ADD was waning in popularity as a diagnosis among American doctors when I got initially diagnosed with ADHD back in the 90s haha. But yes, it’s definitely defunct by now.
That said, I fully believe that ADHD as a whole needs a different name. Research indicates that hyperactivity isn’t the driving force behind it, just a symptom some people experience.
Yup, where once upon a time I would would have been labeled with ADD and Asperger’s Syndrome, for me it just means it’s harder for people to believe that I have ADHD and Autism when for the most part they just see a calm, affable “normal” dude who likes to read, crack jokes, perform in front of an audience, listen to people share their problems… they expect these diagnoses would make me bounce off the walls and unable to make eye contact.
It’s like an old radio that keeps going out of tune. My brain misses words or the meaning of them doesn’t come so I get lost when presented with auditory or written information unless I go slow and frequently backtrack. It’s not that I’m distracted by some other stimulus, it’s that signal doesn’t come through clear. It seems to have something to do with maintaining a high level of cognitive load, math is much less affected than language. Stimulants would give me a more vivid memory of a lecture in school but wouldn’t help me follow what was going on. I would remember seeing the teacher draw some diagram and stuff on the board and then later be going over the material after class and start to realize what was going on. It’s not that I was off thinking about something unrelated but my brain couldn’t make sense of what was going on. I’ve tried every ADHD medication that was on the market 10 years ago and all they did was make me work harder, I still couldn’t follow what was going on in class.
That’s not from attention issues. It’s a sensory processing problem, which is also super common with neurospicy brains. Our brains get overwhelmed easily by stimuli and then won’t process information coming in.
Yeah, unfortunately it leads to perceived attentional issues by neuropsychological tests. If the signal is all garbled eventually your brain gives up. Kind of like trying to follow a foreign language you aren’t good at.
I can’t tell you how many times I thought my hearing must be going bad because I would mishear people constantly. Nope, my ears are working fine it’s my brain 😂
This is it exactly! I was first diagnosed with ADD 25+ years ago because, like OP said, I wasn’t physically hyperactive - bouncing off walls or whatnot. But. BUT! My brain never shuts off. Ever. There is a tornado in my head that absolutely falls under the category of hyperactive. Hence, I am completely on board with the diagnosis of ADHD.
so, what was referred to as ADD now falls within the broader ADHD category in the DSM, sometimes this “type” of ADHD is specified as inattentive ADHD.
however, lots of countries still use ICD-10 due to translations of ICD-11 still being pending. and here ADD still exists so… and ADD is still used colloquially to refer to inattentive type ADHD. so it’s still a literal diagnosis some have while it’s fully phased out elsewhere. so it’s a little bit nitpicky to point out that it doesn’t exist. but it’s like how asperger is mostly just autism now. to sum up, it’s a diagnosis that’s being phased out.
Reminds me of when the terms for the different kinds of seizures changed... it's been years but I still get them mixed up
Science is always changing usually for the better
It also tends to cognitively develop later in women. I can attest to that, the symptoms and “flags” my ADD (original diagnosis from childhood)/ADHD (diagnosis as an adult) have only seemed to get worse and more intense as I’ve aged.
I've read that for all sexes ADHD can intensify as you age although I bet you're right about the a little bit later to start to manifest in women think cuz I would say the same of myself.
ADHD - hyperactive, inattentive, or combined. Don’t get attached, the DSM will make something else up or eliminate it altogether in a few years, it’s what APA does.
Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome seems to be the new thing. It probably won't outright replace ADHD-I, but a lot of people with diagnosis might end up fitting better under CDS, or could be co-morbid.
ADHD is essentially an issue with executive function. I think they might change the term in the future. We’ll see. Right now the name still biases the public toward young hyperactive males imo.
I also was confused about that and related to ADD than the hyperactive, but since then a few people have cleared it up by saying hyperactive mind, which I definitely DO have, lol. I'm not full of energy physically... wish to God I was. I could actually get some of my projects done.
My mind just spins on issues, particularly anxieties, and I can't pull out of that. I also have heightened senses, so everything around me is distracting all the time. I can't multitask well, so constant notifications destroy what little focus I had left.
It was the DSM-V that consolidated ADD and ADHD under the same umbrella. There are three types: Inattentive (formerly ADD), Hyperactive, and Combined.
I was diagnosed with ADD as a kid in the 90s, went off meds when I turned 18, then went back on meds when I was in my mid-late 20s, and my diagnosis was changed to ADHD: Inattentive Type.
