ADD Symptoms and questions

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Checklist of Common ADD Symptoms: (If you check any five of the following symptoms you may have adult ADD)

  • 1. I often struggle to get and/or stay focused.
  • 2. I frequently struggle with concentration/paying attention in class or meetings.
  • 3. I have been known to frequently miss-place keys, documents, homework, or other important items.
  • 4. I am distracted rather easily.
  • 5. I have often struggled with remembering and/or memorization.
  • 6. I get confused easily when working with a lot of detail.
  • 7. Sometimes it is difficult to think things all the way through.
  • 8. I have been known to be somewhat disorganized.
  • 9. My performance doesn't always match my skills.
  • 10. I struggle with cursive writing so I often print.
  • 11. My short term memory is frequently a problem.
  • 12. I have often felt I was not as good as I could have been.
Note: The following questions should be considered in terms of your "lifetime", not just your present age or situation. Please check all that apply.

60 Self-Assessment Questions

All of the questions do not need to be answered in a single sitting

As you answer these questions you may find yourself thinking they could apply to any person at any given time. To a person with ADD however, many of these questions will have significant meaning because they occur nearly ALL of the time! If these questions do not apply to you and you are trying to understand ADD, think about the questions in terms of someone you know who might have ADD.

  • (1) Have you often felt like you would lose an important thought if another thought enters your mind?
  • (2) Have you often found yourself forgetting to do important things?
  • (3) Have you often found you needed to write things down so you wouldn't forget?
  • (4) When you do write things down do you often find more than one list with the same task on it?
  • (5) When you find your list or remember what needs to be done, do you have difficulty starting or finishing the tasks?
  • (6) Have you ever tried to communicate a complex thought to another person only to get lost in your own thought?
  • (7) Do you find that your wandering mind is usually more interesting than a teacher or other speaker?
  • (8) When you receive an instruction that has multiple parts, do you find yourself trying to retain some part of it and end up missing most of it?
  • (9) Do you find yourself trying to figure out multi-step problems, but keep returning to the first step?
  • (10) Do you ever find that you can only listen just so long and then your head can't fit another concept or even another thought in it?
  • (11) Do your thoughts ever seem like they aren't getting to where they need to go...so you try to come back to the beginning and start over?
  • (12) When it comes to intense focusing (like starting a project or doing homework) do you find yourself needing to get up and take frequent breaks?
  • (13) When it comes to intense learning or completing projects, do you find you can do better if you take short naps in between segments? (Assuming you don't fall asleep for long periods of time.)
Remember...Over Your "Lifetime"!
  • (14) Do you often find you have multiple unfinished projects that are difficult to return to?
  • (15) When stress gets high or things get complicated, do you get the sensation that you are having a headache without the pain?
  • (16) Do you often find yourself feeling like most other people can do complex things faster or easier than you?
  • (17) Do you often feel like you can't perform as well in a group of people because the pressure feels overwhelming?
  • (18) If you are interrupted while doing a project, doing homework, or just thinking something through, do you usually feel like you need to start over?
  • (19) Do you often feel overwhelmed when circumstances or expectations quickly change?
  • (20) Do you often set something down and convince yourself you will remember where it is, only to forget again?
  • (21) Do you get motivated to start a project and then have to wait to get motivated again before you can get back to it?
  • (22) Do you find yourself really focused on occasion and wonder why you can't stay focused like that more often?
  • (23) Do you frequently find it almost impossible to get started on just about any task, so you do something to "look" busy rather than appear lazy or unproductive?
  • (24) Do you search for words to explain why you can't think things through right now, only to fail at it one more time?
  • (25) Do you get criticized for leaving things around and all you were doing is making it visible so you wouldn't forget about it?
  • (26) Do you think it would be a lot easier to find stuff if you could leave everything out and visible?
  • (27) Does procrastination seems to be a death sentence for the things you aren't really interested in doing?
  • (28) Are you easily overwhelmed?
Keep Going!
  • (29) Do you find yourself putting off a task because you can't even make yourself start it?
  • (30) Do you easily space out?
  • (31) Do you find yourself feeling guilty when you take leisure time for yourself because you feel like you have already wasted too much time?
  • (32) Did you often find yourself getting distracted as a child because you followed your mind into creative journeys when everyone else was following the teacher?
  • (33) As a child, did you often start reading only to start over reading at the beginning again, and then again, and then again?
  • (34) Do you frequently become annoyed when someone interrupts your fleeting focus?
  • (35) Do you ever wonder if you are compulsive because you are double checking and triple checking important dates or times so you don't miss them? And then if you space out while checking them you repeat the process just to be sure?
  • (36) When you are sitting by a window or open doorway do you find yourself glancing at everything that passes?
  • (37) Does the sound of florescent lights distract you?
  • (38) Do you ever get going on a project and feel you must finish it or you might never get back to it?
  • (39) Is your mind clear as a bell as long as you are interested in something, but cloudy or confused if it seems too complex?
  • (40) Is "clarity" something you would like to have more often?
  • (41) Caffeinated drinks sometimes makes me tired.
  • (42) Caffeinated drinks don't seem to affect me.
  • (43) Do you often berate yourself for not being able to make yourself start a simple task?
  • (44) As a child, did you find yourself focusing on the next break (recess), lunch, or physical activity immediately after your current break?
Almost Finished!
  • (45) Did you have a history of bedwetting after the age of five?
  • (46) As a child did you frequently get in trouble at school for distractibility, short attention span, impulsivity or restlessness?
  • (47) Do you usually wake up tired in the morning or find you are frequently tired?
  • (48) Do you continue to misplace things?
  • (49) Do you start a task only to spend more time thinking about it than doing it?
  • (50) Does it usually take you longer to do things than you think it will?
  • (51) Do you find yourself putting off something very simple because you are hoping for a better moment?
  • (52) Do you often have piles of paperwork?
  • (53) Do you often have trouble being somewhere on time?
  • (54) Do you have difficulty keeping conversations going?
  • (55) Do you find yourself avoiding interactions with groups of people?
  • (56) Does your work deteriorate if you are under pressure?
  • (57) Do you seem to have a lot of enthusiastic starts, but poor endings?
  • (58) When following a sequence of steps, do you find you need to finish a step before you can even think about the next one?
  • (59) Are you unlikely to fully read a document, policy, contract, pamphlet or book because of its length or complexity?
  • (60) Do you ever think your life would be better if you weren't wasting so much time?

All questions are ADD related. For additional perspective have another person who has known you for much of your life fill out the questionnaire and then compare responses.

Now, compare the "Checklist of Common ADD Symptoms" (at the top of this page) to the questions you marked on pages (1) through (60). If you think you may have ADD I would encourage you to talk to a qualified professional about it.

To score this self-assessment, count up all of the boxes you have marked and place that number in the space below. Then divide the number you marked by 60 (the total number of questions) to get your percentage.

Number of questions marked _____ divided by 60 = _____%

You will likely profit from ADD education and treatment if your score is 38% or higher. The higher your number, the more likely you could benefit from ADD education and treatment. The book "Conquering ADD" is intended to benefit you in both areas.

Disclaimer: The previous sixty questions have not been scientifically tested and there is no empirical proof or irrefutable evidence that they are accurate in diagnosing ADD, ADHD or any other learning challenge. But, I like them and they consistently provide valuable information and insight as a self-assessment. You are welcome to use them if you like!

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