drugs.Not all people who fake ADHD by exaggerating or even lying about their symptoms are actually after drugs for a dependency problem, however. Some people do it merely because they struggle with their lives, not getting where they wish to go, and they hope that it'll take a load off their conscience to know that they have ADHD or something that affects their ability at work. Sometimes, they have other health problems, like depression, but they still somehow have their hearts set on ADHD and exaggerate their symptoms to be sure to be diagnosed with it.
So what kind of people are they who actually consciously fake symptoms to get chemical help? A lot of them happen to be college students who need to study extra hard for an exam or another scholastic event. Drugs like Ritalin help even normal people focus to abnormal levels. Some people just look for these drugs for some kind of high. And it isn't as if doctors have been completely unaware of this. Often enough, (actually 40% of the time), doctors prescribing medication as help for ADHD suspect that the patient might be faking symptoms. Usually, a person who fakes symptoms has done a bit of homework and read up about what symptoms he should lie about. But usually, he gets the mix of symptoms and severity wrong. Doctors know a "patient" is lying when they report feeling symptoms of such intensity that no human alive has ever reported anything like it.
So is there some kind of test that a doctor could give a person who comes asking for help for ADHD? There's the problem - there is no test for ADHD. This is what makes it easy for a person to fake it - all he has to do is to say the right things, and the doctor will do the rest for him. If it were a child, the doctor could depend on the corroboration of the parents. What does one do with an adult? It would be the patient's word and nothing else.