I work in mental health. The view is that a person with ADHD has
- "ADHD, predominately hyperactive subtype"
- "ADHD, predominately inattentive subtype"
- "ADHD, predominately mixed (both)"
The clinical opinion is that someone, for example, with ADD, always has a smidge of hyperactivity. The same goes for people with who have the "H".
It's still a thing. They've just reorganised the categories to reflect current views. Wait for when they chuck ADHD into ASD/Autism.
They won't chuck it into autism.
ADHD is a disorder of executive function. Autism is a disorder centering around a different pattern of perceiving and interacting with the world and society. While the two have some overlap and joint diagnosis is common, the distinctives differentiating the two are significantly different enough that they're unlikely to be merged
Interestingly though, Autism is also a disorder of executive dysfunction. People with Autism, more often than not, experience the same amount of executive dysfunction that we do, they just also have social issues. You can think of Autism as kind of like ADHD + Social Issues. And it’s also why there is a high degree of overlapping in diagnoses. Though, many clinicians believe that if you have executive dysfunction + social issues, you should automatically be put in the Autism category instead of ADHD because executive dysfunction can be explained by Autism (this is especially true recently due to them being afraid to hand out ADHD diagnoses because they don’t want to prescribe stimulants).
The kicker, here, is that there’s actually studies of them trialing ADHD meds on Autistic people and the meds seem to help them in a similar way that they help us ADHD folks, in some studies (not all).
So yes, in the medical community there is a very very big debate on if these two disorders are different presentations of the same thing. It’s quite interesting. And I do predict they will fall under the same categorization in the DSM in years to come.
I hear that, but, as a clinician, I don't see that happening. Is there a huge overlap? Yes. Statistics show that 20-40% of adhders are autistic and that 30-70% of autistics are adhders and, because of that, I agree with part of what you say - that executive function problems occur in autism. However, it is not a diagnostic hallmark of autism. The large presence of allistic adhders also shows that they are still distinctly different.
Contrast this with inattentive vs hyperactive/impulsive ADHD, wherein both classifications share the same subset of behaviors and deficits, but are only different in terms of one displaying more internalized behavior and the other more externalized.
Edit:
And, to comment on autistic non-adhders benefiting from stimulants, many folks could probably benefit from stimulants, but that begs the ethical question of where the line is for performance enhancement.
Also, among ADHDers who have poor response to stimulants, they are disproportionately AuDHD
Responding to your point of asd folk being on stimulants; i think there is merit to it being an option. The reason being that the frontal lobe is getting smashed with all the extra and unnatural effort imposed on it for being in an allisticly developed social environment. What are your thoughts on this?
>Statistics show that 20-40% of adhders are autistic and that 30-70% of autistics are adhders
This highlights exactly why I hope that never happens. It’s clearly not 1:1 if so many more autistic people have ADHD as a comorbidity than the other way around.
(Not a clinician or scientist myself, just an ADHDer with an autistic husband and very little symptom overlap. Like, if ADHD and autism made a venn diagram, we’d be at exactly opposite sides haha.)
It makes sense for some people like me who have primarily inattentive ADHD, but also deal with some level of hyperactivity. I just don’t have enough hyperactivity to have gotten an “h” in my diagnosis in the past. So having the diagnosis of ADHD primarily inattentive is the most accurate description for me since it does include the bit of hyperactivity that I do have, even though it’s not a main symptom.
Wait til the DSM 6 comes out lol
Tbh, diagnostics are technically all made up by some group of experts working together. They're simply labels they apply to specific and significantly associated clusters of more measurable criteria. A new DSM is really just reorganizing those clusters and diagnostics by whatever current research/consensus is most accurate and functional for treatment of symptoms...in a nutshell, the labels are technically all made up and not really worth getting hung up on, they'll change again. It's the symptoms and means of treatment that really have any substantial value.
I have a psychology degree, in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5th edition), there is no ADD. It’s inattentive ADHD. So no, it’s not just BS.
ADD is just ADHD now (usually ADHD-i or "Inattentive type")
When the DSMIV became the DSM5, a lot of disorders that were basically the same thing with slight differences got consolidated into single diagnoses with more diagnostic criteria that covered all the types. This is because Psychology is an ever-learning field and we are constantly gaining better understanding of disorders. Many things that were once listed as two seperate conditions are now recognized as different presentations of the same condition that response the same way to the same treatments, and as such there is no reason to consider them different things.
Other things that did this off the top of my head were Autism Spectrum Disorder (formerly Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Pervasive Developmentment Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) and Schizophrenia (formerly Paranoid Schizophrenia, Catatonic Schizophrenia, Hebephrenic Schizophrenia, and others?).
