What is and what is not ADHD?

CATHARINA HARTMAN: So what’s the difference between someone with ADHD and someone who is hyperactive, impulsive, or inattentive sometimes? That’s a good question, and your answer isn’t easy. ADHD is not an all or nothing kind of disorder. There are many people around with some symptoms of ADHD, but they don’t get the diagnosis, because they’re not impaired. So if you go to the baker to get bread, but you come back with a cake because it looks so delicious, you may have been impulsive, but you don’t have ADHD. And when you don’t clean up your room for a while and you lose a couple of things, that doesn’t mean you have ADHD either. So what’s the difference between ADHD and not ADHD?

You have to have multiple symptoms and in more than one situation, for example, at school and at home. You have to be impaired by these symptoms, such that you cannot accomplish your daily tasks. And finally, your symptoms have to be present since childhood. If you have all this, then you have ADHD.