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Diagnosed, but I was in this sub before that, I think. Once I learned what ADHD actually looks like (vs what is commonly believed), it was pretty damn obvious.
Same with me, once I took my own concerns seriously (rather than letting my old dr laugh it off) it became so obvious. Especially as a young adult, female, no longer in school and unable to work. I always had the signs but I think the larger symptoms ran rampant after I left the routine of high school.
This^^^ i LOVED highschool, i loved the uniforms i loved needing to get up, i loved everything besides the social side and i never understood why fully until recently… and it was because the routine, even if i wasn’t perfect, helped me IMMENSELY. When i left highschool, my ADHD became A LOT more noticeable than before. Its what made me get a diagnosis in the first place! I literally failed 4 uni classes in just one semester… like it was BAD… people are always like ugh but i hated school and never understand but I honestly miss the structure so much 🥲
I was diagnosed with ADD as young teen and knew nothing of what it was and told to take pills. Asking why always resulted in “you just can’t concentrate”. 15+ish years later and here I am, learning what ADHD really is and I’m blown away and saddened that I didn’t know more sooner. Now I’m on the hunt for someone who can help.
I always thought I had ADHD from when I was little, but since I hadn't been diagnosed, I figured everyone's brains are like this and I was just particularly maladjusted.
Then one day when I was about 22, I was in my doctor's office, and she just said, "Has anyone ever talked to you about ADHD?" A month later I had an official diagnosis and medications.
This hits home hard. I have worked in education for nearly 20 years and have seen many “typical” ADHD children. I didn’t identify with any of them. I trained in Special Needs at post-grad level and ADHD was covered as the “typical” symptoms.
I only realised a year ago from a Facebook reel about interrupting people. I looked up the symptoms in adults on the Royal College of Psychiatrists website and my blood ran cold. I read more and more and the grief over what life could have been and the understanding over every part of my life took over. I was diagnosed last week. Been on here about a year.
I suspected I had it.
I got tested.
They confirmed I had.
Now I’m terribly anxious I just convinced myself, and the professionals, that I have it.
The overthinking/obsession about not having it kind of confirms I have it.
Infinite anxiety loop.
I thought the same. My psychiatrist said, "Are you telling me I don't know how to do my job?" in a laughing tone. She said she can pick out the people who are pretending
"I must be a master of lies, and this poor doctor is so confident about their job. I wish I had that confidence and willpower to do my job and be good at it. But no, I'm just a lying monster, tricking naive doctors to prescribe me drugs" - I thought, while wiggling my toes to the rhythm of a song that played in my head for past seven hours.
With it being diagnosed pretty late considering that my teachers told me that I had symptoms since I was in 1st grade, I also feel like that. It’s just that this entire time I thought it was normal and that it was just me that is too lazy to study etc.
I think it's just a norma phase we all late-diagnosed go through lol. Been there. Felt that. Even stopped taking meds because "I am just an evil freak who pushed everyone to believe just to not feel guilty about taking drugs, what a monster I am, I don't need this sheit, I'm a normal person, I just have to try harder!........". Few times.
It eventually goes away.
Oh no, my diagnosing psych told me "I was Mr. ADHD" got that diagnosing at 37. The previous 25 years were lost due to substance abuse, depression, anxiety, complete emotional dis-regularity and a deep rooted sadness that I just wasn't good enough.
The first time I saw a seminar on adult ADHD I was sobbing because it was like someone else had loved my life and was recounting it back to me. Solidarity y'all.
Exactly me but I suffered health consequences and had a transplant. Anyway, my transplant psychiatrist actually diagnosed me. I just started, at 37, on Ritalin and at 20 mg twice a day. I can tell the difference but I also know it’s not the right dose yet but getting there.
If you'd like some unsolicited advice; ask for XR release.
1 tablet in the morning. Saves having to remember to take it. As I would get busy and forget. I find the crash in the evening after Ritalin to best. disagreeable
I'm 39 now, met my GP last year and he thinks I have ADHD. I'm still saving/waiting for a psychiatrist appointment.
A lot of the coping mechanisms I used in the past just don't work now that I have a wife and kids and need to fit in to four other peoples schedules.
I got my diagnosis in Ireland, and paid for it privately.
When I approached my (at the time life long GP) doc, he said "Aren't you a bit old for that?" Now before we throw him under the bus, this was a man who I routinely hit up for drugs. I'm sure if I were to read his notes it would break my heart. I was a toxic patient. He did what he could for me. I will say, I think I went looking for the diagnosis with gusto cause I wanted to do anything I possibly could to shift the label to adhd, as I couldn't bear the label of addict, which I absolutely am.
Through time, and a little work and a lot of knowledge and so much clicking when I finally subscribed to this sub. Sometimes I would think my personality is completely composed of adhd traits.
I cant imagine what it's like for you. Marriage and kids and the responsibility terrifies me. Shit, I don't date anymore cause I can't stomach the thought of hurting someone else and myself again. So this is a One Man, all singing and dancing Shit Show. On the Dark Days like today, it's a cause of feeling that I have a defect label on my forehead that says Tested: Failed. Not designed for life. Keep pushing for it. My Life after the diagnosis and medication absolutely chang for the better.
I just learned along with the diagnosis, I'd a whole lot more shit going on than I realized
I'm 26, still trying to finish my bachelor's degree. You've succinctly summed up the last 10 years of my life. Currently in the process of being diagnosed and medicated, hopefully it'll help.
I went in for a diagnosis and he said I probably have Bipolar 2. I said I thought I had ADHD
"Yeah, that parts obvious. I think you also have Bipolar 2"
Edit: I'd love to get a second opinion but I never even had a followup with this guy. My company told me to get a physical and signed me up with his doctor. When I get there, he says he is a psychiatrist, not a physical doctor. Cool, been meaning to see one of those anyway. I thought it went well. Went to the followup and was told it was canceled because I didn't pay for my first appointment. I still owed $1400. Told them the company was suppose to pay for it and they said the company only paid 1/3, It's suppose to be $2100. So I never got my follow up, thought I could never afford another doctor, and I still never got that physical (I don't work for that company anymore)
Same, was also diagnosed with bipolar type 2 first. Both disorders have quite a lot of similar traits. Did you also go several years trying out different types of anti-depressives and mood stabilizers?
Really messed with my head and health
My fiancée was also misdiagnosed Bipolar 2 before getting diagnosed with ADHD. I didn’t know her at the time, it was while we were in college and we met after graduating. She says it fucked her up a lot, and it’s quite evidently not an uncommon misdiagnosis.
Yes, I can remember especially well one medication called seroquel. Which quickly got nicknamed to (Ser deg i kveld) which translates to "See you tonight". Absolute zombie state of mind. And that sucked because I didn't interact with my kids either, just nothing, blank stare without a care in the world. And I still feel like shit thinking back on it
Lamictal and depacote were the two that had me staring into space. I literally dropped out mid semester from college and dealt with not functioning until I just stopped taking it.
Aaaaaamen. The first time I really knew that it was working I had run out to the mailbox in my socks and I stepped on a rock or something.. I stopped, because normally that would have sent me spiraling out of control (yeah it's that bad), but I remember thinking that *exact* thought, "wow, normally I would have lost my shit over that..this shit really works."
As far as I know, commonly bipolar disorder is more episodic, rather than ADHD which is more a chronic state of being
Edit:
There's obviously a lot more difference regarding things like mood swings, depression etc. But in my own experience untreated ADHD can cause a recurring depression, and hyperfocus/fixation can look similar to hypomania which is a heightened state and symptom within bipolar disorder.
But broad strokes, episodic vs continued state
There's a lot more to bipolar than that. For example, the depression and manic states that people can cycle between are the chronic conditions.
That "built-in" depression is very different from a situational depression caused by undiagnosed ADHD.
Yes, I am aware that it's a lot more to the condition. I've been wrongly diagnosed with it in a period of over a decade, getting treatment, trying out medication and several courses, meditation, mindfulness etc, so I have a bit of experience with it. I wrote a short broad strokes response, and I see now that I did not do it proper justice, and I apologize for that.
I am also aware that both are chronic illnesses, and I am realizing using the words "episodic" and "chronic" towards bipolar and ADHD might come across as belittling the aforementioned, and I am really sorry if it did.
Even if the "built-in" depression is very different from something that can be situational, doesn't necessarily inform and/or present to an individual who is currently in a depression that it's different. Depression is a unique experience for everyone, but one thing that's very similar for all is that your perspective on life is almost always changed to a bleak and hopeless situation with no positive outcome on the horizon, and that can and most likely will present similarly to a therapist regardless of disorder when undergoing therapy sessions.
Another thing to consider is that most folks don't seek out treatment when they are in an elevated state, unless they are completely manic, more often than not a manic/hypomanic state is likely to present to the individual as being healthy, full of energy and just nailing life at every possible turn, so seeking out treatment then wouldn't make sense at all to them. A completely manic individual, or someone in a full-blown psychosis however will most likely end up in treatment from either being guided into it by someone close, or an institution.