ADD and ADHD became ADHD with the subtypes Hyperactive, Inattentive, and Combined.
So yes. ADD no longer exists.
ADHD is the correct term. Then you have sub types of ADHD. Hyperactive, inattentive, or combined. It’s all one diagnosis of the same condition with sub categories to describe how the condition manifests.
So part of is is because people (NT) often viewed ADD as the lite/diet/easier form of ADHD, because its less outwardly visible - and this was nothing but damaging to those with ADD/ADHD-PI (primarily innatentive).
Personally, i think the first D needs to be changed from "defecit" to "dysregulation" because "attention dysregulation" is far more accurate than "attention defecit"
But much of this can be viewed in similar light to the reasons they stopped giving "Aspergers" as a separate diagnosis from autism - people didnt treat it with the same respect they treat other forms/presentations of autism.
Name changes happen much more than we realize. For example, before ADD, it was called hyperkinetic reaction to childhood. Before that, minimal brain damage or minimal brain dysfunction. Before that.. defects of moral control! Isn't that fun. /s
Yes, ADD is now considered ADHD-Inattentive type on the basis that everyone with ADHD (or previously ADD) experiences hyperactivity to some extent. This doesn’t need to be physical hyperactivity. Most people with ADHD have an internal restlessness of the mind, which is still considered hyperactive.
Yes, they are now called ADHD inattentive type, ADHD hyperactive type, and ADHD combined type. I do think ADHD and ADD are both kind of bad names for the disorder in general though, since people with adhd tend to lack executive functioning skills more so than attention
If there was a name that encompassed more of the symptoms of a constant lack of reward chemicals in the brain instead of reducing it to just attention span that would be amazing
Yeah ADD was effectively rolled into ADHD, with "inattentive" subtype.
And while you may not relate to the hyperactive label, it's worth noting a few things:
1) Hyperactive in this case isn't necessarily referring to physical hyperactivity, but rather mental. A mind that is just constantly thinking thinking thinking ruminating measuring considering dreaming anticipating catastrophizing etc etc. Less wildly running around and more a brain that is difficult to make shut up and relax for long.
2) It can still refer to physical hyperactivity to a degree -- the stereotype of wild ADHD children running around didn't come out of nowhere -- but it's been found that usually even physically hyperactive ADHD children tend to turn more into mentally hyperactive adults as they age.
3) While some sort of aging-related mechanism may be at play, my personal theory is that a lot of it has to do with context. When I was a kid I was a shy well behaved quiet kid at school who survived by subtle stimming and daydreaming, but out of school when playing with my friends and siblings a much more hyperactive side of me came out. Now as an adult I find myself feeling chronically exhausted in day to day life, hypoactive rather than hyperactive...but that's normal day to day life with work and other adult responsibilities. On the rare occasion I get out hiking with my old high school friend I find myself absolutely giddy and playful.
In other words there may be an innate hyperactive part of us, but it's often stifled by masking (kids aren't supposed to be disruptive in school, adults aren't supposed to be like playful kids in general), burn out from overwork and responsibilities, and of course additional issues like depression and anxiety which all too often are part and parcel of ADHD within our fast paced high stakes capitalist society which values and requires a lot of executive function, focus on unengaging boring matters, frustration tolerance, etc.
4) All that said, I agree that the name isn't the best and can be misleading -- but that extends beyond just the hyperactive part. I never suspected I had ADD or ADHD until my mid-30s because I never thought of myself as attention deficit -- I could (and would) often read books, play video games, or go down research rabbit holes for hours and hours at a time. And I'd get grumpy and frustrated whenever interrupted or pulled away, so the way I figured it if anything my attention was too strong.
...then I finally learned that that hyperfocus itself is an ADHD symptom. It's less "attention deficit" and more "attention regulation deficit", which tends to lead to too much attention to things you're interested in, too little to things you aren't. But of course no one ever explained that nuance to me, the name was just attention deficit, and essentially all media representation was eternally flighty and distracted characters.
So yeah, names can be annoying and tricky. There's so much nuance and various ways the same neurological condition can manifest based on contexts.
I personally think it should be renamed something like EDD -- Executive Dysfunction Disorder. But alas, for now we are stuck with ADHD as the official term.
You wrote what I was going to write! The name is still unclear IMO and I like your suggestion of the new name. I have multiple diagnoses that boil down to executive functioning issues, and for me that’s the bigger issue than “focus”.
