ADHD is the only disorder of attention currently defined by the DSM-5 or ICD-10. Formal diagnosis is made by a qualified professional. It includes demonstrating six or more of the following symptoms of inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity (or both). ADHD symptoms (DSM-5) Inattention Hyperactivity-Impulsivity *gives no close attention to details *has trouble holding attention on tasks *appears to not listen when spoken to directly *not following through on instructions *has trouble organizing tasks *avoids tasks requiring long mental effort *loses things necessary for tasks *easily distracted *forgetful in daily activities *fidgets or squirms *leaves seat inappropriately *runs or climbs inappropriately *unable to play quietly *"on the go" or "driven by a motor" *talks excessively *blurts out answers too early *has trouble waiting their turn *interrupts or intrudes on others The symptoms must also * be age-inappropriate, * start before age 12, * occur often and be present in at least two settings, * clearly interfere with social, school, or work functioning, * and not be better explained by another mental disorder. Based on the above symptoms, three types of ADHD are defined: * a predominantly inattentive presentation (ADHD-I) * a predominantly hyperactive-impulsive presentation (ADHD-HI) * a combined presentation (ADHD-C)<unk>  is proposed to be similar to the predominantly inattentive presentation (ADHD-I), but can be distinguished from it by the following symptoms:<unk>  symptoms (preliminary research criteria) *Prone to daydreaming *Easily confused or mentally foggy *Spacey or inattentive to surroundings *Mind seems to be elsewhere *Stares blankly into space *Underactive, slow moving or<unk>  *Lethargic or less energetic *Trouble staying awake or alert *Has drowsy or sleepy appearance *Gets lost in own thoughts *Apathetic or withdrawn, less engaged in activities *Loses train of thought or<unk>  set *Processes information not as quickly or accurately As a comparison of both tables shows, there is no overlap between the official ADHD inattention symptoms and the<unk>  symptoms. That means that both symptom clusters do not refer to the same attention problems. They may exist in parallel within the same person but do also occur alone. However, one problem is still that some individuals who actually have<unk>  are currently misdiagnosed with the inattentive presentation. Social behaviour In many ways, those who have an<unk>  profile have some of the opposite symptoms of those with classic ADHD: instead of being hyperactive, extroverted, obtrusive, excessively energetic and risk takers, those with<unk>  are drifting, absent-minded, listless, introspective and daydreamy. They feel like they are "in the fog" and seem "out of it". The comorbid psychiatric problems often associated with<unk>  are more often of the internalizing types, such as anxiety, unhappiness or depression. Most consistent across studies was a pattern of reticence and social withdrawal in interactions with peers. Their typically shy nature and slow response time has often been misinterpreted as aloofness or disinterest by others. In social group interactions, those with<unk>  may be ignored. People with classic ADHD are more likely to be rejected in these situations, because of their social intrusiveness or aggressive behavior. Compared to children with<unk> , they are also much more likely to show antisocial behaviours like substance abuse, oppositional-defiant disorder or conduct disorder (frequent lying, stealing, fighting etc.). Fittingly, in terms of personality, ADHD seems to be associated with sensitivity to reward and fun seeking while<unk>  may be associated with punishment sensitivity. Attention deficits Individuals with<unk>  symptoms may show a qualitatively different kind of attention deficit that is more typical of a true information processing problem; such as poor focusing of attention on details or the capacity to distinguish important from unimportant information rapidly. In contrast, people with ADHD have more difficulties with persistence of attention and action toward goals coupled with impaired resistance to responding to distractions. Unlike<unk> , those with classic ADHD have problems with inhibition but have no difficulty selecting and filtering sensory input. Some think that<unk>  and ADHD produce different kinds of inattention: While those with ADHD can engage their attention but fail to sustain it over time, people with<unk>  seem to have difficulty with engaging their attention to a specific task. Accordingly, the ability to orient attention has been found to be abnormal in<unk> . Both disorders interfere significantly with academic performance but may do so by different means.<unk>  may be more problematic with the accuracy of the work a child does in school and lead to making more errors. Conversely, ADHD may more adversely affect productivity which represents the amount of work done in a particular time interval. Children with<unk>  seem to have more difficulty with consistently remembering things that were previously learned and make more mistakes on memory retrieval tests than do children with ADHD. They have been found to perform much worse on psychological tests involving perceptual-motor speed or hand-eye coordination and speed. They also have a more disorganized thought process, a greater degree of sloppiness, and lose things more easily. The risk for additional learning disabilities seems equal in both ADHD and<unk>  (23–50%) but math disorders may be more frequent in the<unk> -group. A key behavioral characteristic of those with<unk>  symptoms is that they are more likely to appear to be lacking motivation and may even have an unusually higher frequency of daytime sleepiness. They seem to lack energy to deal with mundane tasks and will consequently seek to concentrate on things that are mentally stimulating perhaps because of their underaroused state. Alternatively,<unk>  may involve a pathological form of excessive mind-wandering. Executive function The executive system of the human brain provides for the cross-temporal organization of behavior towards goals and the future and coordinates actions and strategies for everyday goal-directed tasks. Essentially, this system permits humans to self-regulate their behavior so as to sustain action and problem solving toward goals specifically and the future more generally. Dysexecutive syndrome is defined as a "cluster of impairments generally associated with damage to the frontal lobes of the brain" which includes "difficulties with high-level tasks such as planning, organising, initiating, monitoring and adapting behaviour". Such executive deficits pose serious problems for a person's ability to engage in self-regulation over time to attain their goals and anticipate and prepare for the future. Adele Diamond postulated that the core<unk>  deficit of those with ADHD-I is working memory, or, as she coined in her recent paper on the subject, "childhood-onset dysexecutive syndrome". However, two more recent studies by Barkley found that while children and adults with<unk>  had some deficits in executive functions (EF) in everyday life activities, they were primarily of far less magnitude and largely centered around problems with self-organization and problem-solving. Even then, analyses showed that most of the difficulties with EF deficits were the result of overlapping ADHD symptoms that may co-exist with<unk>  rather than being attributable to<unk>  itself. More research on the link of<unk>  to EF deficits is clearly indicated—but, as of this time,<unk>  does not seem to be as strongly associated with EF deficits as is ADHD.
Sluggish cognitive tempo
Compulsive behavior
Social-emotional agnosia
Psychological resistance
Callous and unemotional traits
Musical anhedonia
Emotional lability
Communication apprehension