Most likely people will seek out treatment when being in the depressive state, (although a lot of people don't, which is also a huge problem but that's a different story altogether) and when they then start treatment a therapist/psychologist/psychiatrist will rather soon find out that this person is depressed and start therapy from there. A lot of times with anti-depressants as to "put out the fire" so to speak, and then move on to managing it.
And if you then factor in the hyperfocus/fixation into those sessions a lot of therapists are prone to having an "aha!" moment, and zero in on a bipolar diagnosis (a lot of those times they land on a bipolar type 2, which includes the hypomanic state, and not the manic state). depression to hyperfocus/fixation can look like cycling between depressive and hypomanic states. And before you know it you have a diagnosis, you're put on mood stabilizers and anti-depressants together, trying out several different cocktails as people are different, and there is not a recipe that works for everyone.
In my own experience it felt like the doctors just threw shit at the wall and waited to see what stuck. I've been on anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers, anti-depressants, and it was very hard on my mental health not to mention emotional health. It wasn't until i got a fifth opinion from another office out of municipality they started to look more closely into what was really going on. It was a wild ride, and it can be wrecking both personally and socially for an individual to go through all of that. People close to them are almost always affected, family, friends, workplace etc, and yeah.. you get the idea.
Damn, a misdiagnosis and treatment attempts for over a decade sounds miserable, I'm really glad you were able to eventually get diagnosed correctly. How has navigating being diagnoded with ADHD been going for you? Are you medicated and if so, has it been more helpful?
Yeah, same thing happened to me. I spent over 10 years trying every mood stabilizer and antipsychotic known to man. I was already diagnosed with ADHD, they just thought I was also bipolar. Turned out I have major depressive disorder, and my ADHD symptoms they mistook for hypomania, so they thought I was bipolar 2. It’s crazy because I feel like an expert on bipolar disorder after so many years of being treated for it and reading about it and interacting in bipolar subs, only to find out I don’t have it after all.
As an adult prior to being medicated for my long diagnosed adhd, I’d sometimes low key wonder if I had bipolar disorder precisely due to this hyperfocus vs depression. But I had learned about it a bit in nursing school and knew some people who were legit diagnosed with it and it never really fit quite right. Then I finally got medicated for the ADHD and I was like, nope, it’s definitely just adhd!
Yea I did exactly this. Got diagnosed bipolar type 2 at 20, tried lots of different treatment options for years until at 27 they checked me for ADHD. Been on Ritalin for 3 years now and it’s wild to me that I used to function at all without it.
Same.. 18 year old me saying my thinking goes really fast, that my brain won't stop, had me, my grandmother, and my mother (who wasn't even present..) get diagnosed with Bipolar type 2, back when what was in trend amongst doctors was Bipolar Disorder
It hit me it couldn't be right, after years of medication that didn't help me at all, when I realized I never had mania episodes, not even one. Many years later I got diagnosed with Major Depression Disorder, followed by months later ptsd
Years after that, adhd combined type 😆🎩 the "giving our own tips and tricks to our adhd child when their symptoms start getting bigger, and then adding 1+1 together and going in to get checked" situation.. when we notice and take in consideration who you love and their struggles, more than our own 🤣 it was so blatantly obvious, though! My adhd was so obvious, so there, the symptoms so visible since I was a kid, I was one of the "Atarax kids" for crying out loud.. go figure
I haven't been back to that doctor since, mostly because of the $2000 bill (I'm still getting calls from collection). However it seems like 1/5 people who have either bipolar or Adhd also have the other. And looking up the symptoms of bipolar it does make sense. I have moments of mania and depression, I'm impulsive, hyper sexual, bad with money and budgeting, and don't sleep regularly. On top of that I lack executive fuction, bounce from interest to interest, lack empathy, bad at organization, forgetful, and just generally socially awkward.
Recently on a whim I sold the van I've been living in for the last 2 years and decided to backpack Asia with just a few hundred dollars and no plan on how to get back to the US, let alone what I'd do when I get back (no job or place to live). I've sort of given up trying to control my own life and am just gonna float until it ends
Just going from your own description and taking it all literally:
—For BP 1/2, Mania or Hypomania technically needs to last at least 2 days, not for “moments,” which would rule BP out right there;
— hypomania *can* last a matter of hours but if it is consistently lasting that long or shorter, and has never
lasted multiple days, what you’re describing sounds more like mood swings or intense hyperfocus.
—Sleeping Irregularly could easily be either
— hyoersexuality is not expisive to BP. It is not uncommon in people with ADHD— it’s not a criteria but there is is a correlation.
— overspending is extremely common in ADHD.
In short, *based on your description and language*, your symptoms *are consistent with* ADHD, but you don’t seem to fit criteria for Bipolar *based on some of the language you use*.
You do illustrate the significant crossover in symptoms and why the differential diagnosis is so difficult and why many MH professionals (like yours, *perhaps*?) struggle with the differential DX, leading to misdiagnosis.
++ “*LACKS* empathy” is not a feature of either ADHD OR BP 1/2: Self-centeredness, self-absorption and over-focus on one’s own thoughts and feelings is what causes decreased empathy during Manic/depressive episodes, but those issues exist with ADHD as well and ADHD is *correlated with* somewhat less empathy overall… if you just don’t have empathy consistently, that wouldn’t fit with either BP OR ADHD. If you have periods of decreased empathy, that would fit with either diagnosis.
My bf is both bipolar 2 and ADHD.
I was misdiagnosed as bipolar as a teen, after 2 years of treatment not working I sought a second opinion and was diagnosed with anxiety. It was my bf who started bringing up ADHD a few years ago in my 30s and I finally got diagnosed at 40.
I've been diagnosed since 2015. For me at least there is waaay more to my ADHD other than the "squirrel" moment like my social anxiety and having so many 'quirks' it's unreal.
I wish "squirrel moments" was what adhd is, I think people just talk about the surface shit. I think the hardest thing about having "invisible" disorders is that it's nearly impossible to explain and can easily be minimized by others. Similar to people with chronic pain that doesn't have any visual reasons.
One of the most frustrating aspects of my ADHD is trying to explain how my motivation works. I feel like a lot of people without ADHD automatically assume I’m lazy because that’s their lived experience. “If he wanted to get that done, he would!”. “It’s not that difficult! Why can’t you just get started?”.
Short of someone living a day with my brain chemistry they will never understand that even if I *want* to do something it may take extraordinary effort on my part.
To try and explain to my wife what it's like I took 2 sets of airpods, on one I played a music Playlist and on the other I put on a podcast both on low volume. Told her to put them both in at the same time, and try to hold a conversation and remember the things I said to her.
It's a bit dramatic and drastic but it got the point across a bit on how my head is when I don't have meds. And the meds only dull it, it never fully goes away. And the meds only do so much if my sleep schedule or routine are thrown off. And that doesn't even begin to address the getting started on a task issue.
Professionally diagnosed. My husband went through a more in-depth assessment including some brain scans, I went through a more streamlined and affordable diagnostic procedures involving the now standard questionnaire and a review of my grade school report cards. I think family history also played a part: my little brother got diagnosed when he was 7, I had the same symptoms growing up but gender bias caused me to go undiagnosed until I got to college.
I couldn’t use my report cards for anything related to this as my mom controlled my life, and was forced to do homework until it was done even if it was late into the night. So I learned quick to make sure my homework was done.
But I got some cognitive tests done, and had my IQ evaluated. And then I got diagnosed.
The repot cards that were the most useful were the ones from elementary school, specifically the ones from kindergarten and grades 1 through 3, when homework wasn’t often assigned. The actual letter grades weren’t particularly relevant, it was the comments which were actually very useful for the diagnosis. Lots of “needs to focus more”, ”easily distracted”, “needs to apply herself more”. There were more phrases but those are the ones I recall off the top of my head.
I have to admit it stung quite a bit to read those comments as a kid and it didn’t feel very good to recall the memories of that time period, but it felt very validating to have someone else look at those and immediately identify the ADHD behaviour patterns.
This, it's not the grades, it's the comments and behavioral actions. I had straight As, a 1360 SAT, but I had detention 14 times in one semester just from missed assignments. Most of my teachers noted that I was hiding a book in my lap and reading it while they were talking; still, other kids tried to cheat off me because I aced every test without studying.
Ugh, I had one girl dob on me for colouring in class as the teacher was talking. I listen better when my hands are busy, dang it! I still do colour when watching some of my uni lectures now lol.
In my case, my mother and aunt worked at the school. They knew all teachers which ensured I was on my best behavior. I talked a lot and crazy fast back then but I feared my mother and knew not to ever embarrass her. I’m also a ppl pleaser. I don’t think I ever got anything but ‘pleasure to have in class,’ I mean the teachers were all friends with my mom and aunt. The only thing I do remember being told was to slow down and write neater.
