There are a number of tests for Adult Attention Deficit Disorder diagnosis that purport to give you a true diagnosis online after filling out a 25 question (or less) survey. I saw one instrument that had just 6 questions.
I have ADD, and have had it since I was a child. It was a real relief to learn that I had a situation going on in my head and that this is not how everyone’s brain functions. I think most of us with ADD – ADHD are shocked to learn that we have something that deserves a diagnosis.
To me it was my natural state of mind. It was stressing me out all during grade school, high school, college and grad school. It wasn’t until grad school in psychology that I knew what was going on. We gave each other tests for different maladies and I was diagnosed with profound ADD – ADHD. My attention span had always been just seconds long. Before 1997 I’d not experienced a whole 5 minutes of concentration on any one subject. The cure for me? Meditation. I’ll talk about that more in another post.
There are a whole lot of people out there – and some of you reading this too – that have Adult Attention Deficit Disorder and it would be a relief to have it diagnosed today so you can help yourself.
Recently I’ve had a couple people writing me email about how they find out if they have ADD – ADHD. I referred them to some tests I found online that appear to be valid… are they valid instruments though? I don’t recall the names of the ADD tests we used in grad school and I’ve been firmly entrenched in IT for the last 14 years.
I’m not sure if any online assessments of ADD are valid. I know they can’t be used as a diagnosis. I’d not use online tests to diagnose Attention Deficit Disorder, but they’re very helpful as a pre-diagnosis. A step to take if you’re concerned you might have it – so you can seek a real diagnosis from a qualified mental health professional.
If you’re interested in what the American Psychological Association criteria are for diagnosis of adult ADD – ADHD, click here – taken from the DSM-IV Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition.
Though some say living with ADHD – ADD is all negative, that’s not been my experience. Maybe that’s because I just didn’t know any better for the first 30 years of my life and thought I was experiencing life the same way everyone else was. I’ve enjoyed a life with a lot of change as a result of living with child and adult attention deficit disorder.
Would my life have been the same had my parents diagnosed it when I was 8 years old? The bulk of study on ADD diagnosis and ADHD was in the 1990′s, so it’s not likely anyone knew about ADD in 1974.
My life on ADD medication would have definitely been different. It’s a choice you have to make for yourself – live with it, or medicate.
Or, you can go the route I discovered just by chance… meditation. I’ll write something about how meditation has helped me cope with ADD in the next few days. Self attention deficit diagnosis over the internet is not something I’d recommend. If you look at the criteria for assessing ADD link I gave above there are tightly defined criteria for diagnosing adult attention deficit disorder and answering some questions and applying their scoring rules are not enough.
Getting 28 points when 25 is supposedly indicative of having the disorder doesn’t mean much of anything in itself. If you do score high on the online tests book an appointment with a mental health counselor and get a genuine test and full ADD – ADHD behavioral assessment. You owe it to yourself to find out because ADD disorder is highly treatable.
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