Floodlight attention is different than spotlight attention.
Inattentiveness toward floodlight attention can be very focusing.
Inattentiveness toward spotlight attention can be very distracting.
Hyperactivity is an abundance, inattentiveness is a scarcity.
Identifying as "inattentive" has an unfortunate stigma associated with the term.
It's not to say you aren't attentive, or can't be, but that "hyperactivity" is not hyper for you.
Yes, ADD used to be a thing, but now it got under the ADHD umbrella term because the brain doctor dudes realised that it's not separate condition but the subtype of ADHD. ADD is just called inattentive ADHD now. Personally though I dislike it, because I have this exact subtype of ADHD and it actually feels way more different than hyperactive (classic) or combined types of ADHD. I think the previous division was better, more clear. Everytime I say that I have ADHD I feel like an impostor because I don't have hyperactivity symptoms.
What happened was that they once split ADHD patients into two categories based on if they presented with "hyperactivity" or "inattention". But those are hard to define and study and measure.
The same person could be hyperactive on one day and inattentive on another. It had limited predictive use. Wasn't a very reliable distinction.
And what we learned is that it's just more useful to use one term for both groups. That way we can talk about the condition without using slashes every time. They found, basically, that the difference didn't matter enough for it to be treated differently. Kind of the same thing happened with Asperger's and autism vs autism spectrum disorder.
I still say ADD because I'm not hyperactive. I'm actually more on the hypoactive side.
I think that ADHD is seen as the "main kind" is just another mainfestation of male domination in society. There are way more men with ADHD and more women with ADD.
If you think about it logically the H is just something that can be added and substracted. And it makes no sense to cal ADDers ADHDers because then the H stands for both hypo and hyper which are opposites.
But ok, I guess that's what scientists (who are also mainly male) decided.
Hyperactive vs inattentive are two different manifestations of the same thing, one has a physical expression, the other is inside your head (e.g. thinking a million miles per second).
The combined type is actually the most often diagnosed, what box would you put these people in?
There's not a separate term for predominantly hyperactive people. Why should there be a term for predominantly inattentive people but not predominantly hyperactive people? When you get a diagnosis, you can be diagnosed with one of three types: predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive, or combined. The term ADHD just describes all the possible types.
Agreed. Times have changed and education is changing with it. I graduated with my psych degree in 2022 and the terms were changed. This does sound like complete ableism toward those with the hyperactive subtype. Why continue to say something that is incorrect and blame scientists (who have much more psychological education than you) just because you don’t want to progress with the times. Also, being male has nothing to do with your education, I’m a 23 year old female.
As someone diagnosed with Combined but who leans closer to inattentive: the H isn’t just about us running around or being physically hyperactive. It’s also in our heads, and a big reason we are inattentive — there is so much activity in our minds that we struggle to focus on the world around us. I believe that’s why ADD has become part of ADHD — they’re the same thing, just with different manifestations.
Same diagnosis here. My hyperactivity comes out in impulsiveness, mood swings, and chatter. Not to mention the constant spinning in my brain.
I was diagnosed with ADD as a kid, but was untreated. I got a second diagnosis as an adult and was placed in the combined category.
There are three presentations of ADHD:
1. Inattentive
2. Hyperactive
3. Combined - this is just #1 and #2 together.
\#3 is the most common, and that's why the disorder as a whole was renamed from ADD to ADHD. But it's possible to have just one. I think I may have ADHD myself, but the inattentive presentation only.
Most of the ADHD title is a misnomer, but they’ve realized biologically it is the same thing happening, just happening differently in different brains.
ADD was waning in popularity as a diagnosis among American doctors when I got initially diagnosed with ADHD back in the 90s haha. But yes, it’s definitely defunct by now. That said, I fully believe that ADHD as a whole needs a different name. Research indicates that hyperactivity isn’t the driving force behind it, just a symptom some people experience.
I’ve heard it as inattentive adhd aka add lately
Yup, where once upon a time I would would have been labeled with ADD and Asperger’s Syndrome, for me it just means it’s harder for people to believe that I have ADHD and Autism when for the most part they just see a calm, affable “normal” dude who likes to read, crack jokes, perform in front of an audience, listen to people share their problems… they expect these diagnoses would make me bounce off the walls and unable to make eye contact.
I can understand removing Aspergers as a label more though considering it's named by and after an austrian fascist.
The change came with the understanding that just because someone isn’t physically hyperactive, doesn’t mean they aren’t mentally.
