Does all of this ring true for anybody else without diagnosed ADHD? Because this is exactly how I feel constantly but I also hate to self-diagnose based on internet discussion.
I feel like ADHD is one of those things where everybody relates to it a bit, so it’s hard to know if I should look into getting a diagnosis.
Don’t self diagnose based on a single internet discussion but self diagnosis is crucial to getting yourself some relief. I didn’t get a diagnosis until I was about 40, and even at this point the change was dramatic. I don’t take stimulants but I take a few medications and it made life so much easier, I doubled my salary in 3 years, bought a house, just had a fantastic few years. But I also have a ton of trauma, I hurt a lot of people and myself from being so chaotic and depressed and incapable of processing thoughts or feelings, or being able to handle basic finances. I also lost like 15 years of good life where I could have been successful and happy instead of depressed and stuck in a shitty job with no clear way out.
If you’re reading these discussions and realizing that it seems a little too familiar, take this seriously. If you decide you have it, don’t take anyone’s word that you don’t. Its hard to get treated IMO, so if you see a therapist and they don’t want to treat you for ADHD, then bye bye, find another one who will take it seriously. I went to therapists on and off for years trying to figure out why I was depressed, and they basically told me I was okay, the normal amount of unhappy with regular life stuff. I finally got on a mild antidepressant and it helped immensely. I fought and found out the antidepressant had an off label use for treating mild ADHD, and when my daughter got diagnosed I looked more into it. When I went to therapists to get treated for ADHD, they told me I was just depressed. so you gotta fight for yourself, but this world is a fuck, and it can be extremely worth while once you get what you might need.
Yeah, a lot of brain things are like that. The way I look at it is, everyone sees a little of it, but some people see a lot of it. If you see a lot, it’s not self diagnosis to say “I have a lot of symptoms in common with people who have this, so I asked a professional”.
You also don’t need a diagnosis to practice some of the coping strategies that people have that are non-medication. If they turn out to be helpful, that’s maybe a another reason to ask a professional.
Self diagnosis is a bad idea, but it’s also a bad idea to ignore marked similarities you see between yourself and others. And stuff like “always put your keys and wallet in a specific basket” is only the cost of the basket.
Reading this post and peoples comments got me thinking about neuroplasticity. There’s lots in life that nudges us towards neurodivergence - I’m fairly confident I’m diagnosable just from working in IT for decades. Back when I started and was more customer-facing, I was far better with people and could easily break down what’s happening for laypeople.
Now that I’ve zoomed out and gotten far deeper technologically, I feel like I’ve adapted into the ASD / ADHD realm
Same. I’m even a bit afraid of talking to a doctor about it because I feel like such a farse. I totally feel like I have ADHD but I’m also highly functioning. But when I think about how I’m functioning, it’s basically a series of ways I trick my brain dominoes into falling into place. At work I carefully manage all my notifications - I must avoid being distracted by them, but must put systems into place to remind me of every task.
Yo, same… Add on a history of past drug abuse (several years clean), and I can’t imagine any doctor not immediately assuming I’m drug seeking and just trying to get some Adderall.
I’m not sure if I have ADHD per-se, but I’m certainly neurodivergent and the venn diagrams of ADHD and my flavor of neurodivergence overlap quite a bit.
Read my response to this, you gotta keep fighting for yourself. I’m not against therapists bug I think there is something in their training, or maybe something to do with the business of mental health in general, that introduces all these disincentives to treatment for some people. If you take the self assessment and it seems like you have it you gotta fight like hell. I can’t even begin to describe how much better my life is and how much happier I am now that I’ve been treating it for a few years
No. There are tests for the types of functional behavior differences that comprise ADHD, but they can’t really be administered outside of a moderately controlled setting.
Stuff like saying a list of words and seeing how many you can recall in a fixed time can’t really be done reliably in a quiz.
There are tools that can say “based on what you answered, there’s a high/low probability you’d benefit from further consultation”. They’re basically “how often do you interrupt?”, “how often do you zone out?”.
Basically a structured way of “what I’m hearing you say is …”. “Based on how you describe yourself as ADHD as hell, you might benefit from asking someone about that”.
Self assessments can be wrong about what they suggest you ask about. If you have a concern or behaviors that you do that upset you or cause problems, then that’s worth addressing and following until you get help, but it might not be what you thought. Or the doctor might have been mistaken, since they’re also fallible, but hopefully the more objective tests can lend objectively to their conclusions.
I relate, but haven’t been diagnosed with ADHD. Got a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to get a referral to a psychologist for a psych evaluation, however, so I’ll let you know!
