A look at “Adult ADHD: A Narrative Review of Symptoms, Assessment, and Intervention Strategies” by Farra Anisa Rahmania and Dwi Fadhila (2026)
For a long time, ADHD was pictured as a boy bouncing off the classroom walls. The assumption was that he’d grow out of it, like a pair of school shoes. Many adults now arriving at assessment in their thirties, forties and beyond know better. This review, written from Indonesia, gathers recent research on what adult ADHD looks like, how it’s identified and what helps.
What they found
The authors started with more than 2,600 records from a single research database and narrowed them to 13 studies published between 2020 and 2025. Three themes came through.
It shows up differently in adults. Hyperactivity often turns inward, becoming a restless mind, difficulty relaxing or a constant need to be doing something, rather than literally climbing the furniture. Struggles with focus, organisation, time and planning (what psychologists call executive functioning) affect work, study and home life. Emotional ups and downs and relationship strains are common too, as is a higher risk of anxiety, low mood and addictive behaviours.
Assessment is tricky. ADHD overlaps with many other conditions, from anxiety to depression. Quick screening questionnaires are useful starting points, but the authors stress they can’t give a diagnosis on their own. That needs a proper clinical assessment, including a look back at childhood.
Support works best as a mix. Medication can help with core difficulties, but it doesn’t teach anyone how to build a routine or repair a relationship. The review points to combining it with CBT, psychoeducation (learning how your own brain works), group support, exercise and strengths-based approaches that build confidence rather than simply cataloguing difficulties.
The authors also note that in Indonesia, awareness of ADHD among professionals remains low. One survey they cite found that more than half of healthcare professionals had poor knowledge of the condition.
A grain of glitter ✨
As a friendly overview, this does the job. But its foundations are slimmer than they first appear.
Thirteen studies is a small evidence base for such a big topic. They came from one database, and only open-access articles were included, so plenty of relevant research will have been missed. The authors are admirably upfront about this, but it means the review reads more as a sketch than a full portrait. It also doesn’t weigh the strength of individual studies, so a small pilot and a large trial can end up sounding equally convincing.
The language leans heavily on “deficits”, “impairments” and “disorder”. There’s a nod to strengths-based approaches, but it’s fleeting. Coaching gets a mention in the summary, yet barely appears in the body, which is a shame given the growing interest in ADHD coaching.
Why this matters
If you’ve recently wondered whether ADHD might explain a lifetime of lost keys, unfinished projects and feeling “too much” or “not enough”, this review offers some validation. Adult ADHD is real, it’s often missed, and it touches far more than attention. Good support rarely comes from a single source. It’s usually a combination of understanding yourself, practical strategies and, for some, medication.
Grown-up unicorns still have their sparkle; they just need a different kind of stable.