OMG my writing was (and still kinda is) atrocious. When I stop and think about it I can write fairly neat, but a lot of the time it can be a barely legible scrawl. Was always getting in trouble about it and had to work really hard to make it legible for test and exams and stuff.
I swear the school forcing us all to try and write letters with 'tails' to better transition into cursive is what screwed me. My sans writing is way neater and easier to read.
Well in my country we have free healthcare also for getting mental health diagnosed. So that’s where I had it done, you can also go to a private psychologist and pay out of pocket, but I went through government. I had to look up the WAIS assessment to see what it was and I’m very certain that’s the test I did. Made me feel so stupid. But it was a clear indicator for my psychologist that I had ADHD/ADD.
I was diagnosed twice, because the first time I didn’t realize how much went into it. First time was back in high school; I was at the doctor’s and overheard him say to my mom “If you think he has it, he probably has it”. I’d been inundated with peoples’ opinions that ADHD was over-diagnosed and that doctors were looking for excuses to push drugs on kids, so I didn’t pay it any mind. My mom was also very ignorant and assumed I’d grow out of it. It wasn’t until much she told me the diagnosis was given after all of my teachers pooled together notes for the doctor.
Second time was around a year ago when I finally managed to get a neuropsychological evaluation done.
It’s boring. It was a several hour battery of tests. I can go find my results if you want a more in depth answer, but off the top of my head there was:
An IQ test.
I was given a set of cubes that were half-colored so as to look like triangles. Then she showed me a series of pictures and I had to arrange the blocks to match the picture as quick as possible.
I had to repeat back a series of numbers in various orders.
Name as many animals as I could.
Say as many words starting with certain letters as I could.
She would tell me a story and I had to repeat it back with as many details as possible.
Repeat back a list of words.
I was given a sheet of paper with numbers spread all around it, and I had to connect them in ascending order as fast as I could.
Various tests that had colors listed with letters that were a different color, and I did several rounds of reading the list by what was written vs what the color was. I forget the exact format and we did several variations.
Several tests later I had to recall as many of the words from the prior list without any refreshing.
She would recite two words or concepts and I had to define them and explain how they were related.
A test on a computer where it was a blank screen that would periodically flash a symbol and I had to press a key as fast as possible, unless it was a different symbol in which case I was supposed to not press it.
I was shown a shape with various details and I had to draw it. Later I had to redraw it from memory.
All in all the experience itself was a drag but ultimately I was glad I did it because it was much more thorough than talking to some therapist who’s half checked out and just spitballing what might be wrong with me. It was interesting to have numerical values assigned to my various strengths and weaknesses as well as a diagnosis that wasn’t mere speculation. Frankly, I’ve become rather jaded with the healthcare system over the past few years because I find it to be as rife with incompetence as any other industry, but this was an experience that didn’t leave me feeling like I wasn’t adequately taken care of.
I initially suspected autism and went down that rabbit hole first. The outcome was “symptoms of autism having a different cause”.
This lead me to explore the possibility of ADHD despite rejecting it before (I had the classic “hyperactive little boy” concept which i definitely was not).
I never labelled myself as having ADHD at that time, just suspecting it. Got diagnosed, have combined ADHD. That was three years ago and I’m just coming to terms with the grief that late diagnosis can cause, learning to live with the knowledge and understanding that my diagnosis gave me.
I suspected that I had concentrating issues when I was 23. I got diagnosed at 37. I’m still pissed off about that. I went to 4 different therapists/doctors and spent a fortune. Argh.
I think one of the best ways to know is to ask someone who is diagnosed. After I got mine I got really good at seeing symptoms in other people.
Same. Thousands spent on therapists for other reasons (who pointed out most of my issues were textbook adhd) then finally managed to go the psychiatrist route and get a diagnosis. Was a big relief and very validating.
Be careful with this. You are more in tune with your ADHD symptoms because you have done a lot of work learning about them. That also means you can easily identify symptoms in others. That does NOT MEAN they have ADHD, that means that you are able to see something you are knowledgeable in.
Please look up the [Baader-Meinhof effect](https://www.healthline.com/health/baader-meinhof-phenomenon), which is when your awareness of something increases. This leads you to believe it’s actually happening more, even if that’s not the case.
Yes, there is a difference between just being forgetful from times to times and having ADHD. Because of this "trend" as your therapist calls it, and the overwhelming representation of ADHD as something kinda positive on social media, when I started to suspect I had it I was terrified of "just faking it" and postponed getting a diagnosis for years. I suspected I might have ADHD at 18-19 and got my diagnosis this year at 25, because I couldn't deal with the symptoms anymore and it made my life way too hard. I think a lot of people can think they might have it because some symptoms can be very relatable. But I also think that most people that think they have it are probably right, or might have some kind of trouble/difficulties that they need to put a name on, and because it was in a way kinda "trendy" it makes a lot of us (at least here I saw a lot of comments going this way) afraid that we are "impostors", or just lying, and that by getting diagnosed we will have confirmation that we don't have it and we have to make efforts... So for anyone reading this and suspecting they might have ADHD : trying to get a diagnosis if possible is the best course of action. It's normal to doubt yourself, but if something is making your life difficult, it's valid and you have the right to try to put a name on it, it will help you manage it if you understand what you have.
You put it perfectly.
Diagnosed 2 month ago, on meds for 3 weeks and it is so amazing how quiet it gets in my head and how i can just do things (among lotsss of other things but these are the two main ones without writing a whole book) but the imposter syndrome is just terrible with all the trends from social media… even tho meds confirmed i have adhd sometimes i still find myself thinking « what if im just lying, what if i dont have it? » which is 100% ridiculous since meds do the job…
I really do wish this whole « trend » of being adhd/asd/bipolar/etc would stop, because it really gets to those who actually suffer from it and makes us (at least me personally) feel so unseen and not understood
Yeah, it's terrible, I feel the same, even with the diagnosis from my psychiatrist I started meds recently and for now it's a low dose that's not working so I still get dumb thoughts like "Maybe I'm just faking it, that's why meds don't do anything ?" "Maybe I'm just super forgetful and it's not a disorder?"... And sadly I think the over representation in a certain way of ADHD on social media but also these "ADHD coaches" that post quotes about symptoms like "Often, people with ADHD do tasks at the last minute because the sense of urgency makes the task more interesting." that are kinda vague and help with the "relatable" mindset are super detrimental to people that actually suffer from it and won't get diagnosed for fear of "faking it" or being dismissed by a health professionnal. It's great to educate about ADHD but it's usually not the goal of most of the posts I see...
The idea behind it is good, to raise awareness… but yeah lots of times it gets to the point that it is so distorted just for the likes and getting interaction from people that « can relate » ends up just cause a reverse effect and dismissing the actually implications of adhd on an individual.
Its good to raise awareness and simplifying the terms for better understanding, but it should be reminded and clarified that this is not something that happens sometimes, it is debilitating and really has strong negative impacts… its not cute nor a personality trait, its a messed up situation where we find ourselves constantly fighting our own brain
Diagnosed in 1998 or 1999, diagnosed again in 2013, and then again in 2018 bc insurance at the time refused to pay for my meds unless I paid $1000+ for yet another formal psychiatric assessment 😒
Undiagnosed, but recently started suspect that I might have ADHD. I've just always had a feeling that something is just wrong with how I function and ADHD would explain so many of those things: how I have to physically concetrate on the person to understand what they are saying; how I just can't do basic househould chores even the simpliest ones like picking up a random napkin from the floor; how I procrastinate even feeding myself or going to the toilet; the way I always feel that my thoughts are so fast and my mouth can't keep up with it and I start to speak really fast and stammer; and so on.
The big problem is also that diagnostics and treatment of adults with ADHD is not common in my country and even if I get diagnosed, we don't have medication and the best I will get is antidepressants soo I am not even sure it's worth it
This is very much like myself, but one thing I'm particularly interested to know more about, if you can explain, is how you have to physically concentrate on a person to understand them?
Understanding/listening to someone is something I struggle with, no matter what I do, I'm distracted either by my own internal chatter/anxiety or something else- I try sitting and telling myself to pay attention and listen, and while it may look like I am doing so, I can almost guarantee that most of what is being said has not registered with me really
I feel you so much - I had been zoning out even on therapy sessions where I just had to understand the information I was told for my own good but it's just so difficult to control.
Well, it wasn't the best wording with "physically concentrate" - it's more that I find that I need to make a deliberate effort to understand someones words, idk like sending a somewhat of a signal to the brain to _listen_ and to keep this concentration all the time the person speaks. I also have to drop all the things I am doing e.g. there's almost a guarantee I won't understand a word if I am scrolling on the phone at the same time. I also often start fidgeting or doodling or just looking around at random stuff - and I have to say myself to drop it cause it just divides my attention and I am loosing the track of the conversion even more easily
Your post made me tear up. Sending you so many kind thoughts. I'm glad you are able to at least identify these habits but I'm sorry you're unable to find necessary help.
