You may also want to give these lists to a parent or a friend and get their opinion as to how true they think these items are for you. If you feel that there is reason to suspect that you have ADD, you will want to contact a trained professional to help you make that determination. You can reach an appropriate professional through a number of avenues. A counselor at Counseling and Psychological Services can help connect you with a professional for an ADD assessment. If you have health insurance, you will want to contact your health insurance provider as they may cover the cost of the assessment. If they do cover the cost, they will likely have a specific list of professionals whose services are covered by your plan. Other lower cost assessment sources can be identified by CAPS staff.
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ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder

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Dr. Diane Knight.
Last updated on July 15, 2007.
Copyright © 2007 Mason Counseling & Psychological Services

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Do I have ADD?

If you are reading this page, it is probably because you, or someone you are close to, may have ADD. So then, how do you figure out whether or not you have ADD?

  1. Are you moody?
  2. Were you an underachiever in school? Now?
  3. Do you have trouble getting started on things?
  4. Do you drum your fingers a lot, tap your feet fidget, or pace?
  5. When you read, do you find that you often have to reread a paragraph or an entire page because you are daydreaming?
  6. Do you tune out or space out a lot?
  7. Are you excessively impatient?
  8. Are you impulsive?
  9. Are you easily distracted?
  10. Do you procrastinate chronically?
  11. Do you often get excited by projects and then not follow through?
  12. Do you change the radio or TV station frequently?
  13. Do you feel driven, as if an engine inside you won't slow down?
  14. Are you always on the go, even when you don't really want to be?
  15. More than most people, do you feel that it is hard for you to make yourself understood?
  16. As a kid were you called words like, "a day-dreamer," "lazy," "a spaceshot," impulsive,""disruptive," or just plain "bad"?
  17. In intimate relationships is your inability to linger over conversations an impediment?
  18. Do you find it hard to be alone?
  19. Do you chronically resolve to organize your life better only to find that you're always on the brink of chaos?
  20. Were you ever the class clown?
  21. Were you a daydreamer in class?
  22. Do you have trouble accurately assessing the impact you have on others?
  1. Are you smarter than you have been able to demonstrate?
  2. More than most people, do you hate waiting in line?
  3. Are you constantly having to sit on yourself to keep from blurting out the wrong thing?
  4. Were you hyperactive as a child?
  5. Are you drawn to situations of high intensity?
  6. Would you rather have your teeth drilled by an dentist than make or follow a list?
  7. Do you have a family history of ADD or hyperactivity?
  8. Do you have a hard time reading a book all the way through?
  9. Do you regularly break rules or minor laws rather than put up with the frustration of obeying them?
  10. Do you frequently make letter or number re-versals?
  11. Do you struggle to maintain self-esteem?
  12. Is paying attention or staying tuned a chronic problem for you?
  13. Do you work best in spurts?
  14. Are you particularly restless?
  15. Even if you are easily distracted, do you find that there are times when your power of concentration is laser beam intense?
  16. Do you have really a hard time tolerating frustration?
  17. Are you restless without "action" in your life?
  18. Do you handle money erratically?
  19. Do you find that structure and routine are both rare in your life and soothing when you find them?
  20. Do you have trouble using an unexpected chunk of free time or get depressed if at loose ends?
  21. Do you often get depressed after a success?

The only way to truly confirm a diagnosis of ADD is with the help of someone who is knowledgeable in the field, usually a psychologist or a psychiatrist, and sometimes a physician. To determine whether or not you have ADD, the professional will likely begin by extensively asking you about your background in areas that include your family history, your medical history, your academic history, your employment history, your interpersonal history, and your home history (what you do every day with every day tasks). While your history is the most important key to the diagnosis, psychological tests are also very helpful (and sometimes required by schools for appropriate interventions and accommodations) for providing evidence that confirms the diagnosis of ADD.

Assessment for ADD can be extensive and expensive, so you'll probably want to consider ahead of time, whether or not it would be prudent for you to pursue such an assessment. Below are two boxes that contain some questions which you can use to help decide if you should pursue an assessment. However, because many things other than ADD could make you answer yes to these questions, these questions cannot take the place of an assessment by a trained professional. Remember that most of these items are true of just about everybody from time to time, but if you find yourself realizing that most of these are true of you most of the time, you may want to consider being assessed for ADD.

Chesapeake psychological services suggests the following questions:

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Do you have problems with:
Do you:
These questions have been taken from a much longer list in Hallowell's book, Driven to Distraction.