Married with children

Philip’s ADHD story

Philip was a married man with two children. His marriage was under a lot of stress, as his wife complained that with him, she had three kids to look after not two. He knew he would often forget to do his share of the household chores and didn’t pull his weight at home.

He was constantly staying up late at night playing online games, as he felt it was the only time he could relax. This caused tension with his wife and made him feel exhausted the next day. His wife had to nag him to get up in time for work. She had taken over managing the bills and home finances as he could not be relied on, and she was getting fed up with the numerous half finished jobs around the house, from decorating and DIY, to various hobbies and sports he had invested in and not seen through.

Philip was aware that he did have a tendency to start projects and not finish them. He was also hopeless at remembering anyone’s birthday or their anniversary. His wife said it was no good having a conversation with him as he would get bored and drift off after a minute or two. Even when he did try and discuss his point of view, he struggled to get his point across and would often go off on a tangent after a few sentences.

Things had just come to a head as he had promised he would attend his son’s sports day and had forgotten to turn up. His wife said he needed a mother and not a wife and she felt at the end of her tether.