• A physical examination, which can help rule out other possible causes for the symptoms
• A series of interviews with you or your child
• Interviews or reports from other significant people, such as partners, parents and teachers

To be diagnosed with ADHD, your child must also have:

• Been displaying symptoms continuously for at least 6 months
• Started to show symptoms before the age of 12
• Been showing symptoms in at least 2 different settings – for example, at home and at school, to rule out the possibility that the behaviour is just a reaction to certain teachers or to parental control
• symptoms that make their lives considerably more difficult on a social, academic or occupational level
• symptoms that are not just part of a developmental disorder or difficult phase, and are not better accounted for by another condition

The following are a list of symptoms associated with ADHD in adults:

• Carelessness and lack of attention to detail
• Continually starting new tasks before finishing old ones
• Poor organisational skills
• Inability to focus or prioritise
• Continually losing or misplacing things
• Forgetfulness
• Restlessness and edginess
• Difficulty keeping quiet, and speaking out of turn
• Blurting out responses and often interrupting others
• Mood swings, irritability and a quick temper
• Inability to deal with stress
• Extreme impatience: such as at traffic lights, queues etc
• Taking risks in activities, often with little or no regard for personal safety or the safety of others – for example, driving dangerously