Make a very short brief of it: Clinical Presentation of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD is a disorder in which individuals have difficulty with executive functioning, an individual's decision-making ability, which involves working memory, inhibition of inappropriate or unhelpful responses, and the ability to focus on relevant information while dismissing unimportant or irrelevant information (Barkley, 2015) Essentially, an individual's ability to regulate their cognitions, emotions, and behaviors, are impaired. Individuals may lose things frequently, talk excessively, forget assignments/appointments, fidget frequently, move constantly, get distracted, and struggle with organization. Symptoms also are required to be present in more than one setting.
For example, if symptoms are only present at school, an individual would not be diagnosed with ADHD. Symptoms are generally organized into two main categories: hyperactivity and impulsivity symptoms and inattention symptoms. An individual receives a diagnosis of ADHD with the needed specifier if there are:
1) at least six symptoms of inattention for this specifier,
2) at least six symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity for this specifier, or
3) six of each of the preceding two for the combined specifier (APA, 2022) The exact symptoms an individual may experience are described below.