APA DSM III-R DIAGNOSTIC STANDARDS
                                       FOR
                           ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER
        
        
        
        There's been some debate about ADD's existence, definitions,
        diagnosis, etc.  Here's the *only* criteria for diagnosis
        recognized by the APA.
        
        The American Psychiatric Association's DSM III-R diagnostic
        standards manual defines an adult or child as having the ADHD
        disorder if they meet eight or more of the criteria paraphrased
        here.  
        
         1. When required to remain seated, a person has difficulty doing
        so.
        
         2. Stimuli extraneous to the task at hand are easily
        distracting.
         
         3. Holding attention to a single task or play activity is
        difficult.
         
         4. Frequently will hop from one activity to another, without
        completing the first.
         
         5. Fidgets or squirms (or feels restless mentally).
        
         6. Doesn't want to, or can't, wait for his or her turn when
        involved in group activities.
        
         7. Before a question is completely asked, will often interrupt
        the questioner with an answer.
        
         8. Has problems with job or chore follow-through, and this
        difficulty doesn't stem from some other learning disability or
        defiant behavior.
         
         9. Can't play quietly without difficulty.
        
        10. Impulsively jumps into physically dangerous activities
        without weighing the consequences. (This is different from
        garden-variety thrill-seeking, and more accurately characterized
        by a child running into the street without looking first.)
        
        11. Easily loses things such as pencils, tools, papers, etc.,
        which may be necessary to complete school or other work.
        
        12. Interrupts others inappropriately, butting in when not
        invited.
        
        13. Talks impulsively or excessively.
        
        14. Others report that the ADHD person doesn't seem to be
        listening when being spoken to.
        
        The behaviors must have started before age seven, must not
        represent some other form of classifiable mental illness, and
        must occur more frequently than the average person of the same
        age.  The term ADHD-RS (Residual State) is used to describe ADHD
        in adults.
        
             The above criteria were developed for children, since it
        used to be thought that ADD ended at puberty.  Two additional
        questionnaires that are useful for adults are in the appendix of
        Attention Deficit Disorder in Adults, by Dr. Lynn Weiss, Taylor
        Publishing, 1992; ISBN 0-87833-782-2. $12.95 paperback.        
        
             DSM-IV is due to be released in 1993.  No formal details
        have been released, but in general we hear that it will break ADD
        into three  separate categories: mostly hyperactive, mostly
        attention problems, and both.