Abstract from ADxS.org

This text is a short version of the ADxS.org project and links to the respective subpages, which present the topics in detail and with around 14,000 links to sources¹.

This short version of ADxS.org is deliberately formulated in a “popular scientific” way to make it easier for people with ADHD to get started and is characterized by our view of ADHD. The more in-depth articles, on the other hand, emphasize a scientific presentation. Our own view is explicitly marked as such in each case.

This summary is divided into various sections, which roughly correspond to the chapters of the compendium and whose contents are described in 1 to 2 sentences in the following structure.

• 1. What is ADHD?
• 2. Consequences of ADHD
• 3. The symptoms of ADHD
• 4. How ADHD mediates its symptoms
• 5. How does ADHD develop?
• 6. The diagnosis of ADHD
• 7. The difference between ADHD-HI and ADHD-I - the subtypes
• 8. Treatment of ADHD
• 9. Neurophysiological mechanisms of action in ADHD
• 10. Things to know about ADHD
• 11. Tests and surveys
• 12. ADHD forum, virtual self-help groups

1. What is ADHD?¶

The question “Is ADHD a disorder* Or a manifestation of personality traits?” can be answered quite simply and succinctly: “Yes!”

*(Strictly speaking, ADHD is a syndrome and not a disorder. But that would be going too far in the short version).

ADHD - like most other mental disorders - is dimensional.²³
While pregnancy or a broken bone are categorical (they either exist or they don’t), ADHD (as well as depression, anxiety or narcissism, for example) can only be diagnosed as a disorder by the degree and focus of the symptoms. In milder cases, ADHD is merely a personality dimension.

However, there are strong genetic links between people with ADHD with disruptive quality and people with ADHD without disruptive intensity, i.e. as a mere personality dimension, so that ADHD must be understood as dimensional.⁴
The dimensional character of ADHD can be described as a continuum:

• Not present at all, no symptom occurs frequently (this is likely to affect rather few people)
• Isolated symptoms frequently, without any subjective impairment (this affects most people)
• Some symptoms common, which become recognizable in individual life situations (many people)
• Noticeable symptoms, which can sometimes become stressful in several life situations (but which generally do not yet constitute a Disorder)
• Clear symptoms that have a stressful effect in a number of life situations (this can already have the character of a disorder)
• Severe symptoms that have an adverse effect in many life situations (usually of a disruptive nature)
• Very severe symptoms that make life very difficult in most situations (Disorder)

The increment at which the personality traits become a Disorder must be decided on the basis of the individual subjective distress. Subjective distress is the decisive characteristic for speaking of a mental Disorder. This is the case with almost all mental disorders, with the possible exception of rare xenophobic disorders and psychopathy.

About 5 to 10% of people have ADHD symptoms so severe that they suffer significantly. ADxS.org deals with ADHD as a disorder and uses the term ADHD to describe a disorder in the sense of a severity of occurrence within the continuum that is accompanied by subjective suffering of the respective people with ADHD. People who do not suffer from their symptoms on this continuum can nevertheless learn a lot about the correlations and background of their personality traits at ADxS.org.

According to a representative survey, 90% of respondents were familiar with the term ADHD. Of these, 20% believed that ADHD is not an existing clinical disorder and 66% were against drug treatment with stimulants.⁵ The ADxS.org project is dedicated to creating transparency, increasing understanding and presenting solutions.

2. Consequences of ADHD¶

ADHD has massive consequences that - if left untreated - often persist throughout life.⁶⁷ Among other things, life expectancy is shortened by up to 13 years with untreated ADHD, the likelihood of depression, anxiety and eating disorders is greatly increased and the level of education, income and quality of life are reduced. The risk of addiction is almost doubled and the smoking rate more than doubled. People with ADHD are 4 times more likely to get divorced and 7 times more likely to end up in prison.

Detailed information on this can be found at ⇒ Consequences of ADHD.

ADHD is by no means “merely” stress (even if severe chronic stress and ADHD convey their almost identical symptoms in a neurobiologically quite similar way), but for people with ADHD it is a serious disorder and a severe burden for those affected, which massively impairs their quality of life if left untreated.

