Six or more symptoms of inattention persist for at least 6 months, or 5 or more if age 17 or older.
The symptoms are inconsistent with developmental level and negatively affect functioning.
Inattention symptoms include careless mistakes, difficulty sustaining attention, seeming not to listen, not following through on instructions, difficulty organizing tasks, avoiding sustained mental effort, losing necessary items, distractibility, and forgetfulness.

Six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity persist for at least 6 months, or 5 or more if age 17 or older.
Hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms include fidgeting, leaving seat when expected to remain seated, running or climbing in inappropriate situations or inner restlessness, difficulty engaging quietly, acting as if driven by a motor, excessive talking, blurting out answers, trouble waiting, and interrupting or intruding on others.

There is clear evidence that the symptoms interfere with or reduce the quality of social, academic, or occupational functioning.

Symptoms interfere with social, academic, or occupational functioning and are not better explained by another mental disorder.

ADHD is not just distractibility. It is a longstanding pattern of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, or some combination of the three that starts early, shows up across settings, and genuinely gets in the way of functioning.
Two-domain structure: It helps to think in two buckets: inattentive symptoms and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms. Some patients live mostly in one domain, while others clearly show both.
Cross-setting rule: The pattern should not live in just one environment. Symptoms need to show up in at least two settings, such as home, school, work, or social life.
Adult nuance: Adults often look less overtly hyperactive than children. What shows up instead may be restlessness, disorganization, forgetfulness, and chronic executive-function problems.
Clinical focus: Common adult screening and follow-up tool.

Common adult screening and follow-up tool.

Useful when gathering parent and teacher collateral in pediatric practice.

Broad symptom and impairment profiling across settings.

Measures functional impairment rather than symptoms alone.

These medications are FDA-indicated for ADHD in specific age ranges and formulations; product-level labeling differs.

These options are useful when stimulant tolerability, misuse risk, anxiety, tics, sleep issues, or patient preference changes treatment selection.

Simple Psych

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder