“Don’t forget to return the questionnaire with ambiguous questions and the documentation you need to gather at three separate places by calling a dozen disparate people by the end of next week”
You start to wonder whether it’s an elaborate play to keep dx numbers down.
I am honestly so fucking glad my parents did the work to set up an evaluation when i was a teen… I’ve seen friends go through diagnoses and it’s so difficult to manage.
It’s especially effective for those when an executive function disorder 😉
When I was getting my diagnosis my doc asked me “did you do the assessment I sent you?”
Uh… I forgot and you first asked me when I didn’t have a way to take a note. Sorry. :(
I was diagnosed with ADD as a child. No extra help was given to me (Possibly because all of my parents effort was given to my brother because he has Autism). The extent that my condition was considered boiled down to “try harder”, because that’s what I was told. I can appreciate as an adult that I have ADHD (which is what people with ADD are now being diagnosed as), and I can even appreciate that some of the techniques that I might gain from an adult diagnosis might be beneficial if I can afford them.
But here’s the thing. I function, mostly on the backs of a bunch of coping mechanisms that I have developed over the course of almost 40 years because I didn’t have a choice. I have the support of a spouse who goes out of his way to help me if he thinks I need it. Getting re-diagnosed feels exhausting, and honestly (probably because I don’t feel like it would necessarily be beneficial to me in the short term), I don’t want to go through that process again. It seems like a lot of effort for a maybe type payoff that I’m not even sure I can afford (yes, I have healthcare).
The only provider you’d learn coping mechanisms through is a therapist/psychologist/counselor, and they won’t require a diagnosis. However, there’s plenty of YouTube channels, books, websites, and other tools where you can learn a lot of those coping mechanisms you have have missed out on.
If you were talking about getting meds, you can sometimes just find proof of your original diagnosis, and that’ll be enough for your current primary care doctor to medicate you.
If you were under the mistaken impression that you have to get a new diagnosis in order to be diagnosed with ADHD instead of ADD as an adult, you don’t. The term “ADD” is simply defunct now as ADHD and ADD are now considered the same disorder with the hyperactivity in certain individuals sometimes manifesting and not in others. It’s very similar to how the term “Asperger’s syndrome” is obsolete because it’s simply considered a manifestation of autism.
Never diagnosed, but definitely feeling the 40 years of coping mechanisms. The problem is since I had COVID the symptoms are much much worse. And why, for the love of everything good and righteous, can I not send a text that says “I can’t do that right now”!? It’s like my brain says “If you ignore it long enough they’ll forget”. I hate my brain
Similar story, except I’m a bit older. I got diagnosed later in life due to the amount of energy the coping mechanisms you mentioned cost me, and I came to a point in life where I could no longer afford that.
If you feel you’re at maybe 70% capacity, you can probably go on, even if something in your life will change. If you’re scraping by with the occasional malfunction / mishap, you might want to reconsider getting help.
Just a thought.
What annoyes me more that the doubters are the clinics which wanna force you doing a therapy. But all you were asking for is a diagnosis.
Its not a great look if the only treatment you accept is the stimulant and everything else “doesn’t work”.
Its alwas stressed that ADHD treatment needs to be multimodal even tho its sort of bullshit (meds are really all you get, you’re sort of on your own for therapy and lifeskills stuff. There’s no ADHD store or doctor thats gonna take you under their mentorship). That what podcasts are for heh
I would say don’t thumb your nose at it but don’t accept only that as treatment. Meds are a keystone to helping mediate your abillity to actually implement everything into your routine
I waited 7 months for my first appointment for screening, then another month for an in person assessment that took 3 hours. It’s been almost 2 months since then and no response except for the $1000 bill. I’m about to call a lawyer (if I can ever get around to it…)
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The out of pocket cost at one of the most prestigious centers where I live, with Johns Hopkins centers being a “competitor”, is $500 dollars for a consultation and assessment.
As a parent “special ed” is not where my child went when diagnosed.
Accommodation is the preferred approach in education instead of specialized classes. In fact the federal government provides grants to schools and all you need to do is fill out the appropriate paperwork. Most schools will actively help you with this process because it benefits the school as well.
Your hyperbole does not actually tell the real story.
Our healthcare system is fucked, mental health isn’t prioritized, but there are options.
The story changes drastically if you live somewhere rural.
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Your rant was just straight up not true though, it was however indicative of the “it’s too hard to even try” mindset many of us have with adhd.
You can do better for yourself.
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My dude I have no interest in “besting” you, but I have every interest in advocating for people like us.
It’s a shame you deleted your comment because yours + mine was actually a solid lesson for people who have that kind of mindset. I too OFTEN have that mindset and would prefer to rant in a hyperbolic way about how terrible it is so I ought not even try.
If my comments here are causing you to react this way maybe your Sunday morning would be better served not on the internet.
Schools might help with diagnosis but will generally fight implementation of an IEP. Happy to have the extra money to spend elsewhere.
Get a referral to a psychiatrist. It’ll take a while so book an appointment today to request the referral. Let your doctor know you want to do things right by getting a full evaluation with a psychiatrist and clarify you know it could take a while but its been on your mind for a while and you want to get the ball rolling to check things out.
With the private stuff, it might work, it might not, but its going to be enormously expensive and its ironically less simple than doing as I mentioned because its becoming an industry that doesn’t necessarily want to sell the cow, or will milk the shit out if you. In another sense, you need fewer options rather than more and the psychiatrist route is the most straightforward
i have literally been waiting TWO FUCKING YEARS here in sweden, and now i’m finally getting referred to a private clinic in november, and then presumably i’ll get to actually go there sometime in december.
wow golly fucking gee i wonder why people are killing themselves, what a mystery huh, man such a brain tickler.
this is fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine, what society really needs is cheaper gasoline
Earth sucks but all the logistical headaches magically disappeared once I got great insurance from an employer.
Edit for clarity my point wasn’t “get insurance lol” it was "magically, when you.have good insurance, all the bullshit referrals wait times, and runaround evaporate. They see you quickly, diagnose transparently and prescribe promptly.