3. The symptoms of ADHD¶

As a person not affected by ADHD, you can clearly understand what it feels like for people with ADHD if you imagine that your own desk is in the middle of a busy pedestrian zone right next to the streetcar tracks instead of in a normal office and try to imagine how much more stressful your day would be and how much more stressed you would be when you got home. Or you can compare it with the life circumstances in which some people who are not affected suffer comparable symptoms from time to time, such as a war of the roses divorce, bankruptcy or finding out that you have cancer⁸ - except that in this case your whole life consists of this condition.
People with ADHD cannot usually tell for themselves whether they have ADHD based on this description. This is because every person perceives their ongoing life circumstances and reactions as the normal measure of things. Only categorical deviations (when something is unacceptable under any circumstances) can be recognized by themselves, but not dimensional deviations (in terms of degree), as there is no standard of comparison. The standards, the “normal zero” of a person, are regularly based on their own lifelong experiences - and their own life has always been like this. People with ADHD do not know themselves any differently and therefore identify with their symptoms as “normal”.
After all, ADHD has one undeniable advantage over all other mental disorders: it is the most treatable mental health problem of all.

As with all mental disorders, a distinction must be made between the smaller number of diagnostically relevant symptoms and the totality of treatment-relevant symptoms.
ADHD can cause many more symptoms than the much-cited DSM or ICD criteria.
DSM and ICD are diagnostic manuals. They aim to identify disorders. For this reason, DSM and ICD only list the diagnostically relevant symptoms, i.e. those that are particularly distinctive from other disorders. Symptoms that also frequently occur in other disorders are not listed in the DSM and ICD. Even the renowned American psychiatrist Allen James Frances, chairman of the DSM-IV, criticizes the fact that diagnoses are far too often based solely on the DSM or ICD criteria.

DSM 5 lists 8 symptoms of ADHD:

1. Inattention (distractibility and concentration problems, but not task switching problems)
2. Forgetfulness
3. Disorganization
4. Hyperactivity
5. Impulsiveness
6. Impatience
7. Inner drivenness
8. Excessive talking

⇒ DSM and ICD - statistical tools, not diagnostic scales

DSM IV (until May 2013) and ICD 10 were still focused exclusively on the symptoms of children and therefore, by their very nature, did not take into account the fact that ADHD symptoms in adults (⇒ ADHD in adults) Change dramatically: motor hyperactivity largely disappears, while inner restlessness and being driven become more visible, emotional problems increase (⇒ Emotional dysregulation - mood swings in ADHD). Attention problems can also decrease or even disappear completely (although less frequently than hyperactivity).

The misconception that the DSM or ICD symptoms are the only original symptoms (directly caused by ADHD) is common, even among doctors and therapists. However, knowledge of the totality of all possible symptoms is essential for treatment and therapy. The consequences can be fatal, for example if the dysphoria typical of ADHD is mistaken for depression when inactive and therefore unsuccessful attempts are made to medicate with antidepressants. Or if procrastination, mood swings or sickliness (⇒ Rejection sensitivity: offendedness / sensitivity to rejection and criticism as a specific ADHD symptom) Should not be considered as an original consequence of existing ADHD, but rather as the consequences of negative life experiences or a lack of discipline - which can deepen the impression that people with ADHD are inadequate.

At ⇒ Symptoms of ADHD We have collected all symptoms that can originally result from ADHD and documented them with references from the ADHD literature (as ADHD symptoms):

