My experience with a neurologist specializing in ADHD treatment:
1. The doctor will interview you and ask you about your history, all the way back to childhood. If you haven't had problems focusing, concentrating, etc. throughout your whole life (even as a child), the doctor might be skeptical.
2. They'll test you to make sure you're not having seizures.
3. They'll also test your focus, concentration and short term memory with a computer test called CPT (continuous performance test).
Assuming you have a history of ADHD symptoms, you currently have symptoms that are interfering with your life, and you do poorly on the computer test, the doctor will probably start some kind of treatment, probably using prescription stimulants.
That said, I'm sure there are a lot of other medical conditions that cause symptoms similar to ADHD's. You might end up learning you have some other problem entirely.
The first doctor I tried wanted to have me see a shrink to get tested. The first visit cost me a $50 copay and then I had to have another visit to do the actual test, costing another $50 copay. I skipped that second visit and went to another doctor. (The shrink seemed like a quack anyhow).
My new doctor whipped out a giant book and started reading a battery of questions from the back of it. Based on the answers to those questions he determined I "met the requirements for treatment." Seemed a bit weak, but I didn't ask any questions since I knew I had already been through all the typical tests before. having been diagnosed as a child.
TLDR: YMMV. Just talk to the doc and see what he says.
Typically diagnosis is made after an interview (about an hour) and questionnaires. If there's some doubt about the diagnosis you may need to bring in old school reports. It's also possible to diagnose using brain scans now (e.g http://www.sydneydevelopmentalclinic.com.au/brain_scanning.h...), and medication can be trialled and selected on the basis of an individual response to the medication (shown with another brain scan, or using testing, e.g http://www.sydneydevelopmentalclinic.com.au/medication_testi...).
There is something called the TOVA test, Test Of Variance of Attention, or something like that.
It's like a very boring 10 minute video game. You click a button when a certain stimulus is presented on screen, but not when a different stimulus is presented. It measures your reaction times and your errors (click when you shouldn't, don't click when you should). Then the program does some statistical comparisons and prints out a report.
At least, that's what was done in 1993. Could be different now.
Combine that with a history. I imagine it's a lot easier to diagnose in adults, because so much more data is available. And the doctor doesn't have the pressure of diagnosing ADHD for a little kid whose parents are worried he'll get less out of school. As an adult, that damage is already done. ;^)
It's an interview process. But really, as far as I can tell, the check is "do the drugs make you hyper or do they make you focused" The only definition of ADD that I've heard that differs appreciably from simply being lazy sometimes is that people with ADD respond differently to stimulants. Jack up my nervous system enough and I'll actually lay down for a nap.
Really? That's news to me. How do they check?
> Move into management
+1. The tech world needs more managers who actually know tech.