How to Determine Your ADHD Type

Discover tips, treatment options, and support strategies from the Finding Focus Care Team

Last Update: September 17th, 2025, Estimated Read Time: 8 min

Why ADHD Type Matters

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects individuals across the lifespan. While ADHD is often discussed as a single diagnosis, it presents in different ways depending on the individual. The three recognized types, or presentations, of ADHD are inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, and combined.

Determining your ADHD type helps you better understand your strengths, challenges, and the strategies that may work best for you. It can also inform clinical care, as specific interventions may be more effective depending on presentation.

The Three ADHD Presentations

Inattentive Type

This presentation is often characterized by distractibility, forgetfulness, and difficulty staying focused. Individuals may appear “tuned out,” lose items frequently, or struggle with organization. Inattentive ADHD is more commonly identified in girls and women, though it can affect anyone.

Hyperactive-Impulsive Type

This type involves high energy, restlessness, and difficulty waiting or thinking before acting. Children may struggle to stay seated or interrupt frequently, while adults may experience inner restlessness, impulsive decision-making, or difficulty regulating energy levels.

Combined Type

The combined presentation includes both inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms. This is the most common type in clinical settings and often the most impairing, as it brings challenges in multiple domains.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) outlines specific criteria for each presentation, requiring symptoms to cause impairment in multiple areas of life.

How ADHD Types Are Assessed

Determining ADHD type is not about self-diagnosis, it involves a comprehensive clinical assessment by a qualified professional, often a psychologist, psychiatrist, or nurse practitioner. Assessment may include:

• Clinical interviews: Exploring medical, developmental, and psychosocial history.
  
  
• Rating scales: Standardized tools that measure ADHD symptoms across contexts.
  
  
• Collateral reports: Input from family, teachers, or employers about daily functioning.
  
  
• Screening for co-occurring conditions: Anxiety, depression, or learning disorders often overlap with ADHD.

Research shows that comprehensive evaluation leads to more accurate diagnosis and effective treatment planning (Faraone et al., 2015).

Challenges in Identifying ADHD Type

One of the main difficulties in determining ADHD type is that symptoms can shift over time. For example, hyperactivity may lessen with age, while inattentiveness persists. Adults may no longer meet criteria for hyperactive-impulsive ADHD but may still experience impairments linked to inattention (Barkley, Murphy, & Fischer, 2008).

Other challenges include:

• Masking: Many individuals develop coping strategies that hide symptoms.
  
  
• Gender differences: Women are often diagnosed later due to less overt hyperactivity.
  
  
• Overlap with other conditions: Symptoms of anxiety, depression, or trauma can resemble ADHD.

This makes professional assessment essential for clarity.

Strengths Associated with Each Type

Each ADHD type also brings unique strengths:

• Inattentive type: Creativity, ability to see patterns, and strong listening skills.
  
  
• Hyperactive-impulsive type: High energy, enthusiasm, and quick decision-making.
  
  
• Combined type: Versatility, adaptability, and resilience developed from managing multiple challenges.

Reframing ADHD as a mix of challenges and strengths helps individuals embrace their identity while building strategies to manage symptoms.

Practical Steps to Understand Your ADHD Type

If you are wondering how to determine your ADHD type, consider the following steps:

1. Reflect on Your Experiences

Do you mainly struggle with focus and organization, or do you find impulsivity and restlessness more challenging? Writing down patterns from school, work, and relationships can provide valuable insight.

2. Ask for Feedback

Family members or close friends can often provide observations that help clarify symptom patterns across different settings.

3. Track Symptoms Over Time

Because ADHD symptoms may fluctuate, keeping a log of when and how symptoms show up helps professionals understand your presentation more accurately.

4. Seek a Professional Assessment

Self-reflection is valuable, but only a formal evaluation can confirm ADHD type. Qualified professionals use standardized tools and clinical expertise to differentiate between ADHD types and other conditions.

5. Explore Treatment Options Tailored to Type

While stimulant and non-stimulant medications can benefit all ADHD types, therapy and coaching strategies may differ. For example, individuals with inattentive ADHD may benefit from organizational coaching, while those with hyperactive-impulsive ADHD may focus on emotional regulation strategies.

ADHD Type Across the Lifespan

Research highlights that ADHD type is not static. Children may initially present with hyperactive-impulsive symptoms that evolve into inattentive or combined presentations in adulthood (Willcutt et al., 2012). Understanding this fluidity helps individuals adapt strategies as needs change.

For adults, diagnosis often brings relief. Many report feeling validated when lifelong struggles are explained through an ADHD lens, allowing them to adopt strategies that finally “fit.”

The Role of Self-Compassion

Regardless of type, ADHD can carry stigma. Many individuals internalize negative labels of being “lazy” or “careless.” Practicing self-compassion helps counter these messages. Instead of seeing ADHD traits as flaws, individuals can reframe them as differences that come with both challenges and strengths.

Support groups, therapy, and psychoeducation also help reduce stigma and foster empowerment.

Final Thoughts

Determining your ADHD type is not about fitting neatly into a box, it is about gaining clarity to better understand yourself. Whether inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, or combined, each ADHD type reflects unique patterns of strengths and struggles.

With professional assessment, self-reflection, and compassion, individuals can uncover their ADHD type and use that knowledge to build systems that support their goals. Understanding ADHD type is not just about managing symptoms, it is about embracing identity and building resilience across life.

Finding Focus Care Team

We are a group of nurse practitioners, continuous care specialists, creators, and writers, all committed to excellence in patient care and expertise in ADHD. We share content that illuminates aspects of ADHD and broader health care topics. Each article is medically verified and approved by the Finding Focus Care Team. You can contact us at Finding Focus Support if you have any questions!  

References

Barkley, R. A., Murphy, K. R., & Fischer, M. (2008). ADHD in adults: What the science says. New York: Guilford Press. Link

Faraone, S. V., Banaschewski, T., Coghill, D., Zheng, Y., Biederman, J., Bellgrove, M. A., ... & Wang, Y. (2015). The world federation of ADHD international consensus statement: 208 evidence-based conclusions about the disorder. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 57, 755–770. Link

Shaw, P., Stringaris, A., Nigg, J., & Leibenluft, E. (2014). Emotion dysregulation in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(3), 276–293. Link

Willcutt, E. G., Nigg, J. T., Pennington, B. F., Solanto, M. V., Rohde, L. A., Tannock, R., ... & Lahey, B. B. (2012). Validity of DSM-IV attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom dimensions and subtypes. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121(4), 991–1010. Link