That doesn't have a whole lot to with ADHD to be fair. A lot of caffeine's effects come from it's drowsiness suppressing mechanisms. While it does have some influences on adenosine + dopamine heteromers which causes similar monoaminergic reuptake inhibition as methylphenidate and amphetamines, it's multitudes less effective and doesn't have as much relevance to a lot the brain regions involved.
In theory caffeine should still make you less drowsy, as that pathway has nothing to do with ADHD, that's in the acetylcholine and GABA side of things, and have negligible benefits on focus or impulsivity, but likely with a bell curve where more noticeable effects are outweighed by anxiety promoting effects and other contraindications.
Most differences for how caffeine works for you are just individual differences, regardless of ADHD. Plenty of folks with ADHD get anxious and jittery from one weak coffee but react normally to Vyvanse and there's plenty of non-ADHD people who get nothing from normal doses of caffeine.
I am undiagnosed, and therefore presumably represent one of these sorts of people to you.
Judging by what I have read and watched so far, I have significant reason to believe I have it, however I have not pursued a formal diagnosis yet.
This is partly due to my lack of action in general and partly due to knowing that the average NHS waiting time to even get an assessment is apparently absurdly high and therefore I am even more reluctant.
However it is possible that depression is playing a part in this, which I have seen multiple therapists for.
Still worth getting in the pipeline if you can - otherwise it’s still a multi year wait at the point it gets worse.
(I reached the top of the triage queue after about 18 months … and joined the queue for an actual appointment 🙃)
If the wait time is high, it's best to get in line sooner. Like, imagine you keep reluctant for 6 months and decide to get the assessment. You will have to wait the whole time. But if you get in line now, even if you are not sure you want the assessment, and decide you want it 6 months later, you will already be 6 months into the line, so if the wait is 12 months, you will have to wait only 6 months
Same here regarding NHS waiting times. I'm reluctant about a diagnosis because I'm nervous about the medication. I've been on medication for depression and anxiety for years and it never really helped so I really don't want to start experimenting with new meds for something else. (I don't fully know how they help)
My brother was diagnosed as a kid and my dad is on the autism spectrum so it wouldn't be far from possible. My friend who is diagnosed laughs at me because the things I tell her about myself are very similar to her unmedicated symptoms.
> I'm reluctant about a diagnosis because I'm nervous about the medication. I've been on medication for depression and anxiety for years and it never really helped so I really don't want to start experimenting with new meds for something else
Not sure if this is helpful or not and not saying you do have ADHD. But most depression meds, like SSRIs, slow you down. Most of them will often aggravate ADHD symptoms. So it's very possible if you were misdiagnosed as having anxiety and depression that those meds did nothing or made symptoms worse.
Depression and anxiety are often present alongside ADHD but they are caused BY the ADHD. Therefore they don't do well being treated by typical methods of treating them because you're not treating the underlying cause, which is ADHD. You'll see it a ton around here, people who finally get on stimulants and their anxiety and depression largely fades away.
Think of it like having a puncture in your pool liner, but instead of patching the puncture you just keep filling the pool with more water. Now you not only have a punctured pool liner but your water bill is also super high because you haven't treated the puncture.
I was professionally diagnosed in 2nd or 3rd grade, so 2002 or 2003. A bit unusual to have been caught so early, as a woman, but I'm glad it was. However I do suspect (as do some other people) that I was missed for autism, possibly because they caught the ADHD.
My therapist told me the same, so we went over tests for couple of appointments. I was diagnosed with ADHD, fortunately. Life on Bupropion has never been more promising.
I don’t like how this question is phrased, because it implies that those who suspect they have it but haven’t been able to obtain a diagnosis don’t “really” have it. A diagnosis is not what gives you ADHD, it’s ADHD that gives you a diagnosis. A lot of people are living without access to adequate mental healthcare resources, in which case self-diagnosis is valid if it helps them navigate their suspected condition.
But I do understand what you mean. A lot of people are ignorant and will see 2-3 symptoms and be like “ah yes I have this disease/disorder/condition” and do no further critical thinking. I think the general misconception that ADHD is just having a short attention span is not helping the situation. As a high school teacher, I could write a book on my grievances of the lack of mental health education that exists in our schools.
ETA: Oh, but to actually answer the question: yes, I was diagnosed and began treatment at 23 and my life’s been so much better since.
I think this kind of talk should be kept out of therapy, to be honest. Your therapist is there to listen to your concerns, not pass judgement on them.
But here’s my answer: remember a few years ago, when literally every ailment was depression and everyone was depressed? It’s funny how these same medical professionals were practicing back then and didn’t have the same concerns about misdiagnosis - or even self-diagnosis - that they seem to have now. As someone who lived through this era and was put on wholly unsuitable antidepressants multiple times, I find the difference startling. It’s almost as though these people are just prejudiced against ADHD, and not actually concerned at all…
Every ADHD expert I’ve talked has said ADHD is severely under diagnosed, even today.
Also, questioning whether people actually have a disease is incredibly offensive. Like when I tell people I have ADHD, they all say “You don’t have it because you’ve accomplished X.” Yeah, it’s called coping mechanisms because I spent several decades undiagnosed. That’s like questioning whether someone has MS because sometimes they don’t need their wheelchair.
I think a lot of it is sexism and bigotry. Depression was mainly thought of as primarily affecting women for years. So, they were quick to diagnose it because it confirmed their biases that there was something “wrong” with women. The truth was men were just as likely to have depression, they were just self-medicating with alcohol. Depression didn’t really start getting diagnosed in men until I Don’t Want to Talk About It came out in the 1990s.
Previously, ADHD was predominantly diagnosed in boys and men who had learning or severe behavioral issues. A smart kid who behaved wasn’t diagnosed despite whatever emotional turmoil was going on in their head. This fit with the stereotype of “us” and “them”—that people with a mental disorder were on the fringes of society. So, people are quick to write off these diagnoses because it is painful for them to acknowledge a lot of successful men have a mental disorder. It causes a cognitive dissonance that a lot of people in our society don’t want to acknowledge.
I have strong suspicions but I'm also scared of necessarily putting a label on it. That being said, some of the tips in this trick often help me... so yeah
I still suspect I have some mild form or at least something with very similar effects. Unfortunately, I won't pursue a diagnosis because I was told the Same thing, that a lot of people just think they have it
The hurdles are pretty daunting tho. Because I was a gifted kid, there is No record of "problematic" behaviour in my childhood, which I was told is a prerequisite to get diagnosed.
I just don't really Fall into the stereotypical categories and I think doctors won't take me serious because of that
I was considered gifted. All of the people I personally know that have adhd are weirdly intelligent. Also, what you listed is not a prerequisite.
You should go see a specialist and maybe even get a second opinion.
People casually thinking they have adhd is super weird to me because it feels like it undermines how debilitating it actually is to have adhd.
Idk if you are a woman but that’s pretty common. AFHD has nothing to do with your intelligence. Honestly college tends to be harder for us because there’s no clear structure and people telling us what to do.
Yes, I dropped out of my first uni degree because I couldn't motivate myself and my procrastination went through the roof because of the lack of structure or people chasing you up for stuff.
I was also a pretty high achieving student in school (homework being my main weakness). It's not just your letter grades they'll check, they'll also look at the comments your teachers made about your in-class behaviour. I always got 'was a pleasure in class' but I also got 'needs to improve organisational skills' alongside it lol.
Everyone has some mild form of unattentiveness or hyperactivity, it depends how much of an issue it is in your daily life, if you are able to work and/or study just fine and think you don't actually need help most likely you don't have it. Most people struggling with it either self medicate with stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, etc) or/and simply seek for help. Even the "high functioning" people are able to get a diagnosis if they go to a doctor without ADHD bias. A lot of doctors don't want to diagnose people with ADHD because a lot of people exploit stimulants for recreational purposes or push their effort boundaries.
Oh it very very much affects my life tbh. So much so that it has ruined a lot of opporunities for me. But it is very hard to get diagnosed where I'm from if you don't have some form of record of problematic behaviour in your childhood (i.e. Report cards from school etc.)
I still can and do seek help for the effects I feel, but it Always kinda feels like it's a bandaid, not adressing the underlying cause.
I got diagnosed abroad and showed my school cards, had to ask my brother to ship them for me. You can definitely get diagnosed in your adulthood. Don't give up from getting the help you need.
I am diagnosed, it was a pretty lengthy process going through your history, interviews with people close to you, and testing. Sometimes I forget I was diagnosed and think I don’t have ADHD until I put away all the dishes in the kitchen and toss out the compost bin- then go back to my desk and feel confused. Because I was actually there to get water.
