Why do people seek a psychological assessment for ADHD?
Overall, there has been an increasing initiative to destigmatize and bring awareness to different mental health challenges and symptoms, including ADHD. Often, people spend time wondering what's behind their struggles with attention, organization, or procrastination without knowing where these may stem from. Greater awareness, reduced stigma, and better identification may be contributing to increased recognition of ADHD in adults, including women, who have historically been under-recognized in ADHD diagnosis [1, 2]. The DSM-5 also made updates that better reflect ADHD across the lifespan. For example, adults and older adolescents require fewer symptoms than children to meet diagnostic criteria, and the DSM-5 includes examples that show how symptoms may appear at different ages [3].
Social media has increased awareness, but can oversimplify symptoms
Social media has played a key role in the increased awareness, giving people access to information and support they may not have had otherwise. But that same access carries risk; many conditions share overlapping symptoms, and social media content often falls into an oversimplification trap, presenting symptoms in ways that are generalized or removed from clinical context. When creators frame experiences as clear signs of a specific condition, viewers may understandably see themselves in the content and begin to think the condition applies to them. Confirmation bias can also occur where individuals selectively notice evidence to support symptoms of ADHD while discounting experiences that do not.
Fewer than half of ADHD claims on social media align with DSM criteria
A 2025 UBC study found that clinical psychologists judged fewer than half of ADHD symptom claims in the top 100 most-viewed #ADHD TikTok videos actually align with DSM criteria [4]. They found that symptoms were often oversimplified and flagged as ADHD, leading individuals to self-identify with the condition, so although someone may relate to what they see online, ADHD can only be diagnosed through an appropriate clinical assessment by a qualified professional. If you're looking to understand ADHD symptoms and presentation in more depth first, this guide to understanding ADHD at work and at home is a good place to start.
What an ADHD assessment is designed to clarify
A psychological assessment isn’t about convincing someone that they do or don’t have ADHD. It’s a structured process that brings together multiple sources of information to better understand the whole person and what may be contributing to their symptoms. Recognizing patterns is often the first step, but understanding what is actually driving them is what an assessment is designed to help clarify. From there, recommendations can be based on the most accurate clinical picture possible.
Why does an accurate diagnosis matter?
An accurate diagnosis can help clarify the support likely to be most helpful, whether that's therapy, skill-building strategies, medication, or some combination. A completed assessment, with its written report and clear diagnostic findings, also gives you the language and documentation to bring into a conversation with your primary care physician or mental health professional, making it easier to coordinate comprehensive care and next steps like appropriate therapy interventions, medication management, or referrals, rather than starting that conversation from scratch.
Similar symptoms can have different causes
Part of why this matters is that ADHD and anxiety often look alike on paper [5]. People with anxiety commonly experience many of the same attention and focus difficulties that standard ADHD screening tools are built to catch, which means ADHD can go undetected simply because anxiety already explains what looks like inattention or restlessness. That overlap is part of why a questionnaire alone isn't the full picture; a complete assessment brings the clinical interview, psychometric testing, and clinical judgment together, which lowers the chance of walking away with the wrong explanation [6]. If you're managing ADHD and anxiety together in the meantime, these practical tools for navigating both may help.
Effective treatment starts with understanding the underlying cause
Effective treatment relies on understanding what is driving someone’s symptoms, rather than focusing only on what appears on the surface. For many people, an accurate diagnosis and understanding of symptoms offers an explanation for experiences they've carried for a long time, easing feelings of shame or self-blame and opening the door to more self-acceptance, alongside a clearer view of personal strengths, not just challenges.
For some people, receiving an accurate diagnosis can bring validation and relief, helping them make sense of experiences they may have blamed themselves for. Throughout this process, it's worth remembering that it’s not solely about receiving a diagnosis, it’s about understanding the symptoms, contributing factors and how these aspects are impacting an individual. Understanding the root of what's going on means someone can move into the support that's suited to them, rather than cycling through approaches aimed at an incorrect explanation.
What to expect from an ADHD assessment?
The exact structure of an assessment can vary depending on the service providing it. The process outlined here reflects how psychological assessments are structured at Layla specifically.
Clinical interview and questionnaires
An ADHD assessment usually begins with a clinical interview, which is often 90 minutes long. This conversation gives the clinician time to learn more about your personal history, current experiences, and the specific concerns that led you to seek an assessment.
Alongside the interview, you’ll also complete self-report questionnaires. At Layla, these are full psychometric tests, which means they are structured, validated tools used to better understand symptoms and patterns. These questionnaires also help the clinician consider other possible explanations. If a client agrees, information may also be gathered from other sources (e.g., questionnaires completed by family members), which is called collateral information.
