Meeting abstract

https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2026.192

I Would Never Have Thought It Wasn’t ADHD

Ivan Zečević ; Centre for Neuropsychology and Sleep Disorders, Vlaška ulica 64, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia *
Krešimir Radić ; Service for Mental Health and Addiction Prevention, Teaching Institute of Public Health „Dr. Andrija Štampar“, Mirogojska 11, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

* Corresponding author.

Abstract

The diagnosis of ADHD in childhood and adulthood
is often established on the basis of subjective
complaints about attention, organization,
planning, procrastination, and executive functioning,
while heteroanamnestic data, developmental
history, and the meaning of parental or
patient reports of cognitive difficulties are insufficiently
verified. The presence of ADHD-like symptoms
is not the same as the presence of ADHD,
because symptoms such as procrastination,
learning difficulties, wandering attention, problems
with memory, organization, and planning
are shared by different clinical conditions (personality
disorders, depressive disorders, anxiety
disorders, other neurodevelopmental disorders).
The aim of this report is to highlight the importance
of differential diagnosis in patients who
present with suspected ADHD, especially when the clinical picture includes the absence of earlier
developmental diagnoses and possible neuropsychological,
medical, or additional neurodevelopmental
factors. In all three cases, shortcomings
in the differential diagnostic work-up that led to
the conclusion of ADHD are discussed. The cases
presented emphasize that attention and executive
functioning must be assessed within a broader
developmental, emotional, neuropsychological,
and medical context, and that concordance
among the professionals involved in the diagnostic
process is important. Disagreement among
professionals may be a clinically important signal
that the etiology of the difficulties needs to
be further clarified before drawing a conclusion
about ADHD. The presentation shows how developmental
course, heteroanamnestic data, and
neuropsychological assessment can help distinguish
difficulties arising from personality, other
mental conditions, somatic factors, and the neurodevelopmental
profile. Particular emphasis is
placed on the contribution of neuropsychological
assessment to the integration of the clinical picture,
especially in relation to routine psychological
assessment. Differential diagnosis in adults
without a prior history of ADHD treatment
should include neuropsychological assessment
(which must contain developmental history, heteroanamnesis,
school or work documentation,
and assessment of comorbid mental and somatic
conditions) and psychiatric evaluation with integration
of the neuropsychological findings. Such
an approach reduces the risk of misdiagnosis and
inadequate treatment and fosters higher-quality
multidisciplinary collaboration.

Keywords

ADHD; differential diagnosis; neuropsychological assessment; psychiatry

Hrčak ID:

352323

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/352323

Publication date:

15.6.2026.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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