows that people with ADHD need help to get help," said Dr. Lenard Adler, director of NYU's Adult ADHD program and author of "Scattered Minds," a book about the disorder.

Nearly all of the no-shows said they wanted to get help, Adler said, but it slipped their mind. "Their symptoms got in the way. They have trouble completing things," he said.

Adler presented his findings at the American Psychiatric Association convention in Toronto as part of a campaign to improve outreach to assist adults with ADHD. A big part of the problem, he said, is that few primary-care physicians diagnose their patients as having ADHD.

He said a new six-question screener for adults to answer will help more easily identify symptoms.

(Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)