• 1. Motor symptoms
  • 1.1. hyperactivity
  • 1.2. gross motor problems with ADHD
  • 1.3. fine motor problems with ADHD
• 2. Drive problems
  • 2.1. inner restlessness, being driven, circling thoughts
  • 2.2. delay aversion
  • 2.3. aversion to inactivity
    • 2.3.1 Aversion to inactivity as an ADHD symptom
      • 2.3.1.1 Boredom is extremely unpleasant
      • 2.3.1.2 Dysphoria during inactivity (passivity-induced low mood, to be distinguished from depression)
      • 2.3.1.3 Inability to relax / cannot relax / enjoy
  • 2.4. listlessness
• 3. Impulsivity / inhibition problems
  • 3.1. inhibition problems / action impulsivity (AI)
  • 3.2. choice impulsivity: devaluation of distant rewards (delay aversion, reward discounting, choice impulsivity, CI)
  • 3.3. impulse control problems / inhibition problems as ADHD symptoms
  • 3.4. increased willingness to take risks as an ADHD symptom
  • 3.5. novelty seeking / sensation seeking
• 4. Attention and concentration problems
  • 4.1. manifestations of attention problems in ADHD
  • 4.2. groups of attention problems in ADHD
    • 4.2.1 Distractibility
      • 4.2.1.1 Distractibility by external stimuli
      • 4.2.1.2 Daydreaming / mind wandering / absent-mindedness
    • 4.2.2 Attention switching problems
      • 4.2.2.1 Task switching problems
      • 4.2.2.2 Hyperfocus: extreme concentration
    • 4.2.3 Concentration problems as ADHD symptoms
  • 4.3. cause of attention problems in ADHD - motivational problems?
  • 4.4. age development of attention problems in ADHD
  • 4.5. ADHD without attention and concentration problems
• 5. Memory problems
  • 5.1. forgetfulness
  • 5.2. learning problems
• 6. Thinking blocks / decision-making problems
  • 6.1. thinking blocks as an ADHD symptom
  • 6.2. decision making problems as an ADHD symptom
• 7. Executive problems / planning and organizational difficulties
  • 7.1. organize problems, tasks and activities
  • 7.2. not (being able to) keep promises or commitments to others
  • 7.3. problems doing things in the right Order of priority
• 8. Perceptual symptoms
  • 8.1. increased sensitivity / stimulus filter too wide open
  • 8.2. empathy with ADHD
    • 8.2.1 Emotion recognition impaired?
    • 8.2.2 Empathic ability impaired in ADHD?
    • 8.2.3 Exercise of empathy - especially in ADHD-HI subtype - impaired?
  • 8.3. time perception problems with ADHD (chronasthenia)
    • 8.3.1 Time expenditure estimation error in ADHD
    • 8.3.2 Altered time processing in ADHD
    • 8.3.3 Perception of time in ADHD focused on the present / positive future?
  • 8.4. chronic pain, increased sensitivity to pain in ADHD
• 9. Motivation problems
  • 9.1. devaluation of later rewards (delay discounting / reward discounting)
  • 9.2. procrastination (procrastination)
• 10. Emotional dysregulation / emotional symptoms
  • 10.1. dysphoria during inactivity
  • 10.2. mood swings
  • 10.3. irritability and aggression
    • 10.3.1 Irritability / emotional outbursts
    • 10.3.2 Aggression
  • 10.4. emotional overreactivity
  • 10.5. frustration intolerance
  • 10.6. self-perception disorders
    * 10.6.2.1 Alexithymia (reduced emotional perception)
    * 10.6.2.2 Anhedonia (reduced perception of pleasure)
    * 10.6.2.3 Inner emptiness (in case of inactivity) / boredom
    * 10.6.2.4 Overestimating one’s own social skills
    * 10.6.2.5 Now is always
    * 10.6.2.6 Increased subjective perception of stress in ADHD
  • 10.7. self-esteem problems
    • 10.7.1 Offensiveness and fear of rejection (Rejection Sensitivity)
    • 10.7.2 Tend and Befriend
    • 10.7.3 Perfectionism as an ADHD symptom
    • 10.7.4 Self-esteem problems as symptoms of stress
  • 10.8. anxiety
    • 10.8.1 Increased anxiety as an ADHD symptom
    • 10.8.2 Catastrophizing
  • 10.9. more sensitive reaction to penalties
  • 10.10. stress intolerance / more sensitive reaction to stress
  • 10.11. hypersexuality
• 11. Communication problems
  • 11.1. language problems with ADHD
  • 11.2. communication style with ADHD focused on interests
• 12. Social problems
  • 12.1. impulsive disregard of social rules in ADHD
  • 12.2. social withdrawal / social phobia in ADHD
  • 12.3. loneliness as an ADHD symptom
• 13. Sleep problems
  • 13.1. problems falling asleep
  • 13.2. problems sleeping through the night
  • 13.3. sleep problems as symptoms of stress
• 14. Performance impaired
• 15. Changes in reaction time
  • 15.1. increased reaction time variance in ADHD
  • 15.2. reaction time reduction in ADHD?
• 16. Sexual behavior / reproduction
• 17. Addiction problems
  • 17.1. substance-related addictions in ADHD
    • 17.1.1 Alcohol addiction with ADHD
    • 17.1.2 Cannabis use and ADHD
  • 17.2. non-substance-related addictions
    • 17.2.1 Video game addiction in ADHD
    • 17.2.2 Internet addiction and ADHD
    • 17.2.3 Cell phone addiction with ADHD
• 18. Messi tendency / Hoarding
• 19. Creativity increased (?)
• 20. Regulation problems
• /21 Personality traits in ADHD
• /22 Increased muscle tension

