A Few Simple Ways to Diagnose ADHD (Not Really!)

Compiled by Cynthia Hammer, MSW, Executive Director

Author of the book, Living with Inattentive ADHD

For years I used unintentional intermittent fasting as part of my diagnostic screening for ADHD. While some people deliberately skip meals, whenever I heard a person say “I didn’t realize until 4:00 that I hadn’t eaten all day!”, I’d immediately add ADHD to the possible diagnoses to consider. Hyperfocus, distractibility, and inattentiveness to interoceptive states render some with ADHD unaware of their body’s needs until they become really hungry.   ~~John Kruse, MD

 A psychiatrist once told me he could diagnose ADHD in a person as soon as that person walked into his office and commented on the diplomas posted on the walk.  “No one ever does that,” he said, “unless they have ADHD.”

Another physician told me a tell-tale sign of ADHD is a person who sits with one foot turned on its side.  It creates a small pain that helps to keep the person awake and engaged even when the subject is boring. 

 I think I could diagnose someone else’s ADHD by how often they get called back to the kitchen by the smoke alarm as they left something cooking on the stove when they wandered away.

 What are your tell-tale ways of recognizing ADHD in others?  Speak up.  I know we are all guilty of this.