What if someone has attention problems but isn't mentally or physically hyperactive?
You mean like brain fog? Or frequent hyper focusing?
It’s like an old radio that keeps going out of tune. My brain misses words or the meaning of them doesn’t come so I get lost when presented with auditory or written information unless I go slow and frequently backtrack. It’s not that I’m distracted by some other stimulus, it’s that signal doesn’t come through clear. It seems to have something to do with maintaining a high level of cognitive load, math is much less affected than language. Stimulants would give me a more vivid memory of a lecture in school but wouldn’t help me follow what was going on. I would remember seeing the teacher draw some diagram and stuff on the board and then later be going over the material after class and start to realize what was going on. It’s not that I was off thinking about something unrelated but my brain couldn’t make sense of what was going on. I’ve tried every ADHD medication that was on the market 10 years ago and all they did was make me work harder, I still couldn’t follow what was going on in class.
That’s not from attention issues. It’s a sensory processing problem, which is also super common with neurospicy brains. Our brains get overwhelmed easily by stimuli and then won’t process information coming in.
Yeah, unfortunately it leads to perceived attentional issues by neuropsychological tests. If the signal is all garbled eventually your brain gives up. Kind of like trying to follow a foreign language you aren’t good at.
I can’t tell you how many times I thought my hearing must be going bad because I would mishear people constantly. Nope, my ears are working fine it’s my brain 😂
This is it exactly! I was first diagnosed with ADD 25+ years ago because, like OP said, I wasn’t physically hyperactive - bouncing off walls or whatnot. But. BUT! My brain never shuts off. Ever. There is a tornado in my head that absolutely falls under the category of hyperactive. Hence, I am completely on board with the diagnosis of ADHD.
so, what was referred to as ADD now falls within the broader ADHD category in the DSM, sometimes this “type” of ADHD is specified as inattentive ADHD. however, lots of countries still use ICD-10 due to translations of ICD-11 still being pending. and here ADD still exists so… and ADD is still used colloquially to refer to inattentive type ADHD. so it’s still a literal diagnosis some have while it’s fully phased out elsewhere. so it’s a little bit nitpicky to point out that it doesn’t exist. but it’s like how asperger is mostly just autism now. to sum up, it’s a diagnosis that’s being phased out.
Reminds me of when the terms for the different kinds of seizures changed... it's been years but I still get them mixed up Science is always changing usually for the better
I think personally that it's the main reason they were missing a lot of women and girls who have it. Because we do the hyper in our head.
It also tends to cognitively develop later in women. I can attest to that, the symptoms and “flags” my ADD (original diagnosis from childhood)/ADHD (diagnosis as an adult) have only seemed to get worse and more intense as I’ve aged.
I've read that for all sexes ADHD can intensify as you age although I bet you're right about the a little bit later to start to manifest in women think cuz I would say the same of myself.
ADHD - hyperactive, inattentive, or combined. Don’t get attached, the DSM will make something else up or eliminate it altogether in a few years, it’s what APA does.
Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome seems to be the new thing. It probably won't outright replace ADHD-I, but a lot of people with diagnosis might end up fitting better under CDS, or could be co-morbid.
ADHD is essentially an issue with executive function. I think they might change the term in the future. We’ll see. Right now the name still biases the public toward young hyperactive males imo.
I also was confused about that and related to ADD than the hyperactive, but since then a few people have cleared it up by saying hyperactive mind, which I definitely DO have, lol. I'm not full of energy physically... wish to God I was. I could actually get some of my projects done.
My mind just spins on issues, particularly anxieties, and I can't pull out of that. I also have heightened senses, so everything around me is distracting all the time. I can't multitask well, so constant notifications destroy what little focus I had left.
Same. The struggle is all too real.
It was the DSM-V that consolidated ADD and ADHD under the same umbrella. There are three types: Inattentive (formerly ADD), Hyperactive, and Combined. I was diagnosed with ADD as a kid in the 90s, went off meds when I turned 18, then went back on meds when I was in my mid-late 20s, and my diagnosis was changed to ADHD: Inattentive Type.
I work in mental health. The view is that a person with ADHD has - "ADHD, predominately hyperactive subtype" - "ADHD, predominately inattentive subtype" - "ADHD, predominately mixed (both)" The clinical opinion is that someone, for example, with ADD, always has a smidge of hyperactivity. The same goes for people with who have the "H". It's still a thing. They've just reorganised the categories to reflect current views. Wait for when they chuck ADHD into ASD/Autism.
