How to Tell You Have ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a mental condition that is characterized by consistent inattention and/or hyperactive impulsivity that interferes with daily life. If you’re having trouble focusing, and it’s starting to affect your schooling or job, relationships, and anything else in your life, then you might have ADHD.  

However, the inability to focus and impulse control issues could be symptoms of other mental conditions, so how do you know if it’s ADHD? Keep reading to find out. 

Common Symptoms of ADHD

The first way to determine if you have ADHD is, of course, to figure out whether or not you have consistent symptoms of this condition. If you experience many ADHD symptoms, then your doctor may want to perform further tests to confirm the diagnosis and determine the best treatment plan. Typical ADHD symptoms include:  

• Difficulty achieving goals
• Difficulty getting organized
• Difficulty sitting still
• Getting bored easily
• Impulsively saying or doing things without thinking
• Low self-esteem
• Making a lot of careless mistakes, particularly with repetitive activities
• Not following the rules because you like to do things your own way
• Overdoing things like shopping, eating, drinking, and working
• Procrastinating
• Taking risks
• Time management problems
• Tuning out or drifting off when people are talking
• Working on a lot of projects at once but never completing them

ADHD can also be hereditary, so if you have a blood relative with ADHD, you may be predisposed to it. If you’ve been experiencing some or all of these symptoms regularly for a significant amount of time, seeing an experienced psychiatrist for an evaluation and ADHD testing may be well worth your time and effort. 

Getting an ADHD Diagnosis

Trained healthcare providers know which questions to ask and how to evaluate a patient for signs of ADHD. They may want you to have a full physical exam, including vision and hearing tests, to gather as much data as possible for an accurate diagnosis. Your doctor may also have access to testing tools that can provide valuable insights on how ADHD affects you.   

Doctors may use a variety of available tools to determine whether or not you have ADHD. Some doctors look at brainwaves, and others use tools like the QbTest  to analyze behaviors such as attention and impulsivity, which can help them come to a more accurate conclusion.   

What Is the QbTest? 

The QbTest is a tool that can help doctors measure attention and movement in patients with ADHD and compare the results to people who don’t have ADHD. This technology helps providers diagnose ADHD more quickly and accurately, which in turn, helps them support the most effective ADHD treatment and symptom management strategies.  

According to a study on the QbTest , clinicians who used it were 77% more confident in their diagnosis of ADHD, 44% faster in reaching a diagnosis, and twice as likely to correctly eliminate ADHD when it wasn’t the cause of symptoms.  

In other words, the QbTest helps doctors give a faster and more accurate diagnosis of ADHD so that patients can get access to treatment more quickly and not get treated for the wrong mental illness.  

If you think you may have ADHD, you should consider seeing a psychiatrist specialized in diagnosis and treatment for ADHD that also offers testing options like QbTest. It’s important to make sure your provider is confident in their diagnosis so that you aren’t being treated for the wrong condition.  

Serenity Mental Health Centers offers ADHD testing using the QbTest to aid in accurately diagnosing ADHD. Our providers use it to gain an accurate picture of a patient’s symptoms in order to provide them with the best care plan to fit their individual needs. Contact us  for more information on this service.