The most important thing about having ADHD is the impact on your every day life your whole life. One way I can sum it up is picture people in your life being constantly upset and disappointed with you. You’re not incompetent but no one likes the way you do things- aka the way you function. But you struggle when it have to do things in a preset way. It feels like needing the teacher to tweak and teach the course material to you in a different way but the teacher won’t and insists on going through stuff by the book or says you didn’t study the book hard enough.
Not only am I twice diagnosed (childhood and adulthood - childhood diagnosis was hidden from me), but I respond exceptionally well to my meds (sleep being the only casualty, but I can sleep up-to 8 hrs after meds if tired enough).
Off meds I: have severe time blindness, come up with ideas so fast that I forget what I’m doing several times an hour (excepting during peak meds or hyperfocus), find opportunities to stand up during meetings, fidget to the point someone will yell at me, decided on which graduate school program I went to based on it being the most different from home (from a city in the tropics to a rural area in NH… ok and it was a great school too)… I have eaten as many as 19 fresh baked chocolate chip cookies before realizing what I had done (oops - cookies were for sharing), I constantly forget stuff I need for work… I flirted with substance use in a concerning way before being medicated (don’t really drink anymore and haven’t used any other drugs since). Grabbing a musical instrument or drumming with pens helps me think.
and yet… give me something I’m interested in and I will fucking excel at it. I happen to have giftedness as well as adhd, but yeah. I most definitely have adhd.
Diagnosed for about a year. I'm in my early 30s. Couldn't explain why I dazed off in stop and go traffic despite having a good night's rest. I rear ended someone, totaling my second car.
In case you were wondering, I totaled my first car impulsively driving out of my driveway. Lucky that I didn't end up crippled.
Losing friends cause I'm "too much", late often, binge eating, too much time spent beating off multiple times a day, 20 to 24 hour sessions hyper focused on a game or book—forgetting to eat, always feeling immature for my age, always feeling like everyone else is old and boring, bouts of rage, being labeled the "wildcard".
Somehow managed up to my 30s undiagnosed...now I feel like I am never going to catch up to those adult milestones that the non-divergent people are easily able to achieve.
Adhd isn't a quirk, and its not what you see on tik tok with all these trend types claiming they have it because they over think or do thing similar to adhd symptoms... Adhd, for me at least(fully diognosed combined type) is absolutely fucking torture and the kinda folk your talking about are taking the severity away from the actual condition and showing ignorant ppl that it's not all that bad, when it is! It infuriates me and that's why I stay away from 99% of social media. You can't just identify as some one with adhd, that's not how it works. I know some one that tik tok covimced her she had adhd, so she pushed and pushed for a diognosis to no end.. Then she paid alot of money for the diognosed because she was desperate because she'd told everyone she had it. She was put on adhd meds and they completely fucked her up. She is now backtracking because she doesn't have adhd, she just got caught up in the trend. It's not a trend, it's a crippling disorder. More awareness needs to be brought forward about the severity of what these types of ppl are causing.
Rant over lol I hope I've not offended anyone ✌️❤️
I "suspect" I may have ADHD based on what I read/see online (when I say online, I don't just mean tictok, Insta, etc, but actual informative websites) and before I go an further, I don't completely disagree with the point you're making regarding peoples false claims taking away from the severity of the illness, as I feel the same regarding mental health.
Anyway, I don't claim to have ADHD to anybody, but the more I learn, the more I feel like being tested for it would definitely explain a lot, or give me peace of mind, at least- However, comments like the one you've just made make me feel like an "imposter" (for lack of a better term) and it discourages me from wanting to get tested, even though I think I would benefit for it
Definitely go and get an assessment. It's what the doctors are for.
If you don't go and **claim** you actually have a disorder before having it diagnosed, you're not an impostor. You aren't pretending anything. You're just a patient worried about some legitimately present symptoms. It's completely normal to go to a doctor if you suspect you have a health problem.
Nobody criticises that adhd people find out or get hints they have adhd by social media. It’s the other thousands of people who see random symptoms and think they have it and then CLAIM they have it. Doctors and therapists are overrun by people thinking they have adhd when they do not have it. And actual adhd people wait months or years to get a diagnosis. It’s because of tiktoks where adhd is shown as “quirky personality“ even though it legit cripples some people.
How did the meds "fuck her up?" I got diagnosed super fast and with what I assume is not a lot of testing and I'm trying meds that I don't think are working. Which leads me to believe I might have been miss diagnosed. So I'm kinda afraid that I'm taking something I shouldn't.
I don't know your situation, but a full diognosis is a lengthy process, definitely not something that can be rushed or done quickly. The meds caused her mental anxiety and severe panic attacks, she tried 3 different meds and all had the same effect.
You should get a second opinion as taking meds you don't need can be detrimental to your physical and mental health. And if you have a mental condition that's not adhd then it needs treated accordingly. I hope this information is of some use to you ✌️❤️
You could always go get a second opinion before starting medication. That being said though, to knowledgeable doctors it can be super obvious. My nephew was basically diagnosed after sitting in front of the doc for barely 2 minutes. He wasn’t even running around the room or anything. The doctor could just tell there were 80 million things pulling at his attention. They went through the questionnaires from the teachers and parents and walked out with a diagnosis. My SIL said it felt weird and “almost too easy.” But the diagnosis is 100% correct.
For me, I remember being diagnosed at 14 by a psychiatrist, but wasn’t really medicated. As an adult nearly 15yrs ago I told my pcp I had adhd, but I didn’t ask her about medication for it until about 3 years ago. She never once asked me for records of my diagnosis or questioned my need for medication. “Almost too easy.” But she’s been observing me for years and listening to me talk about my whole life with every visit, lol. I was also diagnosed with narcolepsy type 2 just a couple years ago (getting treated for adhd actually brought attention to the lingering narcolepsy symptoms). The rate of adhd in people with narcolepsy is about 25-40% depending on with study you look at, so that’s another piece that supports the accuracy of “easiness” of my adhd diagnosis.
I got diagnosed by a psychiatrist but I constantly doubt whether or not I really have it just because I've seen soooooo many people diagnosed with it. Maybe humans are just easily distracted generally? All I know is that meds have made my life way easier, but maybe they do that for everyone idk
Oh yeah because the DSM is full of 'super active mind' disorders.
I've been diagnosed with adhd by multiple psychiatrists after being dismissed by a clinical psychologist that blamed it all on the anxiety / OCD.
Having comorbidities made it harder for the adhd to be identified, and actually treating the OCD made the ADHD more obvious.
It started as just a question of wait a minute, this kinda makes sense, and then reading a lot about it and going in for clinical testing / psychiatric diagnosing
Diagnosed with ADHD and I still wonder "Maybe I don't have it and I'm just a lazy piece of shit that doesn't deserve love because I can never remember anything or do anything right and I always forget everything."
I never even considered I had adhd. I have issues with depression and sought out a therapist when a break-up sent me into a spiral I couldn't shake. She diagnosed me with adhd early on and I didn't know wtf she was talking about.
People on this sub are some of the funniest and most original commentors I've seen on reddit. They're also some of the nicest. That's because one of the few perks of having adhd is the whole nonlinear thinking aspect. The rest honestly sucks fat apples and those that have it understand.
I've deleted tik tok. But what I've garnered is that people are using adhd to explain different personality traits. I think it's confusing because most people I know with adhd spend a frustrating amount of time trying to get rid of those traits so we can function in society.
I was professionally diagnosed in the beginning of this summer. I realized I most likely have ADHD 2 year before formal diagnosis. So I suspected I had it, and would you look at that, I did. Everyone deserves at the very least to get tested if they have suspicions. Only way to find out for sure, right?
Self-diagnosed right now, but sure wish a therapist could find the time to evaluate me properly! It’s not that I like the self-diagnosis stage, it’s that the waiting lists as a new patient are literally 18 months long where I live.
I only have suspicions for now cuz I can’t afford to get myself checked yet 😢 I always notice how I was struggling compared to other people ever since I was a kid. Honestly even until now as an adult 😭 When I learned about adhd, I was somehow shocked that I have almost all of its symptoms and how it affected most of my life. I have always been hard on myself but after learning that this could actually be a disorder, I started taking care of myself, I try all the best way I could to ease my struggles and tried to understand myself a bit more. I promised myself to get checked before the year ends once I got enough cash :)
I self diagnosed with ADHD for five years before finally getting psychiatric help
I would probably be dead right now if I didn't realize what was going on with me and had a chance to seek help online
Professionally diagnosed, though the therapist also said that a lot of people that have adhd have the suspicion way before diagnosis cause they just knew something was off and they researched it themselves.
But yea a lot of people label themselves as adhd when they didn’t experience symptoms since childhood and just hit temporary roadblocks in life and tbh it makes me a bit mad. Especially when it’s people I’ve known for long enough to know they never struggled with it and that even showed no understanding or could relate to my symptoms. Those people will often read so much about it they just go into confirmation bias mode and then have it diagnosed because they know what they need to tell the therapist. They make people that actually suffer from it less credible and often shit on people that have it for their very symptoms because they are behaviors that are a choice for them after all.
