Adult ADHD Self Assessment

Name: Safe Place Therapy
Price range: $$

Many clients come to Safe Place Therapy with the question,

do I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD?

The person may have been encouraged by a friend or family member who has ADHD and has seen a few signs.

We have provided this online checklist for you to screen through some presentations of ADHD to help gauge the potential of you having ADHD.

Please note that scoring high on this test does not automatically mean you have ADHD.

ADHD?

Many other factors besides ADHD could be adding to your inability to focus or start tasks. Common other issues might be:

Stress from tasks or other issues
Physical issues like lack of sleep, poor diet or medical issues
Depression and anxiety can lead to some similar presentation to ADHD
Life circumstances like grief, big changes occurring.

Any of the above could be more prominent than ADHD or perhaps exacerbate issues for you. It is important to speak to one of our team rather than just taking a test because we can explore your life and the possibilities of how to help you move forward.

One myth about ADHD is that all who experience it ‘have to’ have elements related to hyperactivity and inattention. This is not true and ADHD is on a spectrum. Some people can be very surprised by having a diagnosis of ADHD, simply because they weren’t seen as the kid who ‘couldn’t sit still’. This might be because you were very good at masking your symptoms, pushing yourself and completing tasks, or your brain may specifically have issues related to focus and not hyperactivity.

It is important not to compare your life experience with someone else who lives with ADHD and to understand for yourself what issues occur for you and why.

ADHD Self-Screening Tool for Adults

Think you might have ADHD? Here's a self-screening tool for you.

It’s easy to put what could be ADHD down to other things and recognise it. There can be a variety of reasons for this. Often it’s because the symptoms have become so “normal” that you’ve shifted the blame onto other causes. Things like “I’m too busy”, “I’m too tired, and my head is spinning”, or “I’m just disorganised or possibly because I’m so stressed out.”

For many of you, who have been living with ADHD, shifting the blame has meant that you’ve not even stopped to consider that perhaps not everyone experiences what you do or that maybe there’s another way to understand what you’re experiencing. Perhaps there are even helpful strategies and treatments that might make things easier?

Some of you might even feel that it’s because you aren’t good at various things, and it feels like a personal failing.

What we know for sure is that ADHD and its symptoms are neurological. So, it’s not your choice or a personal failing by you, but rather it’s because brains are all created differently.

A brain with ADHD is usually capable of just as many amazing things (sometimes even more than others!). Of course, all amazing things come with their own (sometimes) significant challenges.

If you resonate with this, feel this might be you and are interested in seeing if you may have an ADHD brain, the World Health Organisation has developed a self-screening tool.

This tool is not an assessment and does not give you a diagnosis. However, it may support your decision to get a proper assessment for ADHD done.

This tool does not replace consultation with a qualified professional.

Only a qualified registered Clinical Psychologist, Psychiatrist or Paediatrician can accurately assess and diagnose ADHD.

This screener is free to use, but only if you are 18 years old or older and suspect that you may have ADHD.

This self-screening tool will ask you 18 questions and takes about five minutes to complete. Your responses will be rated, and at the end of the test, you’ll get an indication of whether to get a proper assessment for ADHD.

Scoring 14 or higher on this self-screening tool is a good indication that you would benefit from seeking a professional assessment and diagnosis.

Once completed, you can download your answers and score and use this to support your assessment process.

When using this tool, please make sure that you:

are the only one completing the questions (i.e. no one else is also answering with you, potentially muddying the results), and
select the answer that best describes how you have felt and conducted yourself over the past six months.

If you’d like a copy of your answers and score, you’ll need to:

complete the survey
see your score, and
hit the submit button.

The page will refresh and when you scroll down the page you’ll see a “You’re done” message and give people the option to download a pdf of your answers and score.

Conclusion

Research suggests that the symptoms of ADHD can persist into adulthood, having a significant impact on your relationships, careers, and even your safety.

It’s easy to misunderstand ADHD. Many people who have it do not receive the appropriate treatment and, as a result, may never reach their full potential.

Part of the problem is that it can be challenging to diagnose, particularly in adults.

It’s a widely considered viewpoint that adult ADHD is underdiagnosed, meaning people with the condition aren’t getting the help they need. Consequently, the World Health Organisation and the Workgroup on Adult ADHD have generated this self-screening tool.

This Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-5) tool is an instrument that consists of the eighteen DSM-V criteria.

Next Steps

If you scored fourteen (14) or more, you’re likely to have the symptoms consistent with ADHD in adults (91.4% sensitivity, 96.0% specificity).

If you’d like to get an ADHD assessment and diagnosis in Melbourne, Australia, we recommend getting in touch with a qualified psychiatrist, psychologist or medical professional.

Please contact us for more information.

You may want to explore how these challenges may have affected your ability to work, take care of things at home, or get along with other people, such as your partner or family. Whether you wish to do that before or after your ADHD diagnosis, Safe Place Therapy is your safe place to talk.

Listen to our Podcast

Safe Place Therapy counsellors discuss ADHD in Adults and how therapy can help.

Credit

This content is adapted from ADHD.org.nz and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.