Feedback session
A few weeks after the interview, you’ll meet again for a feedback session to go over the results. This is a chance to ask questions, understand the findings, and hear personalized recommendations based on your assessment.
The feedback session is not just a delivery of results. It is a two-way conversation that helps make sure the findings feel connected to your lived experience,the concerns you came in with, and supports your understanding of next steps you may want to take for your mental health
Written report and next steps
After the assessment, you’ll receive a written report. This report may include a diagnosis, if one is given, as well as recommendations that can support treatment planning and next steps.
Regardless of the outcome of an assessment (e.g., a diagnosis, no diagnosis), assessment offers meaningful insight into what may be contributing to your challenges and what kinds of support may be helpful. A psychological assessment considers your experiences, history, strengths, and challenges to determine what best explains your current concerns and what recommendations are likely to be most helpful, and this is true regardless of the diagnostic outcomes of an assessment.
When the assessment results are different than expected
It is helpful to go into assessments with an open mind. However, it's completely understandable to feel disappointed or frustrated if your assessment doesn't lead to the diagnosis you were expecting. Since conditions like ADHD, anxiety, depression, and trauma often share overlapping symptoms, an assessment might reveal a different explanation than the one you came in expecting. Or you could receive a provisional diagnosis which means there wasn’t enough evidence to make a definitive diagnosis at this time. For any of these outcomes, treatment options still exist. Mental health difficulties are worth understanding on their own terms, with or without a formal diagnosis attached to them, and an assessment can offer valuable insight into your experience and clear next steps to support your wellbeing.
What to do after an assessment and feedback session?
After an assessment and feedback session, give yourself some time to relax and recharge. Receiving results whether or not they include a diagnosis you were expecting can bring up a lot of emotions, so it's worth taking a moment before deciding on next steps.
When you are ready, take some time to review your report and the treatment recommendations it includes. Not every recommendation will be the right fit for everyone, so this is a chance to think through which options align with what feels right and manageable for you.
Many people choose to bring their results into a conversation with a mental health professional or their family doctor as a next step. While the psychologist who completed your assessment isn't able to prescribe, your family doctor can use the findings in your report to help guide those decisions.
From there, it's simply a matter of moving forward at your own pace. Whether that means starting therapy, exploring skill-building supports, looking into medication, or requesting accommodations at school or work. Whatever feels most relevant to you is a good place to begin.
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Finding the Right Support
If you require any immediate support, please reach out to a professional, or click here to explore our crisis and community resources. If you’d like to inquire about finding mental health support that’s right for you, a member of our team is happy to assist you. You can email us at contact@layla.care for any inquiries, or complete our intake form to reach out to a member of our care team.
Are you seeking a Psychological Assessment?
Layla offers virtual psychological assessments for adults covering ADHD, PTSD, Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, BPD, Somatic Symptom Disorder, and Illness Anxiety Disorder conducted by Registered Psychologists. The assessment process includes a 90-minute video interview, psychometric testing, and a feedback session to review the results and discuss next steps. Virtual assessments for individuals located in Ontario and Alberta, with limited availability in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Nunavut and Yukon.
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References and External Links
[1] Manulife. (2023, September 21). New Manulife data shows spike in adult ADHD diagnosis [Press release]. https://www.manulife.ca/business/news/group-benefits-news/health-insights-press-release.html
[2] Perkins, S. L., & Trombley, A. (2026). The Undiagnosed: Ending the Lost Generation of Girls With ADHD. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 22(5), 105784. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2026.105784
[3] American Psychiatric Association. (2022). DSM-5-TR criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (reprinted by West Virginia ADHD Coalition). https://wvadhd.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ADHD-DSM-5-TR-criteria.pdf
[4] Karasavva, V., Miller, C., Groves, N., Montiel, A., Canu, W., & Mikami, A. (2025). A double-edged hashtag: Evaluation of #ADHD-related TikTok content and its associations with perceptions of ADHD. PLOS ONE, 20(3), e0319335. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319335
[5] Arij Alarachi, Merrifield, C., Rowa, K., & McCabe, R. E. (2024). Are We Measuring ADHD or Anxiety? Examining the Factor Structure and Discriminant Validity of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale in an Adult Anxiety Disorder Population. Assessment, 31(7). https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911231225190
[6] Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance (CADDRA). (2020). Canadian ADHD practice guidelines (4.1 ed.). https://www.caddra.ca/wp-content/uploads/Canadian-ADHD-Practice-Guidelines-4.1-January-6-2021.pdf
