I just had my first ever meeting with a psychiatrist to get diagnosed with ADHD.
Long story short, they said that I clearly exhibit ADHD symptoms.
But they’re not willing to go forward with a diagnosis because, according to them, I seem to be doing alright in my life, so the symptoms are hardly causing me enough problems to be eligible for a diagnosis. (And also because there’s no evidence of me having had such symptoms in childhood.)
And I was just sitting there thinking, do you really think I would be here if I didn’t think the symptoms were causing me problems in life?
Based on what they said, they expected me to have experienced things like getting warnings or being fired from jobs, ruining my relationships with people, and such. And they suggested the usual things, exercise, the Pomodoro method, etc. As if I haven’t tried them already.
My bad for masking so well, I guess.
Anyway, just wanted to vent a bit. I know it’s too common a story. I guess the next thing I need to do is to find a psychiatrist specializing in adult ADHD. Once my (still undiagnosed) ADHD lets me do that.
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I recently (a couple of years ago now) reached out to a psychiatrist because I was finding it increasingly difficult to cope. My responsibilities at work continue to expand and become more cerebral, requiring more time in front of the computer.
I made sure and told him of my childhood history of being diagnosed young and having to go to the nurse’s office every day at lunch to get my afternoon pill and how that made me feel isolated and different. But that over time the pills helped me pull up my grades. Having been diagnosed as a child makes this process much easier as an adult.
The weird thing? He didn’t ask for any records or proof of my childhood diagnosis. I really was on Ritalin from the second grade through high school and then Adderall in college. But he didn’t ask for any cooborating evidence of that.
I guess you can take from that what you like. But they just don’t seem to follow up on your childhood history of treatment.
I feel for people who weren’t diagnosed as children and had to suffer with this without any assistance. It seems unfair that those people can’t get help now, just because they weren’t offered it in the past.
Gosh, sorry to hear that. I’m also “functional”, but I’m that duck paddling madly underwater to get anywhere.
I thought my psychiatrist was also going to say I’m normal because my parents insisted I was when I gave them the childhood ADHD assessment form.
I read a few questions to my mother because she didn’t want to read it herself, and stopped at about 5 before giving it to my dad to fill out. The final question being: “Does your child have trouble completing schoolwork or household tasks?”
Her answer: (on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being normal and 5 being very bad ADHD) 1, you didn’t have trouble, you’re just lazy.
All my life, hearing “you have potential, but you’re just lazy”, or “I didn’t see you dozing off playing games”. No, I’m not lazy, and yes, I have fallen asleep gaming, multiple times.
I hope you’ll be able to find that diagnosis or at least proper support for your struggles. Just because we function, doesn’t mean we can’t function even better with help and medication.
I finally talked to my PCP about getting a diagnosis a few months ago, (I wasn’t even thinking about medication, just taking to someone who could help guide me through this. I’ve thought I was neurotypical for almost 40 years!) and I got the same “Well, you seem to be doing well enough, so do you REALLY want to take a pill for the rest of your life?” Hey, asshole, I already take 3 pills everyday for BP and gout, you didn’t hesitate to prescribe those. 🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
I guess they may have thought you were there only for the “legal speed”.
I would just try another doctor… I would not take it personally… Albeit it sucks you had the experience 😕