Glossary of Terms:
Before we get into the sometimes boring technical terms and definitions related to ADHD, check out this fun video of slang ADHD terms from Rox & Rich Pink of ADHD_Love and see if you relate to any of them! (this is your hit of dopamine so you have the energy to read a list of ADHD terms afterward.)
We are “dopamining” here. 😉
For the most part, I’ve given technical definitions for ADHD related terms below but I will also add personal thoughts if I think they are helpful. My goal is to give you a place to find definitions for most terms you may come across when you are learning more about ADHD. If you have a suggestion for a term I’m missing, please let me know here!
Note: all common ADHD symptoms will be displayed in green.
ADD: Attention Deficit Disorder. This term was used from 1980-1987 in the DSM III (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and is now considered outdated. In 1987, it was changed to ADHD when the DSM III was revised. This means, even if you or your loved one does not display hyperactivity, saying ADD isn’t necessary. ADHD is now the umbrella term. If you’re inattentive, the H is silent 😂
ADHD: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. The slash is intended to indicate that not all people with adhd experience hyperactive symptoms. In 1994, the DSM IV was released and along with adding the slash, the diagnosis now had three subtypes (later changed to “presentations”) which still stand in the DSM V:
ADHD, predominantly inattentive presentation (colloquially still referred to by some as ADD)
ADHD, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive presentation
ADHD, combined presentation
ADHD Coaching: training from a life coach who is specifically certified to work with ADHD clients. Coaches often work on organizational and executive function challenges.
ADHD Burnout: A state of physical and emotional exhaustion that may occur after prolonged periods of masking, or managing ADHD symptoms and demands while trying to seem “normal.” Also called hitting an ADHD wall. It’s similar to when people get through something purely on adrenaline and then they crash.
Antidepressants: Medication prescribed to treat depression and other conditions. The two main types are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs). Sometimes SNRIs are used to help treat ADHD.
Anxiety: Uneasiness of the mind, typically shown by apprehension, worry and fear about everyday situations. Anxiety is a common comorbidity with ADHD. (Possibly because so many people with ADHD are misdiagnosed at first with either anxiety or depression.)
Behavioral Therapy: refers to a range of treatments and techniques used in therapy to attempt to change an individual’s maladaptive responses to certain situations. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) are two types of behavioral therapy that might be used to help ADHD patients improve their emotional regulation, etc. jj
Body Doubling: a productivity strategy in which another person works alongside you as you complete a task you might otherwise find challenging. Having someone nearby may help you stay focused, engaged, or motivated to finish the job. This could be someone who is doing the same work as you or something completely different. (ie. if a friend comes over and sits on your bed, writing emails while you clean your room or fold your laundry…just having them there will help your brain focus on what you’re meant to be doing, even if they are not doing it with you.)
Comorbidity: Two or more disorders occurring in an individual at the same time.
Depression: Clinical Depression aka Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a mental health condition that causes a persistently low or depressed mood and a loss of interest in activities that once brought joy. Clinical depression can also affect how you sleep, your appetite and your ability to think clearly. While everyone can feel down and depressed at certain times, clinical depression is more severe and can last for months to years. Depression is a common comorbidity with ADHD.
DSM-V Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: This manual, written by the American Psychiatric Association, describes how mental health disorders are classified, including the symptoms used for diagnosis. It is used by various health care professionals and insurance companies across a wide range of settings to classify mental disorders for diagnosis and insurance purposes.
Dyslexia: A specific learning disability that impairs a person’s ability to read. It is characterized by spelling challenges, word retrieval while speaking and a lack of fluency, causing reading to be slower and require much effort. There is some overlap with ADHD. About 30% of those with dyslexia also have ADHD.
Executive Function: A set of mental skills. It includes working memory, flexible thinking, self-control, and ability to follow multiple-step instructions. We use these skills every day to learn, work, and manage daily life. Trouble with executive function can make it hard to focus, follow directions, and handle emotions, among other things. Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter for executive function skills and in the ADHD brain it is lacking. While executive dysfunction can happen due to brain injury or addiction, it is an extremely common symptom of ADHD.
Hyperactivity: Having increased movement, impulsive actions, and a shorter attention span. A hyperactive person has constant activity and is easily distracted and impulsive. Other characteristics of hyperactive behavior also include inability to concentrate and aggressiveness.
Hyperfocus: A deep and intense mental concentration fixated on an activity, specific event or topic. Can be referred to as being “in the zone.” Often people will say that they lose track of time and forget to eat or go to the bathroom while they are hyperfocusing. Some consider this ability to be a superpower that comes with ADHD but it is interest driven so it’s not a consistent skill.
Impulsivity: Acting with little or no thought of the consequences, or reacting rapidly without considering the negative consequences of the reaction. This is a common ADHD symptom.
Inattention: Failure to pay attention to a specified object or task.
Importance-Based Nervous System: This concept maintains that the majority of people (neurotypicals) have a nervous system that is driven by outcomes, rewards, and consequences.
Imposter Syndrome: the persistent inability to believe that your success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of your own efforts or skills. Many people struggle with this but it’s very common in people with ADHD. I often feel like I put an asterisk on my accomplishments. “Yeah, I published a book that has great reviews but it’s self published so it doesn’t really count.” Asterisk. “Yes, I had a 4.0 gpa but that’s because I dropped that awful math class.” Asterisk.
