ADHD Diagnosis
Adults are more difficult to diagnose than children. An interview with a clinical ADHD expert is the first step to a good diagnosis.
Bring any medical or academic records with you to your appointment. It's also helpful to bring rating scales and interviews that can provide information about your symptoms.
Signs and symptoms
A thorough ADHD diagnosis requires physical examination and an interview with a physician. The evaluator might ask questions about a person's childhood and their family history and utilize checklists to document symptoms. The evaluator may also look over school and work records and may wish to speak with teachers or other individuals who interact with the person.
The evaluator will use the official lists of symptoms for inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity to determine whether the person meets diagnostic criteria. These criteria include that the person has several symptoms for at least six months and that the symptoms manifest in more than one place -- such as at home and at work or school. The examiner will also be looking for other conditions that may cause similar symptoms, such as anxiety, depression or a thyroid issue.
In adults the evaluator will determine how severe the symptoms are and how they affect social or work life. The evaluation will also inquire how the person feels about the symptoms and how much they affect their daily life.
Many people suffering from ADHD are unable to recall the exact date they began experiencing problems. Because of this, an expert will typically interview someone who knows the person well, such as siblings or spouses for an adult or a parent or teacher for the child. The examiner may use checklists to evaluate adults as well as a list of child-related behaviors.
Unlike in the past, the current guidelines for diagnosing ADHD state that an adult can't be diagnosed with ADHD unless symptoms were present prior to the age of 12. This change is intended to prevent people with ADHD who were diagnosed as kids from being wrongly diagnosed as having other disorders, such as depression and anxiety.
Medical History
If you suspect that you or your child has ADHD, the first step is to locate an expert who can perform an extensive evaluation. Ask your doctor or a mental health specialist in your area for recommendations or look in the phone book for "psychiatry" and "psychology." You can also reach out to an adult support group with ADHD, as they've worked with local experts who are able to offer referrals.
During the ADHD diagnostic evaluation, a healthcare specialist will examine the patient's medical and family history. They will inquire as to what the symptoms hinder functioning in different environments, like at home, at work, or in relationships. It is important to determine the severity of the symptoms as the APA's guidelines for ADHD state that symptoms require significant impairment in order to be considered a diagnosis.
The healthcare professional will usually interview the patient, but they may also speak to the person's parents, siblings, and other family members who know him well. Some healthcare professionals may ask patients to complete questionnaires or ratings scales, which include ADHD symptoms checklists and standardized behavior ratings. Teachers and other caregivers can be valuable sources of information.
The APA's Diagnostic Guidelines say that symptoms must be frequent and affect performance. This is essential because other conditions like mood disorders and learning disabilities can present similarly to ADHD (Austerman 2015). In addition, a medical exam may be conducted to determine other possible causes for the symptoms, including thyroid issues, vision or hearing issues, or the use of certain medications such as stimulants or sedatives.
Family History
In certain cases there are instances where an ancestor's history of ADHD is a crucial aspect in obtaining the diagnosis. It is highly inherited and a look at the patient and their relatives' histories will help determine if there is any family-related pattern.
It is important for providers to get a complete picture of the patient's symptoms regardless of whether they occur at school, work or in social settings. A provider must also assess the extent of how a patient's symptoms affect their daily functioning. This is more important than merely counting symptoms or examining the intelligence of the patient.
A doctor can interview teens or children, as well as the parents. In most instances, a pediatrician or psychiatrist is trained to evaluate and treatment of ADHD. For adults, a detailed interview is required by a mental health professional who has extensive knowledge of ADHD and has the time to examine each patient's presentation.
A thorough evaluation includes a physical examination which can help determine certain conditions that may cause symptoms similar to ADHD. A complete medical record is also required. For children, this may include medical and school records and an evaluation of psychological health by a school counselor or psychologist. For adults documents from school are often helpful in determining whether symptoms began in the early years of childhood.
When diagnosing adults in particular, it is crucial to look at how the symptoms impact the daily activities. A thorough psychiatric evaluation could be required, including rating scales and questions by the patient and caregivers in addition to an interview with a clinician and referral for medical examination. Additionally assessment of neuropsychological or psychometric factors can be used in adult cases to determine if the symptoms are related to learning disorders and other cognitive impairments.
Interviews
A provider will ask you or your child questions about their concerns at home, school and in the community. The provider will ask about your child's medical, family, and personal history, and will review any records you have, like old school report cards. This information will allow the doctor to determine whether you or your child needs to take an assessment 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 usually taken over a period of six months, and cover both at home and in school. The evaluations must be conducted by those who are familiar with your or your child's behavior, such as teachers as well as religious and Scout leaders, coaches, and parents.
Children and adults who are diagnosed with ADHD have symptoms that are debilitating, and interfere with daily functioning, whether at work, school, or play. The symptoms should manifest in the early years of childhood, usually before the age of 12. They cannot be caused by any other mental health issue.
Psychometric and neuropsychological tests that test IQ, cognitive functioning and brain function can improve the accuracy and precision of ADHD assessments. They should be utilized in conjunction with a physician's assessment and rating scales as part of a comprehensive assessment plan. These assessments can include the administration of a standard test, such as the ADHD Diagnostic Interview for Adults or a computerized test method that measures executive functions, short-term memory, and response speed. In the future, digital technology such as virtual reality for continuous performance tests and sensors for head movement may help to improve ecological validity of these ADHD assessment tools by giving the person being assessed to be immersed in their environment rather than sitting in an office for clinical evaluation.
Tests
If your physician or mental health professional suspects ADHD the doctor may refer you to an ADHD specialist. A thorough assessment should include an extensive interview, details from independent sources like your spouse or significant other, and standardized behavior rating scales for ADHD. Based on the clinical impression the evaluator might conduct tests to test for any other conditions that could affect your symptoms, like depression, learning disabilities or a medical condition.
To conduct a thorough ADHD evaluation, the assessor must determine if your symptoms significantly impact your life and functioning. next page can manifest in a variety of settings like at home, at work, in school, or with your social relationships. The evaluator needs to know how your symptoms have impacted your life in each of these settings. This will enable the evaluator make an assessment, and then formulate treatment suggestions.
A comprehensive test will include the symptoms ratings and standardized performance tests for ADHD. These tests are based on research comparing the behavior of people with ADHD with those without. They enhance the effectiveness of a clinical interview by focusing on specific behaviours instead of assessing a person's general performance. These measures can help evaluators identify when an individual is lying or trying to cheat the test this issue has been recognized for a number of years in the field of neuropsychological testing.
In addition to the standardized test and the symptom-rating scales as well as the symptom rating scales, an extensive ADHD assessment should include brain scans or other imaging techniques for the brain. These tests aren't used in clinical settings because they are costly and expose patients to ionizing radioactivity.