ADHD or ADT?
Difficulty concentrating is nowadays so common that we’ve started to talk about ADT (attention deficit trait). It’s a behavioural model resembling ADHD but not an actual attention deficit disorder that can be diagnosed. This behavioural model develops if there’s been long-term stressful factors such as:
- busy schedules
- multitasking
- constant distractions
- uncertainty and
- too little recovery time.
The brain is overworking and the endless list of tasks causes feelings of inadequacy and worry. All this tends to cause chronic stress. Chronic stress is known to cause problems with learning, memory and concentration.
People with ADT typically keep distracting themselves. When you need to do something requiring a long attention span, your mind starts wandering. Other things come into your head to claim your attention and what you’re doing gets interrupted.
- Tip: Get familiar with the digital care pathway for concentration difficulties in the YTHSDigi service. The pathway covers concentration ability, factors that affect it, and conditions such as ADT, ADHD and autism spectrum.