At ⇒ ADHD symptoms are stress symptoms We have collected references to where the stress literature refers to these as stress symptoms. At ⇒ Stress benefits - the survival-promoting purpose of stress we describe the stress benefit for each symptom, i.e. the purpose that the respective symptom has or used to have in combating stressors.

Many specialist books confirm that people with ADHD have specific positive character traits (in addition to their specific symptoms). These positive characteristics are largely congruent with the typical character traits of gifted people mentioned in the specialist literature on giftedness. However, this does not mean that all people with ADHD are gifted (in fact, a significant lack of giftedness is a known risk factor for ADHD).
⇒ Giftedness and ADHD.

4. How ADHD mediates its symptoms¶

ADHD symptoms are triggered by a lack of certain neurotransmitters (mainly dopamine and noradrenaline) in certain areas of the brain (mainly the working memory and the reward center ).

As severe chronic stress is also associated with dopamine and noradrenaline deficiency, the symptoms of ADHD and severe chronic stress are similar.
⇒ ADHD symptoms are stress symptoms

However, even though both phenomena cause similar symptoms in a similar neurobiological way, ADHD is something other than “just” chronic stress: stress goes with the stressor, ADHD stays. This is because the almost identical neurotransmitter deficiency has different causes in ADHD than in stress.
⇒ ADHD as a chronic stress regulation disorder

More on the neurophysiological mediation of individual ADHD symptoms below under 6.

5. How does ADHD develop?¶

⇒ Origin

There are several development paths that work together:

• Genetic: ADHD can arise through the interaction of a number of randomly created genes (gene variants up to tens or hundreds of thousands of years old), without the need for environmental influences. These gene variants have arisen without the influence of stress. If there are several gene variants with a similar effect at the same time (several genes that all weaken the neurotransmitter dopamine, for example), their influences can add up to such an extent that the balance is disturbed.
  Let’s call it “genetically inherited ADHD” to differentiate it here.
  Consequences of these gene variants can mediate other causes in the first years of life. For example, a dopamine deficiency in the first years of life leads to a developmental disorder of the brain because dopamine is important for brain development (a so-called neurotrophic factor). ADHD is often described as a brain development disorder.
  ⇒ Genetic and epigenetic causes of ADHD - Introduction
  ⇒ Brain development disorder and ADHD
• Environment: ADHD can be caused by environmental factors (early childhood or chronic severe stress). Stress medicine already describes this as a pathway for depression.
  Early or chronic severe stress can have a neurotoxic effect and change the expression of genes, i.e. their activity (epigenetics). This can also cause the changes in neurotransmitter levels and co. that are typical of ADHD. While active stress increases dopamine and noradrenaline levels, chronic stress is associated with long-term reduced dopamine levels. Chronic stress in early childhood can thus trigger dopamine deficits, which subsequently lead to a brain development disorder. This cause of ADHD is particularly amenable to prevention through caring, warm parental behavior.
  Diseases can also trigger behavioral changes typical of ADHD. Encephalitis, for example, destroys the dopaminergic cells in the brain and can thus trigger a dopamine deficit that causes symptoms typical of ADHD.
• Let’s call it “acquired ADHD.”
  ⇒ Environmental factors as a cause of ADHD
• Epigenetic (Inherited experiences): ADHD acquired through severe or chronic stress can be passed on to one’s own descendants. In contrast to the “genetically inherited” ADHD of the first variant, only the epigenetic changes in gene activity acquired through environmental influences are passed on here. Toxins, severe early or chronic stress or illness can change the expression of genes. Animal experiments and human studies have demonstrated the inheritance of such acquired gene expression over 2 to 4 generations. Let’s call it “epigenetically inherited ADHD” to differentiate.
  ⇒ Genetic and epigenetic causes of ADHD - Introduction

