Could I Have Adult ADHD?
An educational, non-diagnostic checklist to help you reflect on common experiences of adult ADHD, across attention, organisation, restlessness and impulsivity, with strong caveats and a note on seeking a proper assessment.
Written by Tarun Vermani, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Last reviewed
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Could I Have Adult ADHD?
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About this checklist
This is an educational checklist to help you reflect on some common experiences linked with adult ADHD. It is NOT a diagnosis, and it cannot tell you whether you have ADHD. ADHD is a clinical diagnosis that needs a full assessment by a specialist, who will look at your history and how things affect different areas of your life. This checklist cannot do that. It is also worth knowing that many of these experiences are very common and can have lots of other causes, such as stress, poor sleep, anxiety, or low mood, so ticking some of them does not mean you have ADHD. If several of these feel true for you, and they have been there since childhood and show up across different situations rather than just one, it may be worth talking to your GP about whether an assessment would be helpful. There are no right or wrong answers here.
Experiences you may recognise
Tick anything that feels true for you much of the time, and that has been part of how you are for a long while, rather than just during a recent stressful patch.
What your answers might mean
These experiences fall into two broad areas that professionals look at: difficulties with attention and organisation, and restlessness or acting on impulse. If only a few feel true, that is very common and may simply be part of being human, or a sign of a busy or stressful time. If many of these feel true, one thing professionals pay close attention to is whether they have been present since childhood and across different areas of your life, such as home, work or study, and whether they get in the way day to day. This is not a score, and it does not tell you that you have ADHD. It is only a prompt to reflect, and, if it resonates, a reason to seek a proper conversation.
Getting support and next steps
If a lot of this rings true, especially if it has been there since you were young and affects more than one part of your life, a good next step is to speak to your GP. They can talk it through with you, think about other things that might explain how you are feeling, and, if it seems helpful, refer you for a full ADHD assessment with a specialist. Only that kind of assessment can give you a clear answer. Whatever the outcome, noticing these patterns and reaching out for support is a positive and worthwhile step, and understanding how your mind works can help either way.
Over to you
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When to use ‘Could I Have Adult ADHD?’
‘Could I Have Adult ADHD?’ is an interactive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) worksheet. As a core CBT skill it is used right across the model, with presentations including depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma and low self-esteem, rather than being tied to a single diagnosis.
It is designed to be used within therapy rather than as a standalone self-help tool: a therapist introduces it, works through it collaboratively, and helps make sense of what it surfaces. You can preview the full worksheet above, then assign it digitally for clients to complete between sessions on any device — or download it as a print-ready PDF.
How it works
Most people work through it in around 7 minutes. It moves through five short steps:
- About this checklist — This is an educational checklist to help you reflect on some common experiences linked with adult ADHD. It is NOT a diagnosis, and it…
- Experiences you may recognise — Tick anything that feels true for you much of the time, and that has been part of how you are for a long while, rather than just during a…
- What your answers might mean — These experiences fall into two broad areas that professionals look at: difficulties with attention and organisation, and restlessness or…
- Getting support and next steps — If a lot of this rings true, especially if it has been there since you were young and affects more than one part of your life, a good next…
- Over to you
Completed on the Formulate platform, your client's answers are saved automatically and shared straight back to you, so you can review them before the next session rather than waiting for a paper copy to come back.
The CBT approach behind it
In common with other CBT methods, ‘Could I Have Adult ADHD?’ works by noticing the links between situations, thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviour — and finding practical ways to change unhelpful patterns. The aim is not positive thinking but a clearer, shared understanding of what keeps a difficulty going — and practical, testable ways to change it.
Because it is a CBT tool it stays focused on the here-and-now links between thoughts, feelings, the body and behaviour, and it works best as one part of a wider course of therapy rather than as advice or a diagnosis.
It follows the same evidence-based cognitive behavioural therapy structure as the rest of the Formulate library.
For use alongside professional support
Formulate provides educational CBT resources for use with a qualified therapist. They are not a substitute for professional assessment, diagnosis, or crisis care.
If you need urgent help now:
- Emergency services: 999 — if you or someone else is in immediate danger
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