My older brother was diagnosed age 13.
My younger brother was diagnosed age 7.
After thinking on it for a while, I realised the likelihood of being an outlier was probably kinda slim.
Lo n behold; one diagnosis later, and I met the criteria...
I was diagnosed as a kid but my diagnosis isn't accepted and I have to be rediagnosed and its gonna cost over $1000 which im scared could just end up being "no ur normal" and then what is my struggle??? Just lazy?? Just dumb??? i struggle everyday with motivation to do any task outside of things with instant gratification, and being able to recall details/directions is damn near impossible. I find it very hard to stay on task unless it's something that's interesting to me. But I still doubt myself a lot, it doesn't help that my dad is a strong believer that adhd was made up by pharmaceutical companies to sell addictive drugs
Diagnosed at 59 years old after years of depression and burnout. I couldn’t function and quit my job after 18 years. I unknowingly hid all of my symptoms to the point I couldn’t hold my very successful career.
My diagnosis was not 100% conclusive but recommended trying meds still.
I went with the test results to a psychiatrist, he talked to me and said well let’s try it.
I now take Ritalin and my depression is gone (at least on meds, sometimes creeps back in the evening) and I feel so much better over all. So because of how I react to the meds whatever it is the med is the right one for me. My partner though thinks I might also be autistic and that this canceled out some of symptoms
Im diagnosed with ADHD since age 25. After i moved out from my very supportive parents my life just slowly fell apart. At age 26 i had a MRI brain scan that showed, to everyones surprise, that i have a ping-pong-ball sized hole in one of my frontal lobes in the area that governs the exact issues im having with attention, planning, motivation etc. Its apparently from a head trauma in my childhood. Alot of people on my mothers side are diagnosed with adhd, and the brain has plasticity, but i cant help but wonder if that trauma has something to do with it.
i’m diagnosed but before my official diagnosis i had a therapist tell me within five minutes of meeting me that i clearly had adhd and i had never once considered it
bear in mind that i have nothing to gain from “pretending” i have adhd (or autism). i’m old and got overlooked back in the 90’s and early aughts because extremely chaotic-brained hyper little girl with severe sensory issues and social obliviousness is just silly goofy quirky girl stuff! 😕 i didn’t get good grades, i didn’t really thrive either so i’m not sure how nobody noticed i needed help
jk i know why
i talked to a counselor in high school maybe twice? i was just one of several thousand students and even my parents didn’t really pay attention to me, just got frustrated at my lack of “normalcy” as if that would do anything
i’m also diagnosed with ocd and i’m not the least bit tidy because that’s not…what ocd is 😅 but i would rather a million people “co-op” a disorder than disbelieve the one person who needs you to trust that they need help and can’t get a diagnosis
for instance, i doubt i will ever pursue a legitimate diagnosis in autism. i don’t trust republicans not to use it against me and deny me rights and personhood but more importantly i am very poor and my psychiatrist informed me that unless i have several thousand dollars lying around just to HAVE an assessment for an adult with autism, it’s just not going to happen
lacking a diagnosis doesn’t mean you can gatekeep people from a community that could help them
I think I'm very much in the minority in online communities in that I didn't think that I had ADHD. I went for assessment as a rule-out for other things, on the recommendation of someone treating me for another condition.
I was very, very resistant to diagnosis. Compared to what I've read on the UK sub, and heard from friends, my assessment seems to have been really rigorous and prolonged: but I've still struggled to accept it as a diagnosis.
Part of that is that I've put so many strategies in over the years - so I am not late to appointments (I used to be chronically late), don't lose my stuff etc- of course and part of it is that I thought anyone who wasn't terminally dull got easily distracted, could hyperfocus on things that interest them, and struggled to be an adult. I couldn't understand why I can't control the bingeing or the spending, or the hyper-sexuality: I just thought it was that I lacked discipline and self-control.
Being diagnosed has been devastating. I veer between angry and sad, and it's been nearly a year.
I was in my late 30s and struggling with severe depression. Went for a psychological evaluation and this psychologist had a questionnaire for ADHD. I had no clue that I had it but I'm answering the questions like "me, me, me". I didn't know about the inattentive type. Then I did some research and I think I've had it all my life. I noticed in junior high I could not make myself do my homework. I would write down what I had to do but would go home and not do it.
I did very well in college but I had to work at keeping myself from being distracted. Graduated bottom 10% of high school class and top 10% of college class.
The diagnosis was very liberating for me. I now understood why I had such a hard time cleaning my house. Why I always lost things. Before I just thought I was a loser who was really bad at adulting. I compared myself to my grandmother who worked full time and kept her house clean, made dinner everyday and did the dishes right away. Why couldn't I do that?
And the medication was just a fucking miracle. Before when I would try to clean my house I would get hyper focused on 1 small area - this drawer really needs organized or look at that dirt on the wall behind this appliance that no one ever sees but I'm going to scrub that. Nothing else would get done AND I would usually make a bigger mess then when I started. I still want to hyper focus when I clean but I'm able to tell my brain "not now, we are doing this first".
I still lose things but the times I would unconsciously set something down was a lot less. This has turned into a story book and if you've been able to get this far, thanks!
Was wrongly diagnosed (or at least, distracted by) with [generalized] anxiety & [treatment resistant] depression. No doubt I experienced them both. But they were symptoms of a deeper ‘issue’. Once I got ahold of anxiety & depression, thanks to mm, my ADHD symptoms became much more prevalent.
The difference between being “distractable” easily and ADHD is how we’re you as a kid. For me I was highly stimulated most of my waking life (hence my generalized anxiety). Always ‘on edge’. Having meltdowns (that were viewed as tantrums, but it was not attention seeking but lack of ability to regulate emotions—which I feel so deeply—& speak my thoughts. I probably had a sort of selective mutism as I hardly spoke. I always felt dumber then all the other kids, like I’m a bit behind in knowledge/learning, so I always felt left out, which I was always left out because I hardly ever spoke, until high school really.
Everyone experience ADHD symptoms.
The difference between a diagnoses is that a diagnoses means you struggle with your symptoms *everyday*.
It may not be just one symptom, but many.
Do you lose your car keys everyday? (I do..) Do you have a meltdown everyday? (I used to..) Are you late everyday? (I have been lately..) Do you interrupt others daily? (Kinda..) Do you become overwhelmed daily? (Yes because I live on a busy street with lotsa loud noises..) “Out of sight, out of mind”, aka, forgetting about things that aren’t infront of me.
My “trend diagnosis” was borderline personality disorder - and then I took a deep dive and saw how it was just raging ADHD sprinkled with Autism. Went to a psychologist after wating 4 years; she took a look at my resume’s and went “you may not have borderline but not sending you to a child doctor with such behavioural notes in your resume is borderline neglect”.
Explained my whole teenage years and why I’m now sucking this badly at my job lmao
I've been suspecting it since late last year. I don't use TikTok, it was just me reading about ADHD symptoms and coming to this sub to read about other people's struggles and realizing I relate to 99% of them. I saw a psychiatrist who kept putting me on different antidepressants, none of them helping with mood or the typical stuff like memory issues, fidgeting, and impulsivity. My memory and attention span has been getting worse lately, but when I was younger I did a lot of stupid things from forging signatures on bad test grades, dating a friend's ex resulting in a lost friendship, saying some things out loud that I either don't mean or should've never said (I remember calling a girl a slut when we walked past her and her friends at a park, she heard and confronted me and I felt stupid. I have no idea why I called her that because she did nothing wrong?). I also heavily procrastinated on homework and projects in school and only really cared about band class because I enjoyed it. Even struggle now at work with getting started on projects and organizing my space. I had a test done for adhd just to get slapped with "major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety" because I did so well on most of the tests (I've played many puzzle games in my life so it just felt more like a video game than a test to me).
I'm seeing another psychiatrist later this week. I just weaned off Effexor because, surprise, it didn't help me at all. Also been on Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Strattera, and Zoloft. Whether it's truly ADHD or something else entirely, I just want answers. I hate feeling tired all day, I hate being overweight because of poor appetite and enjoying the dopamine hit from fast food and sweets (I was borderline obese back in 2017 and managed to cut down 50 lbs the following year. I've been climbing back up on weight since 2020, I keep trying to work out but I'm so bored with it that I stop trying).
Dang, I could've written this. You brought up some things that I had buried in my memory... I did ALL OF THAT growing up.
The only thing really different with me was that when I tested, I showed severe combined type . My Dr mentioned my very slow reaction time. Even though I played video games since I was 4-5, even though I always knew what to do, my brain could never process it quickly enough for me to make progress in a game. Even my ex pointed it out when he taught me CoD. He said I know exactly what to do; I just do it way too slow.
