6 Signs Someone Might Have ADHD
The question we get asked a lot is some version of this: how do I know if I have ADHD? It is a great question, and an honestly a confusing one. There is an enormous amount of information out there about ADHD. Some of it is good, some of it is not, and sorting one from the other is difficult. Hence we are making this article.
Why this question is harder than it looks
ADHD is not simple, and there is no one-size-fits-all version of it. Everyone's experience is different.
There are commonalities, of course. There are real similarities in what people find hard. But if you put two people with ADHD in the same room, you have two different human beings with two different lives, and their experience of it will not match. That matters more than it sounds like it does, because it means you cannot watch someone else, recognize them, and conclude that whatever they deal with must be what you have too. 🧠
Then there is how ADHD actually gets identified. Some people assume there is a simple test somewhere, a blood panel or a brain scan that settles it. As of right now, there is nothing like that. The best path to an ADHD diagnosis is an in-depth interview with a provider who knows you well, supported by scales and tools that fill in what the conversation alone might miss.
And one more thing that makes all of this murky. If you opened up the DSM and read through the criteria for almost anything, you would find yourself nodding along. Oh, I have felt that. Yeah, that happens to me. Nearly every person alive relates to some of these some of the time. Experiencing a few of them, or even all of them occasionally, is not the same as having ADHD.
So then how can we tell. A great starting point is with the ASRS.
The six signs, and where they come from
These six signs we are going through come from the ASRS, a screener that can be self-administered. It has six questions at the top and a longer set underneath, and those top six are the ones used to decide whether a full ADHD evaluation would be worth doing.
Let’s go through them now…
1. You stall out on the last stretch of a project
How often do you have trouble wrapping up the final details of a project, once the challenging parts have been done?
A lot of adults with ADHD start things. Work projects, hobbies, ideas, plenty of them. The finishing is where it gets stuck.
Part of that is that the beginning is genuinely more interesting. It is new, there is momentum, the hard and exciting part gets done. Then what is left is the tidying, the last few details, the unglamorous close-out, and none of that carries the same reward. People describe this one to me constantly: I start a lot of things, I have real trouble finishing them.
2. Getting things in order is the actual hard part
How often do you have difficulty getting things in order when you have to do a task that requires organization?
ADHD impacts the executive functions, which are the mental systems that help you plan, sequence, and move toward a goal.
When those systems are running against friction, organizing is exactly where it shows. Planning out a task, deciding what comes first, holding the order of the steps in your head, prioritizing when everything feels equally loud. This question is designed to surface that.
3. Appointments and obligations slip away
How often do you have problems remembering appointments or obligations?
Short-term memory takes a real hit when it comes to ADHD. You can ask someone with ADHD to grab bread on the way home, and five minutes later it is simply gone. Not ignored, not deprioritized. Gone. 🍞
That plays out with appointments, commitments, the thing you promised to send, the errand you fully intended to run.
4. Anything that takes real thought gets pushed
When you have a task that requires a lot of thought, how often do you avoid or delay getting started?
This one lands hard for people, and the first word that comes to mind is usually procrastination.
Underneath it is motivation. One of the leading researchers in the field has gone as far as framing ADHD as a “motivational deficit disorder”. When the reward is far away or vague, starting gets much harder.
5. Sitting still for a long stretch is genuinely uncomfortable
How often do you fidget or squirm with your hands or feet when you have to sit down for a long period of time?
This one leans toward the hyperactive side. Some people have a real difficulty staying physically still. You might see it as a fidget in the hands, or as needing to stand up partway through.
Worth separating out: this is not necessarily anxiety. It is more of an internal pull, and people describe it as almost physically painful. Sitting still becomes so uncomfortable that moving is not really a choice.
6. The motor does not shut off
How often do you feel overly active and compelled to do things, like you are driven by a motor?
Similar to the last one, but wider. This is not only physical movement, though that is part of it. It is the sense that you always have to be doing something, and that you could not power down even if you wanted to.
People say exactly that. I want to shut off. I cannot.
The scoring
Four or more on those six is the threshold where a fuller evaluation is worth pursuing, tt does not mean you have ADHD.
An ASRS score should never be treated as a diagnosis on its own, though that does happen. Six questions cannot carry that weight. There is not enough information in them to say anything conclusive about a person.
Who should be looking at this with you
The screener can be self-administered, and there is nothing wrong with taking it on your own. But my honest opinion is that it is best done with a professional, or at minimum reviewed with one who knows you and, most importantly, knows ADHD well.
That last part is not a small detail. Plenty of skilled clinicians have limited training specifically in ADHD, and this is precisely the territory where that gap shows up. If you are looking into ADHD therapy in New York, it is worth asking directly what a provider's experience with ADHD actually is before you get far into the process.
So do not assume, and do not guess. Take what you noticed in those six questions and bring it to someone who understands ADHD. Even the conversation itself tends to be clarifying.
Where to go from here
If you read those six questions and recognized yourself in four or more of them, that is not a verdict. It is a reason to go look, with someone who knows what they are looking at.
PRGRS Therapy is a group practice based in New York City, specializing in ADHD, with ADHD treatment available across New York State. If you want to talk it through with an ADHD therapist in NYC who works with this every day, book a free call and we will start with what you have noticed. 💬