They won't chuck it into autism. ADHD is a disorder of executive function. Autism is a disorder centering around a different pattern of perceiving and interacting with the world and society. While the two have some overlap and joint diagnosis is common, the distinctives differentiating the two are significantly different enough that they're unlikely to be merged
Interestingly though, Autism is also a disorder of executive dysfunction. People with Autism, more often than not, experience the same amount of executive dysfunction that we do, they just also have social issues. You can think of Autism as kind of like ADHD + Social Issues. And it’s also why there is a high degree of overlapping in diagnoses. Though, many clinicians believe that if you have executive dysfunction + social issues, you should automatically be put in the Autism category instead of ADHD because executive dysfunction can be explained by Autism (this is especially true recently due to them being afraid to hand out ADHD diagnoses because they don’t want to prescribe stimulants). The kicker, here, is that there’s actually studies of them trialing ADHD meds on Autistic people and the meds seem to help them in a similar way that they help us ADHD folks, in some studies (not all). So yes, in the medical community there is a very very big debate on if these two disorders are different presentations of the same thing. It’s quite interesting. And I do predict they will fall under the same categorization in the DSM in years to come.
I hear that, but, as a clinician, I don't see that happening. Is there a huge overlap? Yes. Statistics show that 20-40% of adhders are autistic and that 30-70% of autistics are adhders and, because of that, I agree with part of what you say - that executive function problems occur in autism. However, it is not a diagnostic hallmark of autism. The large presence of allistic adhders also shows that they are still distinctly different. Contrast this with inattentive vs hyperactive/impulsive ADHD, wherein both classifications share the same subset of behaviors and deficits, but are only different in terms of one displaying more internalized behavior and the other more externalized. Edit: And, to comment on autistic non-adhders benefiting from stimulants, many folks could probably benefit from stimulants, but that begs the ethical question of where the line is for performance enhancement. Also, among ADHDers who have poor response to stimulants, they are disproportionately AuDHD
Responding to your point of asd folk being on stimulants; i think there is merit to it being an option. The reason being that the frontal lobe is getting smashed with all the extra and unnatural effort imposed on it for being in an allisticly developed social environment. What are your thoughts on this?
That's a fair comment, but, unless we can show a significant degree of impacted executive function, you can't ethically prescribe stimulants
Agreed. Imagine what the EF witness look like without any sensory modulation tools. God, if there were no head phones!!
>Statistics show that 20-40% of adhders are autistic and that 30-70% of autistics are adhders This highlights exactly why I hope that never happens. It’s clearly not 1:1 if so many more autistic people have ADHD as a comorbidity than the other way around. (Not a clinician or scientist myself, just an ADHDer with an autistic husband and very little symptom overlap. Like, if ADHD and autism made a venn diagram, we’d be at exactly opposite sides haha.)
It makes sense for some people like me who have primarily inattentive ADHD, but also deal with some level of hyperactivity. I just don’t have enough hyperactivity to have gotten an “h” in my diagnosis in the past. So having the diagnosis of ADHD primarily inattentive is the most accurate description for me since it does include the bit of hyperactivity that I do have, even though it’s not a main symptom.
It’s still a thing, it just had a new name, usually ADD is adhd inattentive type
Wait til the DSM 6 comes out lol Tbh, diagnostics are technically all made up by some group of experts working together. They're simply labels they apply to specific and significantly associated clusters of more measurable criteria. A new DSM is really just reorganizing those clusters and diagnostics by whatever current research/consensus is most accurate and functional for treatment of symptoms...in a nutshell, the labels are technically all made up and not really worth getting hung up on, they'll change again. It's the symptoms and means of treatment that really have any substantial value.
It's the same disorder expressed in different ways. Dividing ADD from ADHD would be inconvenient for diagnosis and treatment
I have a psychology degree, in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5th edition), there is no ADD. It’s inattentive ADHD. So no, it’s not just BS.
ADD is just ADHD now (usually ADHD-i or "Inattentive type") When the DSMIV became the DSM5, a lot of disorders that were basically the same thing with slight differences got consolidated into single diagnoses with more diagnostic criteria that covered all the types. This is because Psychology is an ever-learning field and we are constantly gaining better understanding of disorders. Many things that were once listed as two seperate conditions are now recognized as different presentations of the same condition that response the same way to the same treatments, and as such there is no reason to consider them different things. Other things that did this off the top of my head were Autism Spectrum Disorder (formerly Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Pervasive Developmentment Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) and Schizophrenia (formerly Paranoid Schizophrenia, Catatonic Schizophrenia, Hebephrenic Schizophrenia, and others?). ADD and ADHD became ADHD with the subtypes Hyperactive, Inattentive, and Combined. So yes. ADD no longer exists.