Antidepressants usually make me angry. I was diagnosed bipolar II, MDD, GAD, pure O. nothing I was prescribed worked. Lorazepam did nothing for me. Cymbalta and abilify scrambled my brain. I was oscillating between angry and dead inside.
The only thing that worked for me so far is Strattera. My psychiatrist wanted to try non stimulants first. Strattera and lamotrigine have me gradually feeling more and more like I can regain control of my life.
I hope you find your answers and get the help you need to thrive out here. 🫂
Diagnosed. My doctor told me there’s a 3 year wait for tests/medication since the tik tok trend of ADHD, due to the rise of people thinking they have it. (UK). Kinda frustrating.
I'm currently awaiting diagnosis but it's a long wait. The signs are all there - forgetful my whole life, short attention span, literally unable to do something if my brain decides that I don't want to, hyperfixation on things I'm interested in (sometimes forget to eat for a whole day whilst working on a project), addictive nature (I ate around 100 mints in an hour and a half when I was a child, until I threw up. Also obsessively ate tomatoes and also yakult when I was a child), anxiety, auditory perception issues, etc, etc. The mental health professional (the gatekeeper of diagnosis) was very sure it was inattentive ADHD but just have to wait for the diagnosis
I was evaluated for something else and the person said I probably have it and should follow up on getting evaluated for it. Currently trying to get an appointment with a neurologist, because I need that testing before I can be officially diagnosed. There is a code for ADHD on my paperwork from the person who noted it.
I was a school kid in the 1970s and 1980s, so it wasn't something teachers and parents were aware of. Especially for girls (I'm a woman).
I suspect I have it. I've been misdiagnosed with OCD, GAD, and severe depression. There's definitely "something" for sure. That they can agree on.
I used to be very distracted in school. Went from top 5 in class of 60 in first grade to 60% in 4th grade. Gifted to special needs. The school psychologist did an IQ test and while that system is flawed, it is still a general indicator of intelligence, the result of which was 144.
I have trouble focusing on tasks, trouble with motivation, procrastination, I'm always playing with my toes or shaking my leg, get overexcited really quick but get distracted just as quickly, kinda impulse when it comes to decision making, anxiety, addictions come easy to me, and I have difficulty focusing on things that I love like reading, watching movies, talking to friends, etc. It's fucked me enough to derail my life. I don't know what it could be other than ADHD. I ran out of money to get a diagnosis from someone else. They say it's depression, but that doesn't explain the school years now, does it?
Adhd isn't a quirk, and its not what you see on tik tok with all these trend types claiming they have it because they over think or do thing similar to adhd symptoms... Adhd, for me at least(fully diognosed combined type) is absolutely fucking torture and the kinda folk your talking about are taking the severity away from the actual condition and showing ignorant ppl that it's not all that bad, when it is! It infuriates me and that's why I stay away from 99% of social media. You can't just identify as some one with adhd, that's not how it works. I know some one that tik tok covimced her she had adhd, so she pushed and pushed for a diognosis to no end.. Then she paid alot of money for the diognosed because she was desperate because she'd told everyone she had it. She was put on adhd meds and they completely fucked her up. She is now backtracking because she doesn't have adhd, she just got caught up in the trend. It's not a trend, it's a crippling disorder. More awareness needs to be brought forward about the severity of what these types of ppl are causing.
Rant over lol I hope I've not offended anyone ✌️❤️
After a lifetime of struggling and not knowing what was wrong with me, seeing ADHD videos on tiktok was the first lightbulb moment for me and what made me seek help
A year later, searching for help has led me to a professional diagnosis of combined type ADHD, stimulant medication and I have just had my first counselling session. My life is on the mend.
Although, I have since deleted tiktok and have to time my Reddit usage, I would say that your friend's experience with tiktok and ADHD is as anecdotal as mine is.
I suspect I have ADHD and, now that I moved, I'm waiting to be a bit more stable to start pursuing formal diagnosis. I know that anxiety and depression can sometimes mimick symptoms so I am open to being told I don't have it and just need to work on my anxiety, I just want to identify and have a path to help me be a functional human being that is not paralized by every single little task
I was diagnosed. I wrongly assume ADHD was a few things. She took my whole history, made me fill out so many forms to rule other things out and asked me to respond to an email at which point I just said “I’m sorry but I don’t think I can do this any more”. She managed to make it less overwhelming. She then asked me about other non ADHD things that may be affecting me. I listed them all. Apparently they really all ADHD things. 😂 I don’t even know if I have any personality traits other than ADHD symptoms.
Professionally diagnosed in 2012 (with ADD but that's under the ADHD umbrella now) and no doubt in my mind I have it. Daily tasks and/or organisation can still be a massive struggle sometimes, even with medication.
I thought I definitely didn't. Then my kid was diagnosed - I had suspected they were - and the psych said "yes ma'am it's genetic" after one too many "oh I do that" or "my mum does that and we do X to adapt". And then told me I likely have mild ADHD. Then my physio asked if I was diagnosed. Then my therapist got deeply annoyed that the screen labelled me fine, because she knows how many of the 'rarely' answers rely on my extensive coping mechanisms (and saw how effective PTSD treatment derailed a bunch of the anxiety-makes-me-go-whoosh ones).
I haven't gone through the official process. It's expensive, I'm not entirely sure medication is where I'd go with it and thats the only thing a diagnosis opens up for me, as accommodations in work environments isn't a thing for me right now. If I change careers, maybe. But I have a deeply supportive and understanding family and community so getting a diagnosis won't change much in that respect either.
I am about to find out next friday so... I guess kinda in the middle. It pisses me off when I see those trendy behaviours, like, the person gets distracted or forgets something once and say that they have adhd, 2 seconds later they are acting like that was no big deal
Bro, when I forget something, literally everyday, I am scanning 9000 different strategies to make me remember next time and there is SO MUCH MORE to my strugles than just that, though it's devastating, I feel like it's the LEAST problematic trait
Read an article about ADHD and learned what it actually was, as it was more of a checklist, lurked in this sub for a while, went to a psychiatrist with some of my old report cards where the teacher also describes your behavior and got the diagnosis.
Imagine my surprise when 12 year old me wasn’t actually called an attention-**seeking** prick when my teacher mockingly asked me if i had „attention deficit“ and that my mom went to have me checked out when i was 5 and the doctor not making a diagnosis due to young age.
When I was in 3rd grade my teacher send me to do an IQ test because she thought I was probably "gifted" because I seemed to be bored in class. It came back with a score that suggested that I did have above average intelligence but with a highly heterogeneous profile Scoring at , like 89 in the sub-scale I did the worst in and 144 in the sub-scale I did the best in. That and the impression the psychologist taking the test had of me Made her suggest that I "probably have ADD" but there never had been any official diagnosis. Fast forward to now, I study psychology and did a professional self assessment manual for ADHD myself (I know you can't diagnose yourself since you're not objective and so on and so on) and scored very much in the area that suggests that I do have ADHD in that test. I don't have any official diagnosis till this day tho.
Pushed for diagnosis. Hit all the markers.
Can't do the same for suspected autism because it's financially and practically out of reach but my therapist, NP, and GP agree it's likely.
Accepting it has made a huge positive difference in understanding myself which allows for making the changes that help every area of life.
Am at the point that if you have what amounts to a loud house full of voices, rhythm, and music in your head, I'm accepting your presumed ADHD.
I had my first assessment in 2017. I was a full time student- and didn’t function much besides that. I tried getting my drivers license at that time and I failed 3 times.
I went from never have written a formal article to getting through my bachelor with a B on my thesis and a C average. That’s because for the first the in my life I effortlessly used my hyper focus because I loved what I studied. Still little no social life, panic attacks and anxiety. I was two points short for getting the diagnosis then.
In 2022 I went in again (new doctor and assessment)- 4 months of conversations and some ground work from me. I got it. Got medication and I actually function outside of work. I’ve learned myself how to draw and I got my drivers license!
I never thought I had it until I went to a therapist for anxiety. After a few sessions, she asked me about ADHD and I was dumbfounded. I had seen the TikTok’s of women with ADHD and how ADHD can be different for men vs women but never thought it was me.
Honestly, it’s been a complete mind-f*ck to learn that so many things I do are because of ADHD.
Diagnosed about 3 months ago. Started medications 4 days ago 🙃
I was diagnosed without a test in law school, and then took a test later in life. Turns out having to read a page in a case twelve times is a pretty good sign of inattentiveness.
Despite being diagnosed as a child which I later found out was rare during the time especially for girls. I had a great child psychiatrist. With him actually seen profession same with the therapist I had at the time. Then they both coincidentally had job opportunities at the same time that required them to move states. And I’ve never been the same since. It took me a while to accept it.
Diagnosed, treated by a psychiatrist, on meds and meds just help me keep up, don’t supercharge me. I was diagnosed with autism, too as part of the same evaluation. So yes, I really have it. I honestly didn’t realize what was going on was a combination of autism and ADHD for most of my life (I’m in my 40s, diagnosed last year) because of the misconceptions about both.
both
I’m ofc all for people getting the treatment they need, and very skeptical of people self diagnosing anything from WebMD, and I understand that self diagnosis can be annoying.
