Indepth information on inattention, a major symptom of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Typically, people with the predominantly inattentive subtype of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are considered to have attention deficit disorder (ADD). However, for clarification (and because this is the Suite 101 ADD/ADHD site) I use the term ADD/ADHD instead.
American Psychiatric Association Recognized Symptoms of Inattention:
- Doesn't pay attention to details or makes careless mistakes
- Trouble sustaining attention
- Does not seem to listen when spoken to directly
- Does not follow instructions and fails to finish tasks
- Has difficulty organizing
- Avoids tasks that require continuous thought or a lot of mental effort
- Avoids, dislikes, or doesn't want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long periods
- Frequently loses things
- Easily distracted
- Forgetful in daily activities
Other Indicators of Inattention:
- Daydreaming
- Enthusiastic beginning, then fails to complete the task
- Frequently shifts from one uncompleted activity to another
- Problems when trying to decide what to focus on
- Unable to stay focused long enough to complete a task
- Difficulty attending to repetitive tasks
- Difficulty when trying to divide attention between multiple tasks
- Difficulty shifting focus from one task to another
Important things to remember and understand about inattention in regards to ADD and ADHD:
- A way to understand attention in ADHD is to think of a radio with no tuning knob. The radio then picks up the strongest signal available, sometimes several at a time, shifting from one to the other with no control.
- Although it's called "attention deficit" in reality people with ADD/ADHD pay attention to everything. They have difficulty regulating their attention on what they need to. ADHD causes problems in the components of attention: choosing the right stimulus, sustaining attention, ignoring unimportant stimulus, and shifting attention to another task.
- People with ADHD also have times when they hyperfocus, usually when they are working on a task that interests them. Hyperfocusing cause the person to focus so intently on the task that they ignore everything else around them. It seems as if they would not even notice if the house was burning down around them.
- Attention problems increase during the day and usually are most bothersome in the afternoon.
- Being constantly bombarded with stimulus can be overwhelming.
- Inattention can result from a variety of sources that are not connected with ADHD such as boredom with content or tasks that are overly familiar, fatigue, poor nourishment, and preoccupation with home or personal problems.
- Try not to reinforce or expect "deadman's behavior," which requires someone to look directly at you when you are talking. Simply because someone is looking out the window or doing something else does not mean he/she is not paying attention. Listening is an oral, not visual skill. Ask for feedback to confirm that the person was listening rather than looking for visual clues. However, it is important to teach/learn this skill, but it takes practice.
For more information, check out these pages: Spotlight on Hyperactivity, Spotlight on Impulsiveness, and The Big Three of ADD/ADHD.
Note: Recognized symptoms refer to those listed in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision.
The copyright of the article Spotlight on Inattention in ADD/ADHD is owned by Darcy Andries. Permission to republish Spotlight on Inattention in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
