There is something called the TOVA test, Test Of Variance of Attention, or something like that.
It's like a very boring 10 minute video game. You click a button when a certain stimulus is presented on screen, but not when a different stimulus is presented. It measures your reaction times and your errors (click when you shouldn't, don't click when you should). Then the program does some statistical comparisons and prints out a report.
At least, that's what was done in 1993. Could be different now.
Combine that with a history. I imagine it's a lot easier to diagnose in adults, because so much more data is available. And the doctor doesn't have the pressure of diagnosing ADHD for a little kid whose parents are worried he'll get less out of school. As an adult, that damage is already done. ;^)
It's like a very boring 10 minute video game. You click a button when a certain stimulus is presented on screen, but not when a different stimulus is presented. It measures your reaction times and your errors (click when you shouldn't, don't click when you should). Then the program does some statistical comparisons and prints out a report.
At least, that's what was done in 1993. Could be different now.
Combine that with a history. I imagine it's a lot easier to diagnose in adults, because so much more data is available. And the doctor doesn't have the pressure of diagnosing ADHD for a little kid whose parents are worried he'll get less out of school. As an adult, that damage is already done. ;^)