Ask for an adult ADHD assessment
Guideline advice, not formally gradedADHD evidence
A thorough assessment can explain persistent difficulties and point to suitable care.
Start with the time you have
1 minute
Write the one difficulty you most want the assessor to understand as a single sentence.
5 minutes
Write three examples of what you struggle with and roughly when each began.
15 minutes
Draft a short appointment note: symptoms, childhood history, mood, sleep and current medicines.
A plan
Prepare for assessment
- Identify the difficulties affecting your life.
- Request an assessment through your local care pathway.
- Bring available history and ask about next steps.
How sure the science is
Guideline advice, not formally graded, ADHD evidence
- Recommended by ADHD clinical guidelines, but nobody has pooled the trials and graded how sure they are.
- Guideline advice is a considered judgement, not a measured certainty.
- Measured in people with ADHD.
NICE NG87 1.2.10 recommends specialist assessment for adults meeting its criteria; NHS guidance agrees; no GRADE rating for the pathway.
The number, drawn
Seek help when symptoms affect study, work or relationships
Why it matters
- ADHD assessment looks at how symptoms affect your life now and whether they were present in childhood.
- Interviews, health history and information from someone who knows you help distinguish ADHD from other explanations.
- NHS guidance supports seeking help when difficulties affect work, study or relationships, and NICE recommends specialist assessment when symptoms began in childhood, have persisted and cause at least moderate impairment.
- This is a care recommendation, not a measured percentage benefit.
How to do it
- Tell your primary care clinician which everyday difficulties made you seek help.
- Bring examples from your life now and from childhood, plus any school reports you already have.
- Note down sleep problems, mood symptoms, other health conditions and medicines for the assessor.
- Ask who assesses adult ADHD locally and what support you can get while you wait.
- An online screener cannot confirm ADHD.
- A qualified clinician has to weigh your symptoms, impairment and other possible causes.
Putting it into practice
In real life
- Bring one example from work and one from childhood, even if they are about different difficulties.
- Ask whether someone who knew you as a child can add what they remember.
Watch out for
- Common mistakeWaiting until your records are perfect can delay help. Bring what you have and talk about the gaps.
- Common mistakeA quiz score can start the conversation, but a clinical assessment has to look at your history.
Trusted guides
How we rated it
- Evidence grade
- A Moderate or high certainty evidence in people with ADHD, or an explicit ADHD guideline recommendation.
- The number
- Seek help when symptoms affect study, work or relationships (NHS, 2025)
- Benefit
- 86/100 An editorial priority for the general list, weighted by certainty. It does not predict what will happen for you.
- Effort
- Big commitment
Sources
- Tier 1 guidelineADHD in adultsNHS, 2025
- Tier 1 guidelineADHD in Adults: 4 Things to KnowNIMH, 2024
- Tier 1 guidelineAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management (NG87), recommendationsNICE, 2019
- General information about ADHD, not a diagnosis or an individual treatment plan.
- Tailoring changes the order of suggestions; it does not assess you.
- Medication decisions belong with you and a qualified clinician.