ADHD Diagnosis
The process of diagnosing ADHD in adults can be trickier than diagnosing children. An accurate diagnosis begins with a clinical interview by an expert in ADHD.
Bring any medical or academic records to your appointment. It's also beneficial to bring rating scales and interview transcripts that provide information about your health issues.
Signs and symptoms
A doctor will conduct a physical examination and interview you to determine whether ADHD is present. The evaluator might ask questions about a person's childhood and family history and utilize checklists to document symptoms. The evaluator will also review school and work records and may also want to speak with teachers or others who spend time 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. Those criteria are that the person has several symptoms for at least 6 months and that the symptoms manifest in more than one setting like at home and at school or at work. The evaluator could also check for other conditions which can cause similar symptoms such as depression or anxiety.
Adults will be assessed to determine the severity of their symptoms and the impact they have on social or work life. The evaluation will also inquire what the person's feelings are about his or her symptoms and how they impact daily life.
Many people who suffer from ADHD are unable to remember whether their issues began in the beginning or later. A specialist will often interview anyone who is familiar with the person, such as their spouse, sibling or parent for an adult, or a teacher or parent of children. The examiner might use checklists to assess adults, as well as a list with the behaviors that children exhibit.
Contrary to the previous guidelines for diagnosing, an adult cannot be diagnosed with ADHD until the symptoms have been identified prior to the age of 12. This change is intended to prevent people who had ADHD as children from being misdiagnosed with other disorders, such as depression or anxiety.
Medical History
If you suspect that your child or yourself has ADHD the first step should be to speak with an expert who can perform an exhaustive evaluation. Ask your personal physician or an experienced local mental health expert for recommendations, or search the phone book for "psychiatry" or "psychology." You can also contact an adult ADHD support group, since many will have worked with local specialists who could provide recommendations.
During the ADHD diagnostic evaluation, a medical professional will look over the patient's medical and family history. They will inquire about how the symptoms affect functioning in different settings, like at work, at home or in relationships. It is crucial to determine the severity of the symptoms as the APA's guidelines on ADHD stipulate that the symptoms have to cause significant impairment to be diagnosed.
The healthcare professional will talk to the patient, but they may also ask for information from his or her parents or siblings as well as friends who know him. Some professionals will have people fill out questionnaires or rating scales, which include ADHD symptoms checklists and standardized behavior ratings. Teachers and other caregivers can also be useful sources of information.
The APA's Diagnostic Guidelines say that symptoms should be frequent and affect performance. This is important, as other conditions, such as mood disorders or learning disabilities can be similar to ADHD (Austerman 2015). In addition an exam by a doctor could be performed to identify other possible causes for the symptoms, such as thyroid problems, vision and hearing problems or the use of certain medications like stimulants or sedatives.
Family History
In some instances there is an ancestor's history of ADHD is a major element in determining if you have an 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 crucial that healthcare professionals have a complete picture of the symptoms of their patients, which includes whether or not they are present at work, in school or in social settings. A physician should also consider the extent of how symptoms impact a person's daily functioning. This is a better measure than simply counting symptoms or looking at the level of intelligence of the patient.
For teens and children doctors may conduct an interview with the child or teen as well as his or her parents. In most cases, a pediatrician or psychiatrist is specialized in the evaluation and treatment of ADHD. A mental health professional with extensive experience in ADHD is required to conduct a thorough interview for adults.
A thorough evaluation includes a physical exam, which can help determine certain conditions that may cause symptoms similar to ADHD. A complete medical history is also taken. For children, this could include prior medical and school records as well as an evaluation of the psychological state by a school counselor or psychologist. School records from the past can be helpful to adults to determine whether symptoms started in the early years of childhood.
In the case of diagnosing adults with psychiatric disorders, it is particularly important to determine if the symptoms impact daily functioning. A thorough psychiatric exam could be required, which may include scoring scales and questions asked by the caregiver and patient and caregivers, as well as a clinical interview and referral to medical exam. assessment for adhd 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 issues at home, at school and in the community. The provider will inquire about your or child's medical personal, family, and medical history, and will also review any records that you may bring with you, such as old school report cards. This information will help the doctor decide if you or your child is eligible to take a test for diagnosing 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, which includes both at home and school. The ratings should be given by people who know your child and yourself well, including coaches, teachers as well as Scouts, religious leaders and parents.
To be diagnosed with ADHD, children and adults must exhibit a symptomatic behavior that is debilitating and hinders everyday functioning in multiple environments, including school, at work, or at play. The signs should be evident in the early years of childhood, usually before the age of 12. They are not caused by any other mental health disorder.
Psychometric and neuropsychological tests to measure IQ, brain function and cognitive functioning can enhance the sensitivity and specificity of ADHD evaluations. They should be utilized in conjunction with a clinician's assessment and rating scales as part of a comprehensive assessment plan. These assessments may include the use of a standardized questionnaire, such as the ADHD Diagnostic Interview for Adults (DIVA) or a computerized adaptive testing approach that measures response speed short-term memory, executive functions. In the future, digital technology such as virtual reality for continuous performance tests as well as sensors for head movement may aid in improving the ecological validity of these ADHD assessment tools by permitting the person being evaluated to be immersed in their surroundings rather than sitting in an office for clinical evaluation.
Tests
Your GP or a mental health specialist may refer you to an expert if he or they suspect ADHD. A thorough evaluation will consist of an extensive interview, data from other sources, such as your spouse or significant others and the standardized scales of behavior ratings for ADHD. The evaluator will order tests based on the clinical impression to check for any conditions that may be affecting your symptoms. This includes depression, learning disabilities, or a medical illness.
In order to conduct a thorough ADHD evaluation, the assessor must determine whether your symptoms significantly impact your life and functioning. The impairment can occur in a variety of settings, like at home, at work, in school, or in your social relationships. The evaluator needs to know what your symptoms have affected you in each setting. This will enable the evaluator to establish an assessment, and then formulate treatment suggestions.
In addition to the symptom ratings, a comprehensive assessment usually includes one or more standardized performance test for ADHD. These testing instruments are based on research and compare the behavior of those with ADHD with those without. These instruments improve on the limitations of a traditional clinical interview since they focus more on specific behaviors rather than an individual's overall performance. These measures can help evaluaters determine if a person is lying or trying to cheat on a test. This problem has been recognized in the field for a long time.
In addition to the standardized test and symptom rating scales as well as the symptom rating scales, an extensive ADHD assessment should include brain scans or other neurological imaging procedures. However these tests aren't commonly used in a clinical setting because they are expensive and expose the patient to radiation.