Managing Your Marriage When Your Spouse Has ADHD

By Jessica Yadegaran
Contra Costa Times
The Macon Telegraph
Lifestyle
November 9, 2010

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- The constant bickering was only the beginning of Fong's and John's marital problems. John was angry, explosively so. She'd ask him to do something, and then later, her husband of 32 years would deny that she ever did. They both knew he wasn't paying attention.

Sometimes, it went the other way. When the fiftysomething couple decided to paint the walls of their Cupertino, Calif., home, Fong saw it as a team project. They'd need to pick a day, agree on colors and purchase paint, she thought. But, when she came home from work the next day, the walls were wet with paint.

He'd done it on his own because he needed something to focus on that day," says Fong, who works in biotech. She felt ignored and unloved.

Meanwhile, inside John, a war was brewing. He grew bored easily and had trouble finishing projects, yet he suffered from anxiety and racing thoughts.

"I would think of 100 things at a time," says John, who holds a government job. "I couldn't sit still. And I had a lot of fear, mostly of failure."

Four years ago, John was diagnosed with adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, a syndrome that experts believe affects nearly 5 percent of adults. Because they weren't squirmy or chatty as kids, an estimated 90 percent of those adults are never diagnosed and try to cope as various degrees of distractibility, disorganization, impulsivity and lack of emotional control cause problems in all areas of their relationships.

To view whole article please to go into link: http://www.macon.com/2010/11/09/1334549/managing-your-marriage-when-your.html

Macon.com copyright notice
Material published on Macon.com, including articles, photos, graphics, videos, bulletin board postings and other content, is copyrighted by The Telegraph or by other information providers who have licensed their content for use on Macon.com. The entire contents of Macon.com are also copyrighted as a collective work under the United States copyright laws.