Interest-Based Nervous System: This concept highlights that ADHD people find it easier to focus and engage with tasks when they are interesting, novel, competitive, or urgent. When one or more of those aspects is present, it seems to allow the ADHD prefrontal cortex to wake up and executive function becomes easier.
Masking: The effort ADHD people (also done by some on the autism spectrum) put into concealing or compensating for their ADHD-related behaviors or challenges, often to fit in or meet societal or occupational expectations. Basically, the effort we put into trying to act “normal” by attempting to be on time, stop losing things, pay attention to boring things, etc.
Monoamines: A group of neurotransmitters that regulate consciousness, cognition, attention, and emotion. Specifically: serotonin, histamine, dopamine, epinephrine (adrenaline), and Norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
Neurotransmitter: A chemical in the brain that functions as a messenger to transmit nerve impulses between nerve cells (neurons) within the nervous system. There are three types of neurotransmitters: Amino acids, Peptides, and Monoamines. The last category is what seems to be affected most in ADHD brains.
Non-stimulant Medication: A medication that has been approved to treat ADHD—generally considered second-line medication—prescribed to those who have an incomplete response or no response to stimulants, cannot tolerate stimulants, or have certain co-existing psychiatric conditions. This class of adhd meds usually work by increading norepinephrine (which increases dopamine). Wellbutrin, Strattera and Effexor are commonly prescribed examples.
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): The front part of the frontal lobe in the brain that plays a role in controlling attention, behavior, judgment, and emotion. Sometimes I refer to this as the conductor of the orchestra (your brain) who, in an ADHD brain, sadly tends to sleep on the job much of the time. Much of the treatment for ADHD is aimed at waking that conductor.
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD): A cluster of symptoms that produce an intense emotional pain response to perceived possible rejection, criticism, judgement, or failure. This is extremely common in people with ADHD but can be found in other disorders, as well. This is not an official diagnosis in the DSM-V, as the name for this cluster of symptoms is relatively new. But the cluster of symptoms is not new and has been known as a symptom of ADHD. Click here for a great article in ADDitude Magazine: How ADHD Ignites RSD: Meaning & Medication Solutions
Sensory Integration Disorder (SID): Also known as Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), SID is a condition in which the brain and nervous system are unable to correctly receive, organize and process information coming in from the senses, causing learning and behavioral problems. It’s characterized by high sensitivity or unresponsiveness to lights, sounds, textures, or smells and a tendency to become easily overwhelmed in crowded or noisy environments. Studies suggest that up to 40% of children with ADHD also have SID.
Stimming: Self-stimulating behaviors like fidgeting, tapping, or repetitive movements. ADHD people sometimes do this to help regulate their attention or energy levels. Also a coping technique often used by people on the autism spectrum.
Stimulant Medication: Medication that “stimulate” (increase) certain activity in the body’s central nervous system, including the production and activity of neurotransmitters. Most medications approved for the treatment of ADHD are stimulant medications. When taken as prescribed, they generally help improve the symptoms of ADHD by promoting alertness, awareness, and the ability to focus. Adderall, Ritalin, and Vyvanse are commonly prescribed for ADHD.
Success Amnesia: Many people with ADHD tend to forget their past achievements or successes. They often focus more on perceived failures or current challenges rather than acknowledging their accomplishments. I believe this is because our “failures” take up so much real estate in our brain that they overshadow our successes. I also think this is why we tend to struggle with imposter syndrome.
Task Paralysis: the inability to decide which tasks to do when. ADHD is a misnomer. We don’t have a deficit of attention. We have a deficit in our ability to know what to focus on. All items on our task list seem to rise to the same level of importance in our ADHD brains so we end up sort of stuck in limbo. We don’t want to choose the wrong thing but that leads us to choose nothing and instead go search for a dopamine hit. We will go do something easy that will give us that hit and we will tell ourselves that we’ll tackle our To Do list afterward. But we rarely do.
Time Blindness: the inability to recognize how much time has passed or to estimate how long something will take. It seems to be a combination of the brain failing to passively interpret sensory input like pulse rate, light levels, and temperature changes as indicators of time passing and insufficient dopamine levels to trigger a conscious tracking of time.
Waiting Mode: a phenomenon in which people with ADHD feel unable to do anything productive in the hours or days leading up to an important appointment or event. It’s believed this stems from fear of getting distracted by tasks and missing the event. Because we’ve been there, done that as we often struggle with time blindness.
Working Memory: A system in the brain that temporarily stores and processes the information needed for much more complex tasks such as reasoning, comprehension, and learning. This is a system that tends to be impaired in the ADHD brain. It’s why I can put my phone on top the my car when I’m juggling ten things to get in the vehicle, tell myself not to leave it there, and then promptly get in the car, shut the door, and drive down the street. Thankfully my case has magnets in it so my phone just goes for a fun ride. But I have several water bottles, several previous phones that did NOT have magnetized cases and one very expensive iPad which have all taken fatal tumbles off the top of my car on the highway.