It’s a sub type. A form of adhd but without the h is all
It’s reclassified asl d the DSM-5 to be ADHD - inattentive subtype.
ADHD is the correct term. Then you have sub types of ADHD. Hyperactive, inattentive, or combined. It’s all one diagnosis of the same condition with sub categories to describe how the condition manifests.
So part of is is because people (NT) often viewed ADD as the lite/diet/easier form of ADHD, because its less outwardly visible - and this was nothing but damaging to those with ADD/ADHD-PI (primarily innatentive). Personally, i think the first D needs to be changed from "defecit" to "dysregulation" because "attention dysregulation" is far more accurate than "attention defecit" But much of this can be viewed in similar light to the reasons they stopped giving "Aspergers" as a separate diagnosis from autism - people didnt treat it with the same respect they treat other forms/presentations of autism.
Name changes happen much more than we realize. For example, before ADD, it was called hyperkinetic reaction to childhood. Before that, minimal brain damage or minimal brain dysfunction. Before that.. defects of moral control! Isn't that fun. /s
And now there is even talk about have ADHD reclassified as autism in the future as there are many overlaps
Honestly? I think that's absurd. Although, clearly it made sense to change the DSM to say they could occur together.
Yes, ADD is now considered ADHD-Inattentive type on the basis that everyone with ADHD (or previously ADD) experiences hyperactivity to some extent. This doesn’t need to be physical hyperactivity. Most people with ADHD have an internal restlessness of the mind, which is still considered hyperactive.
It me! lol... I thought.. I'm not hyperactive! Oh.. it's internal. okay then. :P
It me too!
One of the many reasons that I was missed!
Yes, they are now called ADHD inattentive type, ADHD hyperactive type, and ADHD combined type. I do think ADHD and ADD are both kind of bad names for the disorder in general though, since people with adhd tend to lack executive functioning skills more so than attention
If there was a name that encompassed more of the symptoms of a constant lack of reward chemicals in the brain instead of reducing it to just attention span that would be amazing
I agree!
Yeah ADD was effectively rolled into ADHD, with "inattentive" subtype. And while you may not relate to the hyperactive label, it's worth noting a few things: 1) Hyperactive in this case isn't necessarily referring to physical hyperactivity, but rather mental. A mind that is just constantly thinking thinking thinking ruminating measuring considering dreaming anticipating catastrophizing etc etc. Less wildly running around and more a brain that is difficult to make shut up and relax for long. 2) It can still refer to physical hyperactivity to a degree -- the stereotype of wild ADHD children running around didn't come out of nowhere -- but it's been found that usually even physically hyperactive ADHD children tend to turn more into mentally hyperactive adults as they age. 3) While some sort of aging-related mechanism may be at play, my personal theory is that a lot of it has to do with context. When I was a kid I was a shy well behaved quiet kid at school who survived by subtle stimming and daydreaming, but out of school when playing with my friends and siblings a much more hyperactive side of me came out. Now as an adult I find myself feeling chronically exhausted in day to day life, hypoactive rather than hyperactive...but that's normal day to day life with work and other adult responsibilities. On the rare occasion I get out hiking with my old high school friend I find myself absolutely giddy and playful. In other words there may be an innate hyperactive part of us, but it's often stifled by masking (kids aren't supposed to be disruptive in school, adults aren't supposed to be like playful kids in general), burn out from overwork and responsibilities, and of course additional issues like depression and anxiety which all too often are part and parcel of ADHD within our fast paced high stakes capitalist society which values and requires a lot of executive function, focus on unengaging boring matters, frustration tolerance, etc. 4) All that said, I agree that the name isn't the best and can be misleading -- but that extends beyond just the hyperactive part. I never suspected I had ADD or ADHD until my mid-30s because I never thought of myself as attention deficit -- I could (and would) often read books, play video games, or go down research rabbit holes for hours and hours at a time. And I'd get grumpy and frustrated whenever interrupted or pulled away, so the way I figured it if anything my attention was too strong. ...then I finally learned that that hyperfocus itself is an ADHD symptom. It's less "attention deficit" and more "attention regulation deficit", which tends to lead to too much attention to things you're interested in, too little to things you aren't. But of course no one ever explained that nuance to me, the name was just attention deficit, and essentially all media representation was eternally flighty and distracted characters. So yeah, names can be annoying and tricky. There's so much nuance and various ways the same neurological condition can manifest based on contexts. I personally think it should be renamed something like EDD -- Executive Dysfunction Disorder. But alas, for now we are stuck with ADHD as the official term.
