In the past, it was extraordinarily unusual for a physician to newly diagnose a teenager or adolescent with Attention Deficit Disorder. Over the last 20 years or so, this has become much more common and many teenagers today, for the first time, are being diagnosed with ADD; as well as a good proportion of young adults who suffer similar problems with attention and distractability. It raises certain professional questions for the health provider because, by definition, ADD is pretty much a lifelong condition that begins before 7 years of age. Many teenagers today, and adults, know what the diagnostic criteria are for a ADD and Attention Deficit Disorder, and they're able to pair it back what the doctor needs to hear. In other situations, it's simply very difficult to go back in time and evaluate how inattentive or distractable a 6 year old or a 4 year old was, when they're 18 years of age.