ADHD has a strong genetic component of around 76%. The heritability of ADHD is therefore greater than that of intelligence. Up to 90 % of ADHD cases with clinical intensity have a genetic cause.⁹ However, individual genes are not the cause, even if certain gene variants are more frequently involved. Many hundreds of candidate genes are known. It would not be surprising if there were thousands. We have more than 300 of them at ⇒ Candidate genes in ADHD Named.

More on this in the article ⇒ How ADHD develops: genes or genes + environment

6. The diagnosis of ADHD¶

We present the diagnostic procedures for ADHD and explain which similar disorders ADHD must be distinguished from (differential diagnosis) and which disorders often occur together with ADHD (comorbidities).
⇒ Diagnostics

ADHD is primarily diagnosed using questionnaires (self-assessment and parent/teacher assessment). However, these alone are not sufficient for a solid diagnosis.
Interviews by experienced diagnosticians have the advantage that they can better assess and compare the severity of a symptom.
Tests appear to be more objective in terms of assessing the test results - but only in terms of the test results.
⇒ ADHD - Diagnostic methods.

Interviews, questionnaires and tests can also lead to falsified results if the subjects have a very high personal interest in the investigation and are motivated accordingly. With correspondingly high (and personally interesting) rewards, which succeed in overcoming the motivational deficit typical of people with ADHD, the attentional performance of people with ADHD can no longer be distinguished from that of non-affected persons.
Smoking can also falsify test results, as nicotine, like methylphenidate, increases dopamine levels and is often used as self-medication.
⇒ Diagnostic methods: Problems with ADHD-HI tests - ADHD-HI symptoms do not occur consistently
Therefore, there is no one universal test that alone could provide a reliable objective diagnosis.
Apart from that, performance tests can only ever confirm the momentary stress symptoms, but not the duration of their existence and their origin.
⇒ Stress damage - effects of early childhood and/or prolonged stress

A careful diagnosis includes:
⇒ ADHD - Diagnostic methods

1. A clear differential diagnosis ⇒ Differential diagnosis of ADHD
   • Exclusion of organic causes
     This is impossible without blood tests (for vitamin deficiency, thyroid hormones, etc.).
     A number of other differential diagnoses must also be clarified.
   • Exclusion of mere stress symptoms caused by acute stress-inducing life circumstances (duration of existence of symptoms and occurrence in different areas of life)
   • Exclusion of other psychological causes that can better explain the symptoms
2. Thorough recording and analysis of symptoms
   • Complete symptom query ⇒ Symptoms of ADHD
     • DSM/ICD are important points of reference, but only contain those symptoms that are particularly well differentiated from other disorders and not the totality of all symptoms that can result from ADHD. The symptoms present in individual cases therefore do not necessarily have to correspond to DSM/ICD and in almost all cases go far beyond this.
     • Self-perception questionnaires
     • Interviews with people with ADHD
     • External assessment questionnaires and interviews with parents/confidants
   • Test psychological performance diagnostics

Once again, because it is of particular importance: The DSM and ICD symptom catalogs are not exhaustive, complete lists of all ADHD symptoms. DSM and ICD are diagnostic aids, statistical and billing tools that contribute significantly to medical quality assurance. However, it would be malpractice to use them as the sole standards for diagnosis. ⇒ Diagnostic ADHD symptoms according to DSM, ICD, Wender-Utah and others

Only an overall view of the results leads to a reliable diagnosis.

