This is a challenging Blog Post to write, as even medical professionals have an extremely difficult time differentiating between Bipolar and ADHD. I am just a hobbyist, and I am sharing and simplifying what knowledge is on the internet, so that people can easily understand their own situation. That said, it is pretty tough to simplify something that is not at all simple.
Before I get into the definitions and symptoms, I want to point out that women especially will have difficulty getting the correct diagnosis. Many medical professionals would never consider an ADHD diagnosis for an adult woman, and instead label her with PMDD, Bipolar Disorder or Borderline Personality Disorder. So if you are reading this as an adult woman, and you identify strongly with the ADHD symptoms more than anything else, advocate for yourself! What is ADHD? ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is considered a neurodevelopmental disorder according to the DSM-5, which is what is used to diagnose mental health conditions in North America. ADHD has three diagnostic categories: Inattentive, Hyperactive-Impulsive, and Combined. There used to be a diagnosis called Attention Deficit Disorder (without the Hyperactivity), but that has now been grouped under the "Inattentive" diagnosis. ADHD is not the inability to pay attention. Instead, it is the inability to regulate attention. Someone with ADHD might hyperfocus on something interesting to them, and no one can pull their attention away. In another moment though, they might be asked to pay attention to a reading or their cooking, and forget all about it because they weren't interested.
Can you have ADHD and Bipolar? Not only can you have both, but it is pretty common to have both. One study found up to 1 in 13 patients with ADHD also had Bipolar Disorder, and 1 in 6 patients with Bipolar Disorder also had ADHD.
What are the symptoms of ADHD?
ADHD has a variety of symptoms that all focus on executive functioning. Most are around attention, impulse control and self regulation. Here are a variety of assessment forms to use:
and here is my favourite:
Bipolar or ADHD?
Bipolar and ADHD have a lot in common, especially during hypomania. Struggles with impulse control, talking to much, fidgeting... well, these all happen during Hypomania and all of the time during ADHD! During Bipolar depression, you might not be able to concentrate, and you will feel really out of it. That can be the case with ADHD too! So how do they tell the difference? - ADHD is all of the time, and Bipolar is cyclical. So with Bipolar, some symptoms will be worse for awhile, then a different set of symptoms will be worse for awhile. With ADHD, the same symptoms continue most of the time with limited variation.
- If you have had any psychotic symptoms (e.g. delusions, hearing things, seeing things, thinking voices are implanted in your head) that is indicative of Bipolar Disorder
- Experiencing grandiosity (extremely high self-esteem, bursting with confidence) that is indicative of Bipolar Disorder
- A sudden decreased need for sleep, not insomnia where you want to sleep but can't, rather this is a "I don't ever need to sleep, I feel great/agitated", would be Bipolar and not ADHD
- Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder usually start in the late teens to mid-twenties (although there are exceptions!) whereas ADHD symptoms must start before age 12
Here are some Charts that link to more information:
Pediatric Bipolar Disorder VS ADHD:
Sources:
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