When a child or adult is diagnosed with an Attention Deficit Disorder, people are often confused by the terminology. Is it ADD, ADHD, AD/HD, or do all those names mean the same thing? Generally, people are pretty clear that all those labels refer to a disorder where someone struggles with organization, paying attention, completing tasks and sometimes hyperactivity and understanding social skills. Often, people will use ADD to refer to trouble paying attention, and ADHD when there is also hyperactivity.
As with most issues involving diagnoses of "mental disorders", the official facts are found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, published by the American Psychiatric Association, and usually referred to as the DSM-IV-TR(TM). This is the manual that mental health professionals use to diagnose any type of mental disorder. Based on this official source, the name is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, but it's classified as one of the Attention-Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders. It's broken down into a predominately inattentive type, a predominantly hyperactive type (which can also include impulsive behaviors), and a combined type, involving both inattention and hyperactivity and/or impulsivity. Note that all types are called Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, even the version that involves only inattention, with no hyperactivity. No wonder people get confused. To top it off, the DSM-IV-TR never uses any abbreviation to refer to the disorder.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disordes
What difference does this make? In many ways, not a bit of difference. Most people will know what you're talking about whether you call it ADD, or ADHD, although it's probably wise to specify the subtype if you know it. However, if you're searching for information online, all things are not equal. Certainly, the internet doesn't provide the answer. A Google search for ADD turns up over 400 million sites, while the less popular ADHD still turns up almost 2 million. Add a slash, as in AD/HD, and you've got almost 800,000 more. Of course, some of those ADD sites will be for the word "add" and have nothing to do with Attention Deficit. Many sites, especially the biggest, will come up regardless of the abbreviation you choose.
What about when you're talking to the professionals? Just like using proper grammar, you can never go wrong with using the correct professional labels and calling it AD/HD. If you're going to be interacting with doctors, teachers, or therapists, it pays to use the official name. Most people become very well educated about their own or their child's diagnosis, and using the appropriate name shows that you know what you're talking about.
When you're looking for support groups, books or articles, you'll probably have to try all three abbreviations. ADD has history, easy pronunciation, and cleverness in its favor, hence support groups such as CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) and ADDA (Attention Deficit Disorder Association, for adults with AD/HD) and publications like ADDitude magazine. ADHD and more precisely AD/HD have the advantage of accuracy. A search for books on Amazon or Barnes and Noble turns up completely different results when the abbreviations are changed, so you'll have to try all of them.
Of course, this is only true right now, with the current edition of the DSM. In another few years, the APA will release the updated edition of the DSM, and it's anybody's guess what the disorder will be called by then!
ADD, ADHD Or AD-HD? What's the Difference?
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