What is ADHD?
ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and is a neuropsychiatric disability (NPD). The diagnosis means that people with this disability often have difficulties in managing their everyday lives. In most cases, people with ADHD have difficulty concentrating and controlling impulses, they don't get things done and have trouble keeping things organized.
What is ADHD not?
ADHD is not a disability that in any way affects a person's intelligence. You can have ADHD and be incredibly intelligent. It is also not a disease, people with ADHD function in a different way than what current norms and social structures say, but you are not sick just because you have a diagnosis of ADHD. It is important to be clear about this, especially at the stage when a person is diagnosed. For some, the diagnosis is a trauma, for others it is a relief to have a reason and explanation for their difficulties in everyday life.
ADHD help
The Sveapsychologists offer assessments, support sessions and help for people with ADHD and their families.
Symptoms of ADHD
What are the signs of ADHD? ADHD can manifest itself in slightly different ways and to different degrees; sometimes people talk about three different forms of ADHD, of which ADD is one. Here, for the sake of simplicity, we will group the terms together and talk about ADHD as an overall diagnosis.
Concentration difficulties
A common sign is that you find it very difficult to concentrate and stay focused on one thing. This can manifest itself, for example, by you:
have difficulty planning
avoids important things because it is boring
make careless mistakes
often misspell even though you know how to spell
unable to read and follow instructions
have difficulty focusing on a movie or a book
unable to arrive on time and meet deadlines
remembering important things
Impulse management
Another common symptom of ADHD is that you have difficulty stopping impulses. Which can show itself by you:
often interrupt people you are talking to
answers before a question has been asked clearly
can't control your temper and get angry and have outbursts easily
have trouble standing in line and waiting for things
Overactivity
Being overactive is also something that often characterizes ADHD, for example by
cannot sit still
often feel stressed, restless and impatient
talk a lot and often get into situations where you disturb others
cannot handle quiet activities
Symptoms of ADHD
In short, ADHD is a neuropsychiatric disability characterized by difficulty concentrating, controlling impulses and maintaining attention and focus. To get the diagnosis, an investigation is required, read more about the investigation offered by Sveapsykologerna.
Assessment for symptoms of ADHD
For an investigation into ADHD to be considered, the following requirements must be met:
The problems you are experiencing must have started before the age of 12 and have lasted for at least 6 months.
What is perceived as a difficulty should be noticed and affect at least two different environments, for example, it may mean that both the home environment and the work/school environment should be affected.
All other alternative explanations should have been ruled out.
How does an investigation work?
An assessment of a potential ADHD diagnosis is a comprehensive process carried out by psychologists and doctors. It is done by interviewing you and mapping your life and daily routine, conducting a psychological assessment and a medical examination, and summarizing the results together with the results of interviews with relatives of the person being assessed.
The results must be unambiguous and the criteria are strict so that the diagnosis is not given to people whose personality tends to be close to the symptoms of ADHD. In other words, it is not common for people who do not have ADHD to receive such a diagnosis.
Experts on ADHD
Sveapsykologerna is established in the field of assessments and treatments of ADHD and Sveapsykologerna's psychologist David Waskuri often appears in the media when an expert in the field is requested.
Treatment after diagnosis of ADHD
The basis for managing your diagnosis is knowledge. In other words, treatment for ADHD always starts with a joint review of the diagnosis so that you understand what ADHD is and how it affects you in different situations.
Sometimes understanding is enough for people with a mild difficulty. They can then change their daily lives and adapt to help themselves.
For other people, we may need to go through tools and set up routines together, as well as adding a psychological treatment such as CBT.
In most cases, people diagnosed with ADHD are also offered medication. Medication is used to reduce overactivity and impulsivity, and to improve concentration and social interaction.