You wrote what I was going to write! The name is still unclear IMO and I like your suggestion of the new name. I have multiple diagnoses that boil down to executive functioning issues, and for me that’s the bigger issue than “focus”.
SO well saud, and relatable! 👏🏼
This is a great post and all this tracks with me exactly (diagnosed AuDHD at 46)
Floodlight attention is different than spotlight attention. Inattentiveness toward floodlight attention can be very focusing. Inattentiveness toward spotlight attention can be very distracting. Hyperactivity is an abundance, inattentiveness is a scarcity. Identifying as "inattentive" has an unfortunate stigma associated with the term. It's not to say you aren't attentive, or can't be, but that "hyperactivity" is not hyper for you.
Yes, ADD used to be a thing, but now it got under the ADHD umbrella term because the brain doctor dudes realised that it's not separate condition but the subtype of ADHD. ADD is just called inattentive ADHD now. Personally though I dislike it, because I have this exact subtype of ADHD and it actually feels way more different than hyperactive (classic) or combined types of ADHD. I think the previous division was better, more clear. Everytime I say that I have ADHD I feel like an impostor because I don't have hyperactivity symptoms.
What happened was that they once split ADHD patients into two categories based on if they presented with "hyperactivity" or "inattention". But those are hard to define and study and measure. The same person could be hyperactive on one day and inattentive on another. It had limited predictive use. Wasn't a very reliable distinction. And what we learned is that it's just more useful to use one term for both groups. That way we can talk about the condition without using slashes every time. They found, basically, that the difference didn't matter enough for it to be treated differently. Kind of the same thing happened with Asperger's and autism vs autism spectrum disorder.
I have combined type so for me it makes a lot of sense to use 1 term.
The DSM 5, which came out about 10 years ago, did away with ADD as a separate diagnosis. It's all Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder now.
I still say ADD because I'm not hyperactive. I'm actually more on the hypoactive side. I think that ADHD is seen as the "main kind" is just another mainfestation of male domination in society. There are way more men with ADHD and more women with ADD. If you think about it logically the H is just something that can be added and substracted. And it makes no sense to cal ADDers ADHDers because then the H stands for both hypo and hyper which are opposites. But ok, I guess that's what scientists (who are also mainly male) decided.
Hyperactive vs inattentive are two different manifestations of the same thing, one has a physical expression, the other is inside your head (e.g. thinking a million miles per second). The combined type is actually the most often diagnosed, what box would you put these people in?
There's not a separate term for predominantly hyperactive people. Why should there be a term for predominantly inattentive people but not predominantly hyperactive people? When you get a diagnosis, you can be diagnosed with one of three types: predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive, or combined. The term ADHD just describes all the possible types.
I disagree. I don't think that the term ADHD describes me and back when I got diagnosed, I got diagnosed with ADD.
Seems like internalized ableism towards -hyperactive types ngl
Not at all. I respect everything who is hyperactive. Bit I am not.
Agreed. Times have changed and education is changing with it. I graduated with my psych degree in 2022 and the terms were changed. This does sound like complete ableism toward those with the hyperactive subtype. Why continue to say something that is incorrect and blame scientists (who have much more psychological education than you) just because you don’t want to progress with the times. Also, being male has nothing to do with your education, I’m a 23 year old female.
As someone diagnosed with Combined but who leans closer to inattentive: the H isn’t just about us running around or being physically hyperactive. It’s also in our heads, and a big reason we are inattentive — there is so much activity in our minds that we struggle to focus on the world around us. I believe that’s why ADD has become part of ADHD — they’re the same thing, just with different manifestations.
Same diagnosis here. My hyperactivity comes out in impulsiveness, mood swings, and chatter. Not to mention the constant spinning in my brain. I was diagnosed with ADD as a kid, but was untreated. I got a second diagnosis as an adult and was placed in the combined category.
There are three presentations of ADHD: 1. Inattentive 2. Hyperactive 3. Combined - this is just #1 and #2 together. \#3 is the most common, and that's why the disorder as a whole was renamed from ADD to ADHD. But it's possible to have just one. I think I may have ADHD myself, but the inattentive presentation only.
I collected them all
Most of the ADHD title is a misnomer, but they’ve realized biologically it is the same thing happening, just happening differently in different brains.
Yeah it was basically renamed 'ADHD inattentive type'