Do I Have ADHD?
A Guide to ADHD in Adults and the Assessment Process
You may have found yourself wondering, “Do I have ADHD?”
Perhaps you've always felt like you have to work harder than other people to stay organised. You might struggle to start tasks, lose track of time, forget appointments, misplace things or become overwhelmed when there are too many things to do.
Or perhaps you've noticed something else: you can concentrate intensely on things that interest you, but struggle to get started on tasks that feel boring or overwhelming. You may have developed elaborate systems, lists and reminders to keep yourself on track, only to find that they don't always work.
If this sounds familiar, you may be wondering whether ADHD in adults could explain some of the difficulties you've experienced.
What does ADHD look like in adults?
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition that can affect attention, activity levels and impulse control. However, ADHD doesn't look the same in every adult.
For some people, difficulties with attention and organisation are the most noticeable. For others, hyperactivity and impulsivity are more prominent. Some adults experience a combination of both.
ADHD can affect areas of everyday life that aren't always immediately recognised as “ADHD”, including work, study, relationships, household responsibilities and managing competing demands.
Attention and concentration
Adults with ADHD may:
find their attention drifting during conversations or meetings
become easily distracted
struggle to follow lengthy instructions
make careless mistakes
forget what they have just read or been told
lose track of what they were doing
find it difficult to maintain attention during tasks that aren't particularly interesting.
Importantly, being able to concentrate does not rule out ADHD.
Some people with ADHD can become intensely absorbed in activities that are particularly interesting, stimulating or urgent. This is sometimes described as hyperfocus. The difficulty can be less about having no attention and more about consistently directing and regulating attention when it is needed.
Organisation and executive functioning
For many adults, executive functioning difficulties are among the most frustrating aspects of ADHD.
You might find it difficult to:
get started on tasks
prioritise what needs to be done
estimate how long something will take
remember deadlines
manage multiple tasks at once
keep track of belongings
complete projects you've started
maintain routines and systems.
You may know exactly what needs to be done but still find it surprisingly difficult to get yourself to do it.
Hyperactivity and impulsivity
Adult hyperactivity doesn't necessarily look like being unable to sit still.
It can include feeling internally restless, needing constant stimulation, finding it difficult to relax or always feeling as though you need to be doing something.
Impulsivity might involve interrupting conversations, speaking before thinking, making quick decisions, struggling to wait or acting on an idea before considering the consequences.
What if I've always managed well?
This is an important question.
Some adults with ADHD have developed effective ways of compensating for their difficulties. They may rely heavily on calendars, reminders, lists, routines or other people to help them stay organised.
They may leave things until the last minute and then complete them in an intense burst of effort. They may work longer hours than necessary or put enormous amounts of energy into appearing organised and on top of things.
From the outside, they may look successful and capable.
Inside, however, it can feel very different.
You might find yourself thinking:
“Why does everything feel so much harder for me than it seems to for everyone else?”
Good academic results, a successful career or being highly capable don't automatically rule out ADHD. Sometimes the demands of adult life simply become greater than the strategies that previously helped.
Can ADHD be missed in adults?
Yes. Some adults reach adulthood without ever being identified as having ADHD.
They may have been described as forgetful, disorganised, inconsistent, easily distracted or not living up to their potential. Others may have performed well at school and therefore never attracted attention.
Some people have predominantly inattentive difficulties, which can be less obvious than the stereotypical image of a hyperactive child.
Others may have developed strong coping strategies that masked their difficulties for years.
It is also possible for difficulties to become much more noticeable when life becomes more complex for example, when starting university, entering the workforce, becoming a parent or managing multiple responsibilities at once.
Could it be ADHD or something else?
Difficulty concentrating, feeling overwhelmed or struggling with organisation doesn't automatically mean you have ADHD.
Similar experiences can occur for many different reasons, including anxiety, depression, chronic stress, sleep difficulties, trauma, learning difficulties and other neurodevelopmental conditions. ADHD can also occur alongside other conditions.
