# Good attention deficit disorder test?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-attention-deficit-disorder-test/380119>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 12, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-attention-deficit-disorder-test/380119 "2006-11-12T17:16:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-attention-deficit-disorder-test/380119/1 "2006-11-12T17:16:44Z")

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Does anyone know a good online test for ADD?

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-attention-deficit-disorder-test/380119/2 "2006-11-12T19:59:35Z")

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Find an online copy of the DSM IV. That would be better then online test, it’s what a doctor would use.  
[http://home.att.net/~sebloom/ADD/DSMIV.html](http://home.att.net/~sebloom/ADD/DSMIV.html)

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**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-attention-deficit-disorder-test/380119/3 "2006-11-12T22:48:03Z")

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[QUOTE=Gozu]  
Does anyone know a good online test for ADD?

Thanks.  
[/QUOTE]

Oh I saw one the other day. Lemme just go find it…

What did you want, again?

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**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-attention-deficit-disorder-test/380119/4 "2006-11-13T02:30:55Z")

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[QUOTE=Joey P]  
Find an online copy of the DSM IV. That would be better then online test, it’s what a doctor would use.  
[http://home.att.net/~sebloom/ADD/DSMIV.html](http://home.att.net/~sebloom/ADD/DSMIV.html)  
[/QUOTE]  
The problem with the DSM IV criteria is that they’re a) not conclusive, and b) is a laundry list that could, with a sufficienty flexible mindset, apply to pretty much anybody.

No online test is really going to give you a good measure of whether you have ADD/ADHD or not. Either you exhibit some of the symptoms to a point that it interferes with your ability to complete tasks–in which case you should go to a professional diagnostician who can perform the battery of tests necessary to make a credible assessment of whether you have some kind of attentional problem–or you don’t (or at least it’s not a serious problem for you.) Would you take an online test for mononucleosis, or submit to an e-mail biopsy for cancer?

[thread=329271]Here[/thread]'s an old thread on the topic of ADD. I recommend reading Hallowell’s [Driven To Distraction](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684801280) as a good introductory book on the topic for the layperson.

Stranger