Online ADHD Quiz

If someone thinks they may have ADHD, then this quiz may help to guide further: if you test ‘positive’ on this screening tool (it is not a diagnostic test), then it would be wise to consider getting assessed properly.

Certain answers ‘count’ and others don’t. If an answer counts, it gets a ‘tick’ and – depending how frequent the symptoms occur - a score, ranging from 2 to 4. If on the first 6 questions you score 4 ‘ticks’ or more, then the likelihood that you might have ADHD is starting to hit the 80-85%.
More ticks means the likelihood increases. The points score (we call this the ‘intensity’ score) reflects how intense someone’s ADHD is. However, it is a screening tool and not a diagnostic instrument, so by itself it is not sufficient to diagnose ADHD properly.

The diagnosis is made by listening to the patient’s story, if possible underpinned by reports from people who know the person well and by carrying out a diagnostic test, such as the DIVA (the Diagnostic Interview for Adults with ADHD), which tests for symptoms and maps these against internationally agreed diagnostic standards, as laid down in the DSM-5 (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association). These diagnostic standards are the result of large numbers of so-called ‘field studies’.

The two main symptoms are problems with attention on one hand and hyperactivity and/or impulsivity on the other. However, ADHD results from under functioning of the prefrontal cortex (the area of the brain just above the eyes), which plays a central role in directing and guiding the functioning of a large range of brain functions (a bit like the conductor of a symphony orchestra).
The result is a long list of other symptoms, in addition to attention deficit and hyperactivity:problems with disrupted sleep or finding it difficult to get off to sleepa ‘brain that never stops’frequent and unpredictable mood swings that often last only hours or even minutesbinge eatingbeing disorganisedforgetfulnessanger outbursts,putting things off until the last minutegetting bored easilynot being able to sustain a job for longnot being able to keep relationships goingoverspending and binge buying and so on.

ADHD is essentially a neurological condition and shares symptoms with a range of other conditions or mental disorders. It requires a doctor to be able to make that distinction and that doctor needs to have specialist training, such as a psychiatrist or a neurologist (or for children sometimes paediatricians). We strongly discourage people to get a diagnosis from non-medical health professionals: whilst diagnosing ADHD for a specialist is often not all that difficult (compared to other conditions), being able to ensure it is not ‘something else’ is uniquely a task that doctors are specifically trained in. What looks like ADHD may well be something else and that is therefore also the reason you can’t diagnose it yourself.

Many people learn to compensate for their ADHD-related symptoms one way or another and often these coping strategies are quite effective. For most people, however, this can only help to some degree and in those cases medication is highly effective and safe.
In general the rule is that medication resolves 95% of symptoms for 95% of patients, with no (or only mild) side effects. The common response from patients is that such treatment is ‘life changing’, although for a small minority of approx. 5% treatment outcomes are less impressive. For even a smaller group the medication doesn’t work at all.
It needs to be stressed that ADHD medication is not addictive and can be stopped anytime: most patients only take it when they really need it, so they stop and start frequently without any problems.
One snag is that it is totally unpredictable which medication is the right one for a particular individual: this can only be established by trial and error: this is called ‘titration’ and this requires follow up sessions to chart progress.