Does all of this ring true for anybody else without diagnosed ADHD? Because this is exactly how I feel constantly but I also hate to self-diagnose based on internet discussion.
I feel like ADHD is one of those things where everybody relates to it a bit, so it’s hard to know if I should look into getting a diagnosis.
Don’t self diagnose based on a single internet discussion but self diagnosis is crucial to getting yourself some relief. I didn’t get a diagnosis until I was about 40, and even at this point the change was dramatic. I don’t take stimulants but I take a few medications and it made life so much easier, I doubled my salary in 3 years, bought a house, just had a fantastic few years. But I also have a ton of trauma, I hurt a lot of people and myself from being so chaotic and depressed and incapable of processing thoughts or feelings, or being able to handle basic finances. I also lost like 15 years of good life where I could have been successful and happy instead of depressed and stuck in a shitty job with no clear way out.
If you’re reading these discussions and realizing that it seems a little too familiar, take this seriously. If you decide you have it, don’t take anyone’s word that you don’t. Its hard to get treated IMO, so if you see a therapist and they don’t want to treat you for ADHD, then bye bye, find another one who will take it seriously. I went to therapists on and off for years trying to figure out why I was depressed, and they basically told me I was okay, the normal amount of unhappy with regular life stuff. I finally got on a mild antidepressant and it helped immensely. I fought and found out the antidepressant had an off label use for treating mild ADHD, and when my daughter got diagnosed I looked more into it. When I went to therapists to get treated for ADHD, they told me I was just depressed. so you gotta fight for yourself, but this world is a fuck, and it can be extremely worth while once you get what you might need.
Yeah, a lot of brain things are like that. The way I look at it is, everyone sees a little of it, but some people see a lot of it. If you see a lot, it’s not self diagnosis to say “I have a lot of symptoms in common with people who have this, so I asked a professional”.
You also don’t need a diagnosis to practice some of the coping strategies that people have that are non-medication. If they turn out to be helpful, that’s maybe a another reason to ask a professional.
Self diagnosis is a bad idea, but it’s also a bad idea to ignore marked similarities you see between yourself and others. And stuff like “always put your keys and wallet in a specific basket” is only the cost of the basket.
Reading this post and peoples comments got me thinking about neuroplasticity. There’s lots in life that nudges us towards neurodivergence - I’m fairly confident I’m diagnosable just from working in IT for decades. Back when I started and was more customer-facing, I was far better with people and could easily break down what’s happening for laypeople.
Now that I’ve zoomed out and gotten far deeper technologically, I feel like I’ve adapted into the ASD / ADHD realm
Same. I’m even a bit afraid of talking to a doctor about it because I feel like such a farse. I totally feel like I have ADHD but I’m also highly functioning. But when I think about how I’m functioning, it’s basically a series of ways I trick my brain dominoes into falling into place. At work I carefully manage all my notifications - I must avoid being distracted by them, but must put systems into place to remind me of every task.
Yo, same… Add on a history of past drug abuse (several years clean), and I can’t imagine any doctor not immediately assuming I’m drug seeking and just trying to get some Adderall.
I’m not sure if I have ADHD per-se, but I’m certainly neurodivergent and the venn diagrams of ADHD and my flavor of neurodivergence overlap quite a bit.
Read my response to this, you gotta keep fighting for yourself. I’m not against therapists bug I think there is something in their training, or maybe something to do with the business of mental health in general, that introduces all these disincentives to treatment for some people. If you take the self assessment and it seems like you have it you gotta fight like hell. I can’t even begin to describe how much better my life is and how much happier I am now that I’ve been treating it for a few years
Is there a real assessment one can take online that isn’t basically equivalent to a buzzfeed quizz?
No. There are tests for the types of functional behavior differences that comprise ADHD, but they can’t really be administered outside of a moderately controlled setting.
Stuff like saying a list of words and seeing how many you can recall in a fixed time can’t really be done reliably in a quiz.
There are tools that can say “based on what you answered, there’s a high/low probability you’d benefit from further consultation”. They’re basically “how often do you interrupt?”, “how often do you zone out?”.
Basically a structured way of “what I’m hearing you say is …”. “Based on how you describe yourself as ADHD as hell, you might benefit from asking someone about that”.
Self assessments can be wrong about what they suggest you ask about. If you have a concern or behaviors that you do that upset you or cause problems, then that’s worth addressing and following until you get help, but it might not be what you thought. Or the doctor might have been mistaken, since they’re also fallible, but hopefully the more objective tests can lend objectively to their conclusions.
I relate, but haven’t been diagnosed with ADHD. Got a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to get a referral to a psychologist for a psych evaluation, however, so I’ll let you know!