ADD vs. ADHD | Experts answer

What’s the difference between “ADD” and “ADHD”?
Licensed psychologist Dr. Ari Tuckman answers this and more of your top questions about ADHD.

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[nameistanya]

My mum would not accept that ADD and ADHD were interlinked conditions. ONE psychiatrist told her i have ADD once when i was a young child, and from then on she decided that ADD is "less severe" than ADHD, and would refuse any treatments that were offered for my ADHD because "I didn't have ADHD, I had ADD", which led to so, so much struggling in school and in life in general, that continues on to this day, in my 20s, almost 2 decades later.

I'm happy for those that find comfort in seperating ADD from general ADHD to understand what's going on better, but for the love of hell, i BEG psychiatrists to tell parents that "ADD" is STILL ADHD, it's just as severe, and that treatments on ADHD can and should be applied on people with "ADD" if they need them.

[kloveda]

I got diagnosed in the early 2000s and they still called it ADD. I still call it ADD so others know exactly what my symptoms are, it’s just easier.

[jhnn]

From personal experience i believe that 'ADD' just means the hyperactivity is internal, inside my brain. Just because im not jumping around in my seat doesnt mean my brain isnt going 500 miler per hour 😂

[cookierat]

I like the term add and adhd being separate, adhd isnt a spectrum disorder its one or the other. I wish everyone just thought add as mind and attention and adhd as body and attention

[fernandocabette]

I went to see a psychiatrist to get a referral to undergo ADHD screening because of my life long struggle with memory for numbers and important dates, schedules. My inability to finish ANYTHING, even games and movies I enjoy. The urge from boredom to drop out 3 unis I got accepted without ever studying at all.

The doctor said I was only telling hum that because I was a drug seeker looking to score. That I coulnd't possibly have ADHD because I could remain sited for the duration of the (10 minutes) appointment. Hell, I'm 39, I literally had the zoomies beaten out of me. Learned to hide it moving my toes inside my shoe and constant neck movement like I had pulled a nerve. Who would blame me for massaging my neck!?

I just want to manage my effing life, not get high. I never even used drugs!!! I shut my mouth and left his office, sit on the empty waiting room and cried for idk how long.

When I finally got to do the test it came out that I had an IQ of 120 but inconclusive for ADHD because anxiety and depression clouded the results. What the hell do I do with a above average IQ if I can't hold a job or finish a freelance ?!

[MowMowsLife]

I feel like we should just have a single term like ADD be the umbrella for all people with attention deficits. More like labeling the group with a symptom. But we should also to specify type based on causation.

There are people with FASD, trauma, or autism that all experiences attention deficits in a similar way to ‘model example’ of ADHD, but because of a different cause it makes treatment harder to determine.

It would be more responsible to create a separate classification for people with they typically nurotype of ADHD that isn’t centered around the single symptom, but the cause, to avoid all people with similar symptoms from getting a treatment that could do more harm than good for them because they don’t have the neurotype or genetics that to process certain ADHD medication.

I’m diagnosed ADHD, but I also have autism, trauma and BPD. I see in my mom the inattention that autism can cause, but because it’s caused by something different things like SSRIs or beta-blockers actually help. In the genetic group of people with ADHD that would have the opposite reaction in the system.

[deku]

I got diagnosed some time ago, and only then did I find out that they fall under the same umbrella. My psychologist explained that it falls under 3 main types: inattentive type, hyperactive type and combined type. And I fell under the combined subcategory.

[trapper]

As someone who was diagnosed with AD-HD 20 years ago when i was 2
ADHD is to describe hyperactivity
While ADD is more inwards to simplify it
As oyu grow older atleast in my case ADHD turned more inwards (messy thoughts) then hyperactivity but all in all it all kinda goes in under ADHD these days

[electrothecat]

Do I have adhd? I took several self-assessment tests and they all said I "highly likely" have adhd, more or less. And no, I haven't seen a psychiatrist. My mom doesn't believe in mental disorders

[TheAccidentalViking]

If you saw the difference between my son and his father, you would get it. My son is ADHD, with some ASD.. His father was diagnosed with ADD and some ASD. My son is DRIVEN.. it might not always be in a contructive direction, but he BEATS. His father couldn't care less. He hyper focuses on the small things he wants and to hell with anyone else around him. His father abused medication for years and became a shell of himself. That's not going to happen to my kid.

[karaa]

I was diagnosed with ADD in 1993 but I actually have narcolepsy and high functioning autism. It's been a real swell life...lol.