Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a diagnosis that affects more males than females: three times as many boys as girls and twice as many men compared to women.
“I was wondering, What the heck was wrong with me?” says Montreal resident Duane Gordon who was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 32, about the same time his then nine-year-old daughter was diagnosed, he explains. “There was stuff that everybody else seemed to do with ease, but I struggled with it.”
Today, he is a high-tech consultant in software research and development and president of the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA). As a teenager, he was accepted into a prestigious military college and though he struggled there, he graduated. After leaving the military, he couldn’t hold a job or help out at home. He had big expectations for his life that never came to fruition.
“The divorce rate is nearly twice as high for people with ADHD because of their increased distractibility, forgetfulness and impulsivity,” Dr. A. J. Marsden, an assistant professor of human services and psychology at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida (the first accredited college to award bachelor’s degrees exclusively to students with learning disabilities and ADHD), explains. “There’s a lot of anger and resentment from the non-ADHD spouse.”