ADHD Diagnosis
Diagnosing ADHD in adults can be trickier than diagnosing ADHD in children. A good diagnosis starts with a consultation with an expert in ADHD.
Bring any medical or academic records to your appointment. It's also helpful to bring rating scales and interviews that can provide information regarding your symptoms.
Signs and symptoms
A doctor will conduct a physical exam and interview you to determine whether ADHD is present. The evaluator will ask questions about the person's family history and childhood, and might use checklists to document the symptoms of the individual. The evaluator will also review documents from the workplace and school, and may want to talk with teachers or other individuals who are close to the person.
sites will use the official lists of symptoms for inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity to determine whether the person meets diagnostic criteria. The criteria is that the patient has a variety of symptoms that last for at least 6 months, and that the symptoms manifest in more than one place like at home, school or at work. The evaluator could also check for other conditions that may cause similar symptoms, such as depression or anxiety.
Adults will be evaluated to determine the severity of their symptoms and their impact on their work or social lives. The evaluation will also inquire how the person feels about their symptoms and how they impact daily life.
Many people with ADHD have trouble remembering whether their issues began in the early years or later. A specialist may interview someone who is familiar with the person, like their spouse, sibling or parent for an adult, or a teacher or parent for children. The assessor may use checklists for adults, and for children the list of behaviours to be on the lookout for.
Contrary to previous diagnostic guidelines the adult can't be diagnosed with ADHD until symptoms are present before the age of twelve. This change is meant to avoid people suffering from ADHD who were diagnosed as children from being mistakenly diagnosed with other disorders, like depression or anxiety.
Medical Histories
If you suspect that you or your child is suffering from ADHD the first step is to locate an expert who can provide an exhaustive evaluation. Consult your doctor or mental health expert in your area for recommendations or look up the phone book by "psychiatry" and "psychology." You can also reach out to an adult ADHD support group, since many will have worked with local specialists who could provide recommendations.
During the ADHD diagnostic evaluation, a medical specialist will examine the patient's medical and family history. They will inquire as to what the symptoms hinder functioning in various settings, such as at home, at work, or in relationships. It is crucial to determine the severity of the symptoms as the APA's guidelines on ADHD state that symptoms have to cause significant impairment to be diagnosed.
The healthcare professional will usually interview the patient, but they might also request to talk to his or her parents, siblings, and other family members who are familiar with him. Some healthcare professionals require patients to complete questionnaires or scales. These may include ADHD symptom checklists and behavior ratings. Teachers and other caregivers are often valuable sources of information as well.
The APA's Diagnostic Guidelines stipulate that symptoms must be frequent and impact performance. This is crucial, since other conditions like mood disorders or learning disabilities can appear similar to ADHD (Austerman 2015). Additionally medical exams can be performed to check for other possible causes for the symptoms, such as thyroid problems, vision and hearing problems or the use of certain medications such as stimulants or sedatives.
Family History
In certain cases, the family history of ADHD is a major aspect in obtaining a diagnosis. It is highly heritable, and a look at the patient and their relatives' histories can aid in determining if there's any family-related pattern.
It is important that providers have a complete understanding of the symptoms of their patients, which includes whether or not they occur in school, at work or in social situations. A physician should also consider the degree to which symptoms affect a person's daily functioning. This is a more reliable test than simply looking at the number of symptoms or examining the patient's IQ.
For children and teens, a doctor may interview the teen or child and their parents. In a majority of cases, a pediatrician psychiatrist specializes in the evaluation and treatment of ADHD. For adults, a detailed interview is required by a mental health professional who has a wealth of experience in ADHD and has the time to evaluate each patient's presentation.
A comprehensive evaluation usually includes a physical exam, which can rule out certain medical conditions that could cause similar symptoms to ADHD. A complete medical history is also obtained. This can include school and medical documents as well as a psychologist or school counselor's psychological evaluation. For adults the old school records can be helpful in determining whether symptoms began in the early years of childhood.
If you are diagnosing an adult with psychiatric disorders, it is particularly important to examine how the symptoms interfere with everyday functioning. A thorough psychiatric examination may also be necessary with regard to questionnaires and rating scales for the patient and his or her caregivers, a psychotherapy interview and a referral to a medical exam. Adults can also undergo a psychometric or neuropsychological assessment to determine the relationship between their symptoms and learning disorders.
Interviews
A professional will talk to you or your child about their problems at home, school, and in the community. The doctor will also inquire about the child's or yours's medical or personal history, including family and friends and will review any documents that you might bring along including old school reports. This information will enable the doctor to determine if you or your child should to take a test for ADHD.
Your provider will use rating scales to identify if you or your child meets criteria for ADHD, including six established symptoms in the two main categories of the disorder -- inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. These ratings are typically conducted over the course of six months, and cover both at home and in school. The ratings should be provided by people who know your child and yourself well, including coaches, teachers, religious leaders, scouts, and parents.
Adults and children who are diagnosed with ADHD have symptoms that are debilitating and can hinder their daily functioning at work, school or playing. The symptoms should manifest in the early years of childhood, usually before 12 years of age. They can't be caused by another mental health condition.
Psychometric and neuropsychological tests that measure IQ, cognitive functioning and brain function can increase the accuracy and precision of ADHD evaluations. They should be utilized alongside a clinician's assessment and rating scales as part of a comprehensive assessment strategy. These assessments could involve the administration of a standardized questionnaire like the ADHD Diagnostic Interview for Adults (DIVA), or a computerized adaptive testing approach that measures the speed of response short-term memory, executive functions. In the future the use of digital technology like virtual reality for continuous performance tests and sensors for head movement could aid in improving the ecological validity of these ADHD assessment tools by giving the person being assessed to be immersed in their surroundings rather than sitting in a clinical office.
Tests
Your doctor or a mental health professional could recommend you to a specialist if he or she suspects ADHD. A thorough assessment will consist of an in-depth interview, information from other sources, such as your spouse or significant others, as well as the standardized scales of behavior ratings for ADHD. Based on the clinical impression, the evaluator may conduct tests to test for other conditions that could influence your symptoms, like depression, learning disabilities or a medical condition.
A thorough ADHD assessment requires the evaluator to determine if your symptoms are significantly impairing your functioning and life. The impairment can occur in a variety of settings, such as at home at work, at school, or in your social relationships. The evaluator will ask you how your symptoms affected you in each situation. This will assist the evaluator identify the cause and make treatment recommendations.
A comprehensive assessment will comprise in addition to symptoms ratings and standardized performance tests for ADHD. These instruments for testing are based on research that compares the behavior of people suffering from ADHD to those who do not. They improve upon the limitations of a clinical interview by focusing on specific behavior rather than the general performance. These measures can aid in identifying when an individual is lying or is trying to cheat on the test this issue has been recognized for many years in the field of neuropsychological testing.
A thorough ADHD assessment may include an examination of the brain or other neuroimaging techniques in addition to the typical test and symptom rating scales. However, these tests are not routinely used in a clinical setting due to the cost and expose the patient to radiation.