A growing number of adults are recognising ADHD traits in themselves for the first time, often in their thirties, forties or later. Sometimes it follows a child’s diagnosis. Sometimes it follows years of feeling that everyday organisation is harder than it should be. If you are considering an adult ADHD assessment in Surrey, here is what the process involves and what a diagnosis can realistically change.
Why adult ADHD is so often missed
ADHD affects roughly 4 to 5 per cent of the population and has a strong genetic component. It has historically been identified in disruptive, hyperactive schoolboys, which means huge numbers of people were overlooked, particularly girls and anyone with the inattentive presentation.
Inattentive ADHD does not look like restlessness. It looks like drifting off mid-conversation, losing track of tasks, missing deadlines despite genuine effort, and an inbox that has quietly become unmanageable. Intelligent, capable adults often compensate for years, until a job change, a new baby or increased responsibility removes the slack that made compensating possible.
Signs worth taking seriously
– Persistent difficulty sustaining attention on tasks that are not intrinsically interesting
– Chronic disorganisation and a sense of always running behind
– Starting many things and finishing few
– Restlessness, fidgeting or an inability to sit through meetings comfortably
– Interrupting, talking over people or blurting out thoughts
– Impatience in queues, traffic and conversations
– Emotional reactions that feel disproportionate and arrive fast
One or two of these on a bad week means very little. A lifelong pattern present across multiple settings, since childhood, is what matters diagnostically.
Screening before you book
The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, known as the ASRS, is a free screening questionnaire based on the diagnostic criteria. Part A contains six questions, and a score of four or more is predictive of adult ADHD. Part B explores the wider impact on daily functioning.
Screening is not diagnosis. It is a useful filter that tells you whether a full assessment is worth arranging. Details of the questionnaire and how to access it are on the [ADHD assessment and diagnosis page](https://surreypsychologist.com/adhd-assessment-diagnosis-and-treatment).
What a full assessment involves
Developmental history
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition, which means symptoms must have been present in childhood even if nobody named them at the time. Expect detailed questions about school reports, early behaviour and family history. Bringing old school reports, if you still have them, is genuinely helpful.
Structured clinical interview
This works through the diagnostic criteria systematically, examining how each symptom shows up now and how much it interferes with work, study, relationships and daily life. Impairment matters as much as symptom count.
Ruling out and ruling in
This is the part that a rushed assessment gets wrong. Anxiety, depression, trauma, sleep disorders and thyroid problems can all produce poor concentration. An assessment carried out by an experienced clinical psychologist looks at the whole picture rather than pattern-matching to a checklist. It is also common for ADHD to sit alongside another condition, in which case both need addressing.
Feedback
You receive a clear explanation of the findings, whether or not the criteria are met, along with recommendations for what to do next.
What happens after a diagnosis
Diagnosis is a beginning, not an endpoint. Medication, prescribed and monitored by a psychiatrist, helps many people significantly, but it is not the whole answer and not everyone wants it.
Psychological work alongside it tends to focus on practical structures: externalising your memory so nothing depends on remembering, breaking tasks into pieces small enough to start, building routines that survive a bad week. CBT-based approaches also help with the layer of self-criticism that decades of undiagnosed ADHD leaves behind. Many adults arrive believing they are lazy or unreliable. Unpicking that belief is often the most valuable part of the work, and the approaches used are described on the [therapy models page](https://surreypsychologist.com/therapy).
Left unassessed
Untreated adult ADHD is associated with difficulties in impulse control, emotional regulation, anger management, substance misuse and sleep. None of these are inevitable, but they become more likely when the underlying condition goes unrecognised and people find their own ways to cope.
Taking the next step
If the description here feels familiar, start with the ASRS screening questionnaire. If your score suggests ADHD is a possibility, a full assessment will give you a clear answer either way, and a clear answer is worth having.
Assessments for adults and older adolescents are available at the Guildford clinic on Quarry Street. [Contact the practice](https://surreypsychologist.com/contact) to ask a question or arrange an appointment.