7. The difference between ADHD-HI and ADHD-I - the subtypes¶

In ADHD, a distinction is made between the subtypes ADHD-HI (predominant hyperactivity), ADHD-I (predominant inattention) and ADHD-C (attention problems and hyperactivity).
SCT (sluggish cognitive tempo) does not appear to be an ADHD subtype, but a disorder in its own right. This is consistent with the fact that high SCT scores on our ADxS-SCT online test were found in both ADHD-HI and ADHD-I people with ADHD.
The pure ADHD-HI type is predominantly found in children up to the age of 15. This is probably due to the fact that inattention symptoms are very difficult to diagnose at the age of less than 6 years. A reliable diagnosis is only possible at an age of more than 15 years. ADHD-C is therefore often likely to be the later developmental form of the ADHD-HI subtype. However, there is still - even in adults - a proportion of around 10% of people with ADHD with the pure ADHD-HI subtype with minor attention problems.

For a detailed description of the differences between the subtypes of ADHD, see ⇒ The subtypes of ADHD: ADHD-HI, ADHD-I and others.

8. Treatment of ADHD¶

Our guide presents an ADHD treatment that makes sense from a scientific point of view.
We present many suitable and less suitable medications for ADHD as well as possible non-drug treatment options. It is particularly important to compare the Effect sizes of the different treatment options.
⇒ Treatment and therapy

There is no one-size-fits-all treatment for ADHD. Each treatment must be tailored to the individual manifestation of symptoms and the personal circumstances and personality traits of the person with ADHD. Therefore, an individual medical history and case-by-case assessment is always required.

From a scientific point of view, the approach described below makes sense in most cases and thus forms a basic conceptual framework.
⇒ ADHD treatment guide

The first step Requires a reliable diagnosis using a questionnaire AND tests, a family history with a complete differential diagnosis and the identification and differentiation of comorbidities.
⇒ Differential diagnosis for ADHD and ⇒ ADHD - Comorbidity

The second step Is to take the first treatment steps. As a rule, this is primarily an appropriate and carefully adjusted medication. The acute medication allows the person with ADHD to experience what a symptom-free life feels like, in order to anchor this as the target state over several months, which is the aim of the therapeutic measures in the third step. As a rule, only normalization of dopamine levels through stimulants leads to an appropriate learning and therapeutic ability. Dopamine is neurotrophic, i.e. necessary for the anchoring of learning experiences.

If children up to the age of 6 are affected, therapeutic measures for parents and caregivers are indicated as a second treatment measure. In young children, parental work reduces stressors and protects against a deepening of the ADHD disorder at a still vulnerable age. Therapeutic measures for children up to the age of 6, on the other hand, tend to be ineffective. ⇒ ADHD - Prevention and screening - What parents can do.

The third step Involves various therapeutic measures aimed at making medication unnecessary. In the short term, stressors in the environment should be reduced and sleep problems tackled head-on.
⇒ Sleep problems with ADHD. In the medium term, mindfulness-based forms of therapy such as mindfulness-based behavioral therapy (MBCT) and mindfulness-based sleep training (MBSR) are recommended. In the long term, neurofeedback, trauma therapies such as EMDR or DBT may be useful. In addition, there are environmental interventions, psychoeducation and group experiences.
Neurofeedback is particularly fascinating because the treatment successes are permanent - although unfortunately only in rare exceptional cases are they completely curative.
⇒ Neurofeedback as ADHD therapy

Medication for ADHD is a highly complex topic. In ADHD, dopaminergic, noradrenergic and other neurotransmitter systems are involved in mediating the symptoms. Detailed information can be found in the individual articles on the respective medications.
When fine-tuning the medication, it should be noted that a healthy state is not the absence of all ADHD symptoms present, but that on average 20 to 25% of possible symptoms occur frequently in healthy people (and optimally controlled with medication) (instead of the average 75% of symptoms in people with ADHD). Medication should therefore only reduce the number of frequently occurring symptoms to the level of those not affected and not completely eliminate all possible symptoms. Otherwise, there is a risk of overdosing, which in extreme cases leads to a restriction rather than an improvement in enjoyment of life.