This is why an ADHD assessment isn't simply about ticking off a list of symptoms.
A comprehensive assessment considers the broader pattern of your experiences, including when your difficulties began, how they have affected different areas of your life and whether there may be other factors contributing to what you're experiencing.
The question isn't simply:
“Do I have these symptoms?”
It's also:
“Is there a longstanding pattern that is consistent with ADHD, and what else might be contributing to my current difficulties?”
When should I consider an adult ADHD assessment?
You don't need to be certain you have ADHD before seeking an assessment.
It may be worth exploring if difficulties with attention, organisation, impulsivity or managing everyday demands are:
affecting your work or study
creating difficulties in relationships
making everyday tasks feel disproportionately difficult
contributing to chronic procrastination or overwhelm
affecting your confidence or wellbeing
requiring significant effort to compensate for
longstanding rather than something that has only recently appeared.
Sometimes the most useful reason to seek an assessment is simply that you want to understand yourself better.
An assessment can provide clarity, whether or not ADHD ultimately explains your experiences.
Is ADHD over-diagnosed?
With more people talking about ADHD, you may have wondered whether it is being overdiagnosed.
It's true that ADHD is receiving more attention than it did in the past, and more adults are recognising experiences that may previously have gone unexplained. But increased awareness and diagnosis don't mean that every person who struggles with attention, procrastination or organisation has ADHD.
Many of us experience periods of forgetfulness, distraction, procrastination or feeling overwhelmed. These experiences can be particularly common during times of stress, poor sleep or when we are managing too many demands.
ADHD is more than occasionally being distracted or disorganised. A diagnosis involves looking for a persistent pattern of difficulties that is consistent with ADHD, has been present from earlier in life and has a meaningful impact on everyday functioning. Other possible explanations and co-occurring conditions also need to be considered.
This is why a comprehensive assessment is important. Rather than asking, “Do I have some ADHD symptoms?”, the assessment considers the bigger picture: your developmental history, how difficulties show up across different areas of life, your strengths and coping strategies, and what else might be contributing.
For some people, an assessment confirms ADHD. For others, it provides a different explanation for their difficulties. Both outcomes can be valuable.
The purpose of an assessment isn't to find ADHD. It's to understand what is going on.
What happens during an adult ADHD assessment?
An adult ADHD assessment is designed to build a detailed picture of how you have functioned over time and how difficulties are affecting your life now.
Depending on your individual circumstances, an assessment may consider:
your developmental and personal history
attention and concentration
executive functioning
activity levels and impulsivity
emotional and behavioural functioning
work, study and relationships
everyday organisation and responsibilities
information about your childhood experiences
questionnaires or rating scales
other factors that may contribute to your difficulties.
Because ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition, understanding your experiences earlier in life is an important part of the assessment process.
The assessment is not simply about identifying difficulties. Understanding your strengths, interests, coping strategies and what works well for you is equally important.
What if I don't have ADHD?
An assessment isn't unsuccessful if ADHD isn't diagnosed.
Sometimes an assessment provides an explanation for difficulties that points towards another form of support. You may discover that anxiety, learning difficulties, sleep, stress or another factor better explains what you have been experiencing, or that several things are contributing.
The goal isn't simply to put a label on your experiences.
The goal is to understand what is making things difficult and what might help.
Do I Have ADHD?
If you've spent years wondering why you can be highly capable and motivated in some situations but struggle enormously with attention, organisation or getting things done in others, it may be worth exploring.
You don't need to diagnose yourself from an online checklist.
A comprehensive adult ADHD assessment can help you understand whether ADHD may be contributing to your experiences, consider other possible explanations and identify practical next steps.
Wondering, “Do I have ADHD?”
You don't have to work it out on your own.
If you're wondering whether ADHD could be affecting your work, relationships or everyday life, get in touch with thegrowspace to discuss whether an adult ADHD assessment could help you understand the bigger picture.