To diagnose ADHD, a psychiatrist will look for clusters of symptoms, as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
ADHD symptoms must be present from childhood and must impact your daily life.
The core symptoms of ADHD often manifest themselves in childhood as follows:
- Inattention - Easily distracted and unable to concentrate, People with poor organizational skills.
- Impulsivity - Risk-taking, impatience, and disproportionately emotional reactions
- Hyperactivity: Excessively energetic, talkative, and fidgety.
It is not uncommon for people with ADHD to have different symptoms. In addition, the behaviors of men and women are often different. For example, males tend to display high levels of physical hyperactivity, while females can appear quiet, inattentive, or inattentive because they have mental hyperactivity, resulting in excessive dreaming.
ADHD is broadly characterized by inattention and hyperactive-impulsive behavior, but the diagnosis will also contain a sub-type, each tied to one or more of the core characteristics.
Types of ADHD
Type 1, Inattentive (I-ADHD, PI-ADHD).
You may have more symptoms of inattention if you are diagnosed with this type of ADHD. A lack of impulse control and hyperactivity can characterize the inattentive form of ADHD.
People with a tendency to be inattentive:
- You can easily get distracted and miss details.
- Get bored quickly
- You have difficulty focusing on one task
- You may need help learning and organizing new information.
- You lose pencils, paper, or any other item needed to complete the task
- Listening is not easy
- Slowly move and make it appear that they are daydreaming
- Information is processed slower and with less accuracy than other people
- You have trouble understanding directions
Type 2 - Hyperactive/Impulsive-type
Hyperactivity and impulsivity are symptoms of this type of ADHD. In addition, this type of ADHD can cause inattention but not to the same extent as other symptoms.
Hyperactive or impulsive people are more likely to:
- Feel restless, squirm or fidget
- You have difficulty sitting down
- Talk Constantly
- Play with and touch objects even if they are inappropriate for the task.
- Have trouble engaging in quiet activities
- You are always "on the move."
- Are impatient
- Don't consider the consequences of your actions when you act out of line
- Answers that are blurred out and inappropriate comments
Type 3: Combined-type ADHD
The most common form of ADHD. Combined-type ADHD means that your symptoms cover both inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive behavior.
ADHD symptoms can change in severity, visibility, and impact over a lifetime, meaning someone can move between combined-type ADHD, inattentive-type ADHD, hyperactive/impulsive-type ADHD, and 'sub-clinical' ADHD (subclinical ADHD refers to someone who has too few medical symptoms to meet diagnostic criteria). It can be helpful to understand the subtypes of ADHD, but it could also reflect traits most easily observed as unfavorable. All forms of ADHD are characterized by the same changes to the nervous system and brain during development. However, no two brains will be the same.
Most people, with or without ADHD, experience some degree of inattentive or hyperactive/impulsive behavior. However, the symptoms of ADHD are more severe and can interfere with daily life, including school, work, social situations, and home.
ADHD and emotional disorders
People with ADHD often experience their emotions differently than others.
- Fast-building, intense and short-lived feelings
- Having difficulty recognizing emotions in others and themselves
- Extremes of empathy or reacting without emotion to others
- Many more emotions are experienced simultaneously by a person than they might expect
It can be challenging for people with ADHD and those without to comprehend the experience of multiple contradictory feelings at once. It is common for people with ADHD to feel a mixture of emotions simultaneously.
Different emotions can cause a shutdown in ADHD people. They may become overwhelmed by emotions and space out. They may also find it difficult to move or speak.
People with ADHD are also more likely to experience "meltdowns" than others. This is when emotions build up, and someone acts out. They may cry, be angry, laugh, yell, and move simultaneously. It's similar to a child's tantrum and can last throughout adulthood. Meltdowns are a great way to regulate yourself and can bring lasting relief for adults.
Emotional differences, meltdowns, and shutdowns also characterize autism.
This difference in emotions is often called 'emotional dysfunction.' In the medical community, there is a debate about the role that ADHD plays in emotional dysregulation symptoms.
Does emotional dysregulation affect ADHD?
Emotional dysregulation was considered a core component of ADHD and was always included in ADHD descriptions. Before the term ADHD was standardized, medical literature referred to ADHD as 'hyperactive-child syndrome,' "mental restlessness," "minimal brain dysfunction," and "defect in moral regulation." All of these early conceptualizations considered emotional dysregulation a significant part of ADHD. Consequently, physicians sought to treat their patients and mitigate the impact of emotional dysregulation on someone's life.
In the 1970s, ADHD research was formalized to allow it to be included in the DSM, the main psychiatry text. Researchers observed emotional dysregulation repeatedly during their research. However, they focused more on hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity because these traits are more accessible to measure in a clinical or laboratory setting. It was difficult to measure emotional dysregulation, so it was removed from medical descriptions of ADHD.
What do we know about emotional dysregulation, ADHD, and now?
Researchers today agree that emotional dysregulation and ADHD are closely related.
However, there are still debates about how emotional dysregulation is related to ADHD. Models that are opposed include:
- Emotional dysregulation, a core characteristic of ADHD, is caused by the same brain and nervous system changes that affect features such as impulse control, executive functions, and working memory. These changes also cause traits like hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity.
- Emotional dysregulation, a particular condition of ADHD, is caused by different but overlapping changes in the nervous system and brain. People with ADHD have a higher risk of developing emotional dysregulation.
- Together, emotional dysregulation and ADHD constitute a condition that is distinct from ADHD.
Others believe that emotional dysregulation is due solely to co-occurring mental disorders. This idea is not valid. While co-occurring conditions can make research difficult and weaken the data, it has been proven false.
