--- title: A Proposed New Definition May Make ADHD Easier to Spot in Adults description: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is still thought of as a childhood condition, even while it persists into adulthood for many patients who are diagnosed... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7141576/a-proposed-new-definition-may-make-adhd-easier-to-spot-in-adults/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2011-05-17T20:00:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T11:02:21.855Z article:section: Health og:title: A Proposed New Definition May Make ADHD Easier to Spot in Adults og:description: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is still thought of as a childhood condition, even while it persists into adulthood for many patients who are diagnosed... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7141576/a-proposed-new-definition-may-make-adhd-easier-to-spot-in-adults/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17afc32faf2f3aca/698a948b011682520f98bfec/846642831.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 307 og:image:height: 173 og:image:alt: The hand which grows og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Proposed New Definition May Make ADHD Easier to Spot in Adults twitter:description: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is still thought of as a childhood condition, even while it persists into adulthood for many patients who are diagnosed... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17afc32faf2f3aca/698a948b011682520f98bfec/846642831.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # A Proposed New Definition May Make ADHD Easier to Spot in Adults > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) May 17, 2011 8:00 PM UTC  mŽu ¼‘º—Š”jƒtƒ‰ƒbƒVƒ…ƒtƒBƒ‹ƒ€ by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) May 17, 2011 8:00 PM UTC Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is still thought of as a childhood condition, even while it persists into adulthood for many patients who are diagnosed as children. But now, psychiatrists say, a proposed new definition of ADHD may make it easier to diagnose and treat older teens and adults.more Reporting at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting (in Honolulu — lucky shrinks!), researchers say the updated edition of the _Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders_ (_DSM_), the _DSM-5_, which is slated for publication in 2013, may hold [revamped diagnostic criteria](http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevision/Pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=383) for ADHD in adults. Increasingly, data suggest that the condition manifests differently in kids than in older teens and adults. (**More on TIME.com:** [Faking It: Why Nearly 1 in 4 Adults Who Seek Treatment Don’t Have ADHD](http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/28/faking-it-why-nearly-1-in-4-adults-who-seek-treatment-dont-have-adhd/)) The Los Angeles _Times_‘ Booster Shots blog [reports](http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-adhd-20110515,0,6806578.story): --- > “” --- While the current definition requires children to have at least six symptoms of ADHD to warrant diagnosis, the proposed definition would lower the minimum to four symptoms in adults. Overall, the new diagnostic criteria are likely to increase the prevalence of ADHD in the general population, Cuffe told Booster Shots, and some experts have concerns that the disorder will be overdiagnosed. (**More on TIME.com:** [Does the ADHD Drug Shortage Herald a Crackdown on Stimulants?](http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/11/does-the-adhd-drug-shortage-herald-a-crackdown-on-stimulants/)) That worry is underscored by recent findings that nearly a quarter of adults who currently seek a diagnosis of ADHD are [faking it](http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/28/faking-it-why-nearly-1-in-4-adults-who-seek-treatment-dont-have-adhd/), in part to get their hands on the stimulant drugs that are used to treat it. Hopefully the new criteria will do more to pinpoint those who really need treatment, particularly in groups that are overlooked, than to inflate rates of the disorder. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7141576/a-proposed-new-definition-may-make-adhd-easier-to-spot-in-adults/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7141576/a-proposed-new-definition-may-make-adhd-easier-to-spot-in-adults/"},"headline":"A Proposed New Definition May Make ADHD Easier to Spot in Adults","datePublished":"2011-05-17T20:00:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T11:02:21.855Z","description":"Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is still thought of as a childhood condition, even while it persists into adulthood for many patients who are diagnosed...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7141576/a-proposed-new-definition-may-make-adhd-easier-to-spot-in-adults/","keywords":["ADHD","medication"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17afc32faf2f3aca/698a948b011682520f98bfec/846642831.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17afc32faf2f3aca/698a948b011682520f98bfec/846642831.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The hand which grows","caption":"The hand which grows","creditText":"mŽu ¼‘º—Š”jƒtƒ‰ƒbƒVƒ…ƒtƒBƒ‹ƒ€","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7141576/a-proposed-new-definition-may-make-adhd-easier-to-spot-in-adults/","name":"A Proposed New Definition May Make ADHD Easier to Spot in Adults"}}]}] ```