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Do you have signs of attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD)? Does your daughter? Only a mental-health professional can tell for sure, but completing a do-it-yourself symptom checklist of common ADHD symptoms in women will give you an idea of whether you have adult ADHD.
NOTE: This test is not intended to diagnose or to replace the care of a health care professional.
The more questions you answer in the affirmative, the more likely you are to have ADHD. Be sure to share your completed checklist with a doctor.
- Do you feel overwhelmed in stores, at the office, or at parties? Is it impossible for you to shut out sounds and distractions that don't bother others?
- Is time, money, paper, or "stuff" dominating your life and hampering your ability to achieve your goals?
- Do you often shut down in the middle of the day feeling assaulted? Do requests for "one more thing" put you over the top emotionally?
- Are you spending most of your time coping, looking for things, catching up, or covering up? Do you avoid people because of this?
- Have you stopped having people over to your house because of your shame at the mess?
- Do you have trouble balancing your checkbook?
- Do you often feel as if life is out of control, that it's impossible to meet demands?
- Do you feel like you're always at one end of a deregulated activity spectrum — either a couch potato or a tornado?
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- Do you feel that you have better ideas than other people but are unable to organize them or act on them?
- Do you start each day determined to get organized?
- Have you watched others of equal intelligence and education pass you by?
- Do you despair of ever fulfilling your potential and meeting your goals?
- Have you ever been thought of as selfish because you don't write thank-you notes or send birthday cards?
- Are you clueless as to how others manage to lead consistent, regular lives?
- Are you called "a slob" or "spacey?" Are you "passing for normal?" Do you feel as if you are an impostor?
- Is all your time and energy taken up with coping, staying organized, and holding it together, with no time for fun or relaxation?
For more information, check out ADDvance's ADD/ADHD Checklist for Girls, ADD/ADHD Self-report Questionnaire for Teenage Girls, and Sari Solden's Checklist for Women with ADHD, the list on which this article is based.
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