I have received many queries about what the difference is between ADD and ADHD, parent who’s children are diagnosed with the one this week and then the other, next week.
The difference between ADD and ADHD is easy to explain. ADD stands for Attention Deficit Disorder and is exactly that. It’s characterised by an inability to pay attention, and can impact what happens at home, work, school, even in social settings.
The ADDers are the people who have lists for their lists…(somewhere)… and who generally struggle to stay focused long enough in order to actually listen to their spouses telling them where they left the list in the first place. They also might find it difficult to accomplish tasks as they might have difficulty in remembering most of what they needed to do. Does “What did I have to do again…” sound familiar? More often than not, ADDers might find their minds wondering about everything else instead of staying focused on the task at hand.
ADHD on the other hand is compiled of a different bag of goodies. The “H” in ADHD stands for Hyperactivity and is present in one of two forms; either ADHD-Hyperactivity (which is characterised by hyperactivity without inattention) OR ADHD-Combined (which is characterised by both inattention and hyperactivity). The ADHDers are ones who have ants in their pants and cannot sits still long enough to complete a task. More than often, the ADHDers hide their lists for them to be able to look around for it later.
Here’s a quick summary:
All three forms–ADD, ADHD-Hyperactive and ADHD-Combined are considered types of ADHD.
ADD: Inattention only
ADHD-Hyperactive: Hyperactivity only
ADHD-Combined:Inattention and hyperactivity
Author: Lauren Claassen (Psychologist 0120367)