Is ADHD a mental illness?

Is ADHD a mental illness?

By definition, ADHD is better referred to as a neurodevelopmental disorder, not a “mental illness.” The term “mental illness” is a very broad term for any type of condition that affects mood, behavior or thinking. ADHD is better described as a pattern of behavior — something different in the way a person does things — rather than describing it as something “wrong” with people. Evidence indicates that ADHD is associated with neural pathways in brain functioning (the default mode and the task positive mode). This functioning yields problematic behavioral at certain ages (stages of development) — thus the term neurodevelopmental disorder is a better broad category name for the problem of ADHD.