A Guide to Mental Disorders

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ✓

Adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a mental health disorder that includes a combination of persistent problems, such as difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. Adult ADHD can lead to unstable relationships, poor work or school performance, low self-esteem, and other problems.

Though it's called adult ADHD, symptoms start in early childhood and continue into adulthood. In some cases, ADHD is not recognized or diagnosed until the person is an adult. Adult ADHD symptoms may not be as clear as ADHD symptoms in children. In adults, hyperactivity may decrease, but struggles with impulsiveness, restlessness and difficulty paying attention may continue.

Treatment for adult ADHD is similar to treatment for childhood ADHD. Adult ADHD treatment includes medications, psychological counseling (psychotherapy) and treatment for any mental health conditions that occur along with ADHD.

How common is ADHD?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 11% of U.S. children between the ages of 2 and 17 have received an ADHD diagnosis. Worldwide, 7.2% of children have received an ADHD diagnosis.

Boys and children assigned male at birth (AMAB) receive an ADHD diagnosis more than twice as often as girls and children assigned female at birth (AFAB). But this doesn't mean more boys and children AMAB have ADHD. It just means they present more often with hyperactive-type symptoms and are therefore easier to diagnose.

Types of ADHD
There are four different ways ADHD can present itself. Providers use the kinds of symptoms your child displays to diagnose the condition in one of these four ways.

Predominantly inattentive presentation
Children with this presentation have inattentive ADHD only. Providers previously called this type attention-deficit disorder (ADD). Children with inattentive presentation mainly have difficulty focusing, organizing and staying on track, and have fewer hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms.

Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive presentation
Children with this presentation show issues with hyperactivity and impulsivity and may show less obvious trouble with paying attention. Hyperactivity means they may fidget, can't sit still, have a lot of excess energy and are extremely talkative. Impulsivity means they may interrupt others and act without thinking it through first. This is the least common type and typically affects younger children.

Combined presentation
Children with this presentation show at least six symptoms from both of the other types. Symptoms of inattentiveness and hyperactivity-impulsivity present equally. This type is what people most commonly associate with ADHD. About 70% of cases fall under this type.

Unspecified presentation
In these cases, symptoms may be so severe that children clearly demonstrate dysfunction but don't meet official symptom criteria for a diagnosis of ADHD inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive or combined type. In such cases, providers assign "unspecified ADHD" as the diagnosis.

ADD vs. ADHD
Providers used to call the inattentive presentation type of ADHD "attention-deficit disorder (ADD)." In 1994, the American Psychiatric Association officially changed its name. Providers now call all forms of ADHD "attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder" whether or not symptoms of hyperactivity are present. As described above, providers diagnose the different types based on the symptoms.

Although the name change happened decades ago, many people still refer to the condition as attention-deficit disorder (ADD). The difference between ADD and ADHD is the former doesn't include symptoms of hyperactivity or impulsivity.

What are the symptoms of ADHD?
Your child's provider will make a diagnosis based on the presence and absence of certain symptoms. The symptoms must have interfered with functioning in at least two areas of life (such as school and home) and have occurred for at least the past six months.