How does a psychologist tell the difference between a mental disorder and a minor inconvenience?

Question

Take for example ADHD. How can a psychologist tell the difference between someone who’s just super hyper and someone who has ADHD?

In: 2

Answer 1

Your mental experience becomes “clinically significant” when it impairs your ability to lead a happy, functional, independent life. If you cannot eat, sleep, bathe, work, socialize, hobbies, etc. that you would otherwise usually be capable of doing, it is worthy of some sort of clinical intervention.