Alan, an Edmonton sales consultant, has something in common with comic Howie Mandel, host of reality TV shows Deal Or no Deal and Howie Do It.

Both were diagnosed as adults with ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a genetic chemical imbalance commonly thought of as a kid’s disease.

Looking back, both think they probably had it in childhood, but ADHD wasn’t recognized as a medical condition at the time.

But where Mandel, 52, is speaking out as part of the Adult ADHD is Real public-awareness campaign launched in the U.S. last fall, Alan, 56, is hiding his diagnosis because he thinks it could cost him his job.

There’s still a stigma to having a psychiatric disorder, he explains.

Three to five per cent of kids under seven have ADHD, formerly known as ADD (attention deficit disorder). most medical professionals initially thought kids outgrew it. But 70 to 75 per cent continue to have symptoms as adults, says Dr. Pratap Chokka, an Edmonton psychiatrist who specializes in treating and researching mood and anxiety disorders. (Famous adults with ADHD diagnosed as kids include Ty Pennington, host of TV’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.) Thirty per cent of Chokka’s patients have ADHD as well as a coexistent condition such as depression, anxiety disorder or bipolar disorder.

An estimated 10 million adult Americans and about one million adult Canadians have ADHD, but most don’t know it, Chokka says.

Alan was diagnosed almost two years ago, when he went for counselling to save his third marriage. Relationship problems and multiple marriages can be symptoms of ADHD.

"my wife was getting frustrated with what she perceived as my lack of attention to her," Alan says. "I would say I would do things and she was thinking I wasn’t going to do them, but in my mind I was going to do them, but in my own time, type of thing. we were on two different time planes, something that kept boiling up with her." Procrastination can be another symptom of ADHD.

A psychologist gave Alan a article about adult ADHD. he thought it sounded somewhat like him. But it was his wife’s agreement that clinched the diagnosis.

"She looked at the article and said, ‘This is you 100 per cent.’ " Alan now takes medications that even out his chemical imbalance.

"my concentration is pretty good now. I’m able to read because I can stay focused, I can stay on track working on a project. before, my mind would go off to different things." Alan and his wife attend group sessions with other couples dealing with adult ADHD and the prognosis for the marriage is hopeful.

"the problem I’m facing now is unlearning some of the bad habits like poor time-management that 50 years of masking my ADHD has created." he wonders how much easier life might have been, how much more successful he would be, if he had been diagnosed sooner.

The recognition of adult ADHD is still quite new, Chokka says. There is a strong genetic component (85 per cent of ADHD children have a family history), but the exact cause is uncertain, he adds.

People with ADHD are of normal or higher intelligence, adds Chokka, whose patients include highly educated professionals. "But they are unable to process information, retain it, and organize it." In children, ADHD manifests itself as hyperactivity — not being able to sit still, running around. Adults with ADHD mostly display inattentiveness. they can’t make decisions, they’re disorganized, they make lists of things they need to do, then lose the lists.

Chokka says he has patients who aren’t able to keep a job because of it.

"Imagine being chronically late for work, missing deadlines or meetings, spending hours on tasks and getting very little done, getting distracted from the simplest of tasks. Now take that home and see how it impacts your personal life and your relationship with others." Some people cope by using alcohol, cannabis or nicotine to help regulate their mood. their ADHD is sometimes diagnosed when their coping mechanisms get out of control and they go looking for help, Chokka says.

Other adults are diagnosed after their child is diagnosed and they recognize a similarity in symptoms.

If you’re not achieving your full potential and are trying to figure out why, Chokka suggests talking to your family doctor or a psychologist about the possibility of ADHD.

The disorder can’t be cured, but there is treatment available — medications, and, in less severe cases, cognitive behavioural therapy.

"you can’t do anything about the past," Alan says, "but you can do something about the future and getting the most out of what’s left of your life."

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