Particular attention should be paid to the treatment of sleep problems. Sleep problems (like all ADHD symptoms) can be symptoms of stress. As sleep is one of the most important factors in reducing stress, sleep problems can lead to an ADHD vicious circle. Around 3/4 of all people with ADHD have a chronorhythm that is shifted backwards, meaning that the circadian system is affected. Especially for children who have to get up (often far too) early for school reasons, bringing forward the time at which they fall asleep (e.g. with immediate release melatonin) can be helpful.
For more details, visit ⇒ Sleep problems with ADHD And the interesting topic ⇒ Binaural music as therapy for ADHD and sleep problems has its own article.

Prevention:
Based on the understanding that inherited stress experiences can cause a risk of ADHD (disposition) and that particularly warm and caring parental behavior can help to prevent such a disposition from developing into actual ADHD (manifestation), it is very important to us to present the possibilities for ADHD prevention for parents and caregivers. These principles should also apply to other multi-factorial mental disorders.
⇒ Prevention

9. Neurophysiological mechanisms of action in ADHD¶

Every thought, every feeling, every action has a neurophysiological correlate. This means that everything we do is represented by specific processes in the brain. This correlation is reciprocal. Depending on its neurophysiological state, the brain influences what we think, do and feel, while everything we think, do and feel in turn influences neurophysiological changes in our brain. Similarly, the brain influences the body and the body influences the brain. Here, too, there are cycles of perception and Consequences that influence each other.
Neurophysiological correlates are thus merely a momentary image of the brain state that occurs simultaneously with a certain state or behavior and do not mean that there is a one-way causality (i.e. that brain states are always only the cause and behavior is always only the consequence). ⇒ Neurological aspects

10. Things to know about ADHD¶

At ⇒ ADHD - Literature for beginners, people with ADHD, experts and specialists You will find some books on the subject that are well worth reading.

After some consideration between the deeply felt reluctance to expose third parties and the advantage of showing many people with ADHD that ADHD is nothing to be ashamed of and that very successful careers are possible with it, references to celebrities with ADHD who have self-published their diagnosis and people in contemporary history who are thought to have ADHD can be found at ⇒ Prominent people with ADHD.

The typical terms on this topic are explained in the articles ⇒ Glossary Glossary And ⇒ Other and older names for ADHD. In all articles on the website, underlined technical terms are also explained by a mouseover text (a text that appears when you point the mouse at the word).

A few comments on the question of how misleading some scientific studies are and how to recognize scientifically reliable studies can be found at ⇒ Studies prove - often enough - nothing at all.

11. Tests and surveys¶

We offer various free online screening tests in our test area:

• 1. Large ADHD symptom test V5
• 2. External assessment test
• 3. Differential diagnostic test for anxiety disorders
• 4. Differential diagnostic test for depression
• 5. Differential diagnostic test for Autism Spectrum Disorder
• 6. ADHD medication effect self-test (V5.)
• 7. ADHD reaction self-test
• 8. SCT self-test for Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT)/
• 9. High sensitivity self-test

⇒ Tests and surveys

These are unvalidated screenings that are not used for medical diagnosis but are intended to give an idea of whether a medical diagnosis might be useful.
The tests are completely free of charge. It is necessary to create an account, which only serves to ensure that several test results can be assigned to the same test person and that the results are permanently available to the test person.

Our data protection concept is extreme: we do not want to know who is behind an account. Therefore, no personal data is requested, in particular no e-mail address, name or other data. We also do not store any IP data or other information about test subjects.
On the contrary, it is not permitted to use names or e-mail addresses in the account name or password you choose yourself. The test account is therefore completely separate from the two accounts for the forum and newsletter.

12. ADHD forum, virtual self-help groups¶

ADxS.org offers a free forum on the topic of ADHD:
ADHD forum at adhs-forum.ADxS.org

The forum can also be used to participate in virtual self-help groups or to set up your own virtual self-help group (possibly on specific topics for which there are not enough people interested in a face-to-face group in your region).