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The Ten Brain Behaviors that are the Core and Associated Characteristics of ADD/ADHD.

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Ten (10) brain behaviors are the Core and Associated Characteristics of ADD/ADHD,
Attention Deficit Disorder, which is also called Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD) and are names that describe a kind of inherited brain chemistry.

Physiologically, ADD/ADHD affects neurotransmitter hormones and synapses which are the main anatomical structures by which one brain cell transmits messages to other brain cells. Below is a list of inherited, mainly chemically (not psychologically) determined behaviors that are characteristic of ADD/ADHD people.

ADD/ADHD is most easily recognized in children and teenagers. While most of the behavioral characteristics of ADD/ADHD brain chemistry persist into adulthood, they tend to be less easily observed and less intense as individuals age.

Regardless of age, the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD must be made clinically. There are no objective tests yet that replace clinical judgment.

The diagnosis is dependent on the presence of hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention plus at least several of the following ten (10) characteristics:

  1. Academic underachieving and/or inattentiveness due to difficulty processing and understanding information.*

  2. Hyperactive or excessively fidgety behavior of varying intensity.*

  3. Impulsivity: i.e., blurting out thoughts, interrupting others, acting without thinking about what one is doing, and/or shifting from one activity to another excessively.*

  4. Enuresis (nocturnal bedwetting).

  5. Dyslexia: Spatial, i.e., writing with reversals or reversing number sequences AND/OR Verbal, i.e., let me invite me to your birthday party (inverted from "invite you to my birthday party").

  6. Fall asleep slowly at night (even if tired).

  7. Come awake slowly in the morning (unless excited).

  8. Frequent and unexplained irritability and easy frustration.

  9. Holding on to negative thoughts with or without "awful feelings" or depression.

  10. Episodic explosiveness or "rage" or "tantrums" over "little things" or minor issues.

* Diagnostic criteria according to the DSM-IV