Anxiety, depression, learning disorders, physical health, and many other conditions can cause symptoms that look like ADHD but aren't.
Doctors often mistake ADHD symptoms in adults for mood disorders, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other conditions with overlapping symptoms. For adults, hyperactivity can be turned inward.
Masking is when a person with ADHD acts in a “socially acceptable” way to fit in and form better connections with those around them. This usually involves camouflaging their symptoms by controlling their impulses, rehearsing responses, and copying the behaviors of those who don't have ADHD.
ADHD symptoms may overlap with the signs of other conditions, leading to misdiagnosis. For example: Feeling distracted or having difficulty focusing can be a symptom of ADHD and symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Symptoms of Mood Swings in ADHD
Switching from excited one moment to sad, angry, or anxious the next. Fluctuating between having trouble paying attention and hyperfocusing on an activity. Having bursts of energy and fatigue through the day. Feeling emotions intensely and having difficulty regulating them.
For adults with symptoms of ADHD, their experiences could have been overlooked in childhood; this is especially relevant to girls and women with ADHD who report more inattentive or internalized symptoms. High functioning ADHD symptoms include: Difficulty multitasking. Getting stressed out easily.
Interestingly, girls with untreated ADHD may be more likely to blame and judge themselves for these problems, leading to a higher risk for low self-esteem than boys who have ADHD. They may also be more likely to have problems with substance abuse, eating disorders, and anxiety.
Symptoms of ADHD can have some overlap with symptoms of bipolar disorder. With ADHD, a child or teen may have rapid or impulsive speech, physical restlessness, trouble focusing, irritability, and, sometimes, defiant or oppositional behavior.
Untreated ADHD in adults can lead to mental health disorders like anxiety and depression. This is because ADHD symptoms can lead to focus, concentration, and impulsivity problems. When these problems are not managed effectively, they can lead to feelings of frustration, irritability, and low self-esteem.
Often has trouble holding attention on tasks or play activities. Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly. Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (e.g., loses focus, side-tracked). Often has trouble organizing tasks and activities.
Indeed, if the TOVA test is used as the sole criteria to diagnose or rule out ADHD, it is quite possible that because of “false negatives” from the T.O.V.A assessment, the patient's ADHD may remain undiagnosed without treatment.
“Over 80 percent of kids with ADHD have a second disorder, which really complicates the diagnosis of ADHD,” says Russell Barkley, Ph. D., a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina. Anxiety, mood disorders, and learning disorders often go along with ADHD.
Adults with ADHD may find it difficult to focus and prioritize, leading to missed deadlines and forgotten meetings or social plans. The inability to control impulses can range from impatience waiting in line or driving in traffic to mood swings and outbursts of anger.
“Nobody has perfect memory… but for [people with ADHD], it's extreme. They feel like they're lost all the time,” Almagor said. He believes this is why people don't take ADHD seriously. “I think that's why some people don't respect the severity of what [a person with ADHD] can experience,” he said.
Methylphenidate. Methylphenidate is the most commonly used medicine for ADHD. It belongs to a group of medicines called stimulants, which work by increasing activity in the brain, particularly in areas that play a part in controlling attention and behaviour.
Usually by the time a child with ADHD reaches age 7 years, his parents have already become aware that their child's inattentiveness, level of activity, or impulsiveness is greater than is typical.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety disorders have been proposed as precursors of bipolar disorder, but their joint and relative roles in the development of bipolar disorder are unknown.
Some doctors start instead with either clonidine or guanfacine plus one of the following mood stabilizers: lithium, carbamazepine, valproic acid, or lamotrigine. Once the patient is stable on therapeutic doses, a stimulant can be added if ADHD symptoms remain; if necessary, an antidepressant is sometimes added as well.
These include a thorough diagnostic interview, information from independent sources such as the spouse or other family members, DSM-5 symptom checklists, standardized behavior rating scales for ADHD and other types of psychometric testing as deemed necessary by the clinician.
No. Diagnosing ADHD requires extensive knowledge, skills and training and ADHD must be diagnosed by a certified professional like a medical doctor or psychiatrist.