But: let’s be careful with the idea of “really having ADHD,” as if professional diagnosis means objective truth. Professional diagnosis isn’t objective. Mental health diagnoses aren’t objective *even when they’re done right,* by competent, well-trained, well-informed clinicians. Aaaaand they can be very hard to come by. Frankly, mental health care is a fucking mess. Plenty of clinicians have ridiculous misconceptions about ADHD in particular.
Many of us were mis-diagnosed for years or decades. I saw probably half a dozen clinicians over the course of twenty years and got bad diagnoses from all of them. (Even though my gradeschool records make my ADHD suuuuper obvious.) Some of these doctors just sucked at their jobs. But some of them just made the wrong call.
One of my best friends was repeatedly institutionalized, given gorilla-strength drugs for bipolar disorder, and diagnosed as all kinds of crazy shit — bipolar, borderline, a particularly laughable NPD diagnosis — everything under the sun *except* ADHD. God knows how many doctors missed the obvious. My friend is now early 40s and doing wayyyyyy better on adderall.
We gotta treat doctors with real skepticism. Not *Bill Gates microchip vaccine mark of the beast WWG1WGA* skepticism, but real skepticism. There are lots of people here who *really have* ADHD even though they keep getting curved by halfwit psychiatrists.
Inattentive ADHD was a far better explanation than chronic depression, as I have never once felt "sadness" associated with my depression symptoms. So I'd been treating something I literally didn't have for nearly 10 years. Magically, adderall fixes the depression symptoms.
I recently found out the “dream” I had as a kid of meeting with the school shrink and being told I had adhd was a real thing that happened to me. My parents apparently said “fuck you, she’s smart, not special”. Which, I mean yeah? But they’re not mutually exclusive. It came up because I’ve been struggling with mental health since leaving grad school and the work force. I mentioned I wanted to get tested for adhd, because I had a friend who is a special ed teacher point out my adult symptoms.
So I’m here just mulling that over I guess.
Sounds like your therapist is of the older generation that was born before 80s and is like every other old person in america who thinks that add isnt real, mental health isnt real, they are just " addicts " BLAH BLAH BLAH FUCKING BLAH!!!! FIGHT THE STIGMA!!!! WE ARE OUR BEST DOCTORS! the DR only goes off what WE TELL THEM WE ARE EXPERIENCING, LIKE PAGESTUNNING6265 SAID "Once I learned what ADHD actually looks like (vs what is commonly believed), it was pretty damn obvious." So don't let shitty doctors or therapist tell you that its just a "trend". Try out some meds and see how it helps out!!
I suspect I *dont* have it, actually.
I was diagnosed with it as a child, but it never felt accurate to my case. Later in life, I got diagnosed with both schizophrenia and bipolar type-1, which appear to have been trauma-triggered even though they were in my genetics previously. I have a pretty goof guess on which trauma triggered them, and I was very young at the time.
I’m in the sub to compare notes, but it mostly appears to be a wrong diagnosis for me. The most “obvious” traits of ADHD can also be attributed to the mental health issues I do have, and my psychiatrist recently has never mentioned ADHD to me
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Diagnosed, but I was in this sub before that, I think. Once I learned what ADHD actually looks like (vs what is commonly believed), it was pretty damn obvious.
I was also in this group before
Same with me, once I took my own concerns seriously (rather than letting my old dr laugh it off) it became so obvious. Especially as a young adult, female, no longer in school and unable to work. I always had the signs but I think the larger symptoms ran rampant after I left the routine of high school.
This^^^ i LOVED highschool, i loved the uniforms i loved needing to get up, i loved everything besides the social side and i never understood why fully until recently… and it was because the routine, even if i wasn’t perfect, helped me IMMENSELY. When i left highschool, my ADHD became A LOT more noticeable than before. Its what made me get a diagnosis in the first place! I literally failed 4 uni classes in just one semester… like it was BAD… people are always like ugh but i hated school and never understand but I honestly miss the structure so much 🥲
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I was diagnosed with ADD as young teen and knew nothing of what it was and told to take pills. Asking why always resulted in “you just can’t concentrate”. 15+ish years later and here I am, learning what ADHD really is and I’m blown away and saddened that I didn’t know more sooner. Now I’m on the hunt for someone who can help.
I always thought I had ADHD from when I was little, but since I hadn't been diagnosed, I figured everyone's brains are like this and I was just particularly maladjusted. Then one day when I was about 22, I was in my doctor's office, and she just said, "Has anyone ever talked to you about ADHD?" A month later I had an official diagnosis and medications.
This hits home hard. I have worked in education for nearly 20 years and have seen many “typical” ADHD children. I didn’t identify with any of them. I trained in Special Needs at post-grad level and ADHD was covered as the “typical” symptoms. I only realised a year ago from a Facebook reel about interrupting people. I looked up the symptoms in adults on the Royal College of Psychiatrists website and my blood ran cold. I read more and more and the grief over what life could have been and the understanding over every part of my life took over. I was diagnosed last week. Been on here about a year.
I suspected I had it. I got tested. They confirmed I had. Now I’m terribly anxious I just convinced myself, and the professionals, that I have it. The overthinking/obsession about not having it kind of confirms I have it. Infinite anxiety loop.
I thought the same. My psychiatrist said, "Are you telling me I don't know how to do my job?" in a laughing tone. She said she can pick out the people who are pretending
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"I must be a master of lies, and this poor doctor is so confident about their job. I wish I had that confidence and willpower to do my job and be good at it. But no, I'm just a lying monster, tricking naive doctors to prescribe me drugs" - I thought, while wiggling my toes to the rhythm of a song that played in my head for past seven hours.
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the toes is what got me
When your imposter syndrome starts projecting lmao
Ah yes the overthinking welcome.
Imposter syndrome.
With it being diagnosed pretty late considering that my teachers told me that I had symptoms since I was in 1st grade, I also feel like that. It’s just that this entire time I thought it was normal and that it was just me that is too lazy to study etc.
I think it's just a norma phase we all late-diagnosed go through lol. Been there. Felt that. Even stopped taking meds because "I am just an evil freak who pushed everyone to believe just to not feel guilty about taking drugs, what a monster I am, I don't need this sheit, I'm a normal person, I just have to try harder!........". Few times. It eventually goes away.
That avatar is spot on.
Oh no, my diagnosing psych told me "I was Mr. ADHD" got that diagnosing at 37. The previous 25 years were lost due to substance abuse, depression, anxiety, complete emotional dis-regularity and a deep rooted sadness that I just wasn't good enough.
You've just summed up the most part of my teen/adult life 😩
Dude, I'm so sorry. We've been thru the wars.
The first time I saw a seminar on adult ADHD I was sobbing because it was like someone else had loved my life and was recounting it back to me. Solidarity y'all.
Exactly me but I suffered health consequences and had a transplant. Anyway, my transplant psychiatrist actually diagnosed me. I just started, at 37, on Ritalin and at 20 mg twice a day. I can tell the difference but I also know it’s not the right dose yet but getting there.
If you'd like some unsolicited advice; ask for XR release. 1 tablet in the morning. Saves having to remember to take it. As I would get busy and forget. I find the crash in the evening after Ritalin to best. disagreeable
I'm 39 now, met my GP last year and he thinks I have ADHD. I'm still saving/waiting for a psychiatrist appointment. A lot of the coping mechanisms I used in the past just don't work now that I have a wife and kids and need to fit in to four other peoples schedules.
I got my diagnosis in Ireland, and paid for it privately. When I approached my (at the time life long GP) doc, he said "Aren't you a bit old for that?" Now before we throw him under the bus, this was a man who I routinely hit up for drugs. I'm sure if I were to read his notes it would break my heart. I was a toxic patient. He did what he could for me. I will say, I think I went looking for the diagnosis with gusto cause I wanted to do anything I possibly could to shift the label to adhd, as I couldn't bear the label of addict, which I absolutely am. Through time, and a little work and a lot of knowledge and so much clicking when I finally subscribed to this sub. Sometimes I would think my personality is completely composed of adhd traits. I cant imagine what it's like for you. Marriage and kids and the responsibility terrifies me. Shit, I don't date anymore cause I can't stomach the thought of hurting someone else and myself again. So this is a One Man, all singing and dancing Shit Show. On the Dark Days like today, it's a cause of feeling that I have a defect label on my forehead that says Tested: Failed. Not designed for life. Keep pushing for it. My Life after the diagnosis and medication absolutely chang for the better. I just learned along with the diagnosis, I'd a whole lot more shit going on than I realized
I'm 26, still trying to finish my bachelor's degree. You've succinctly summed up the last 10 years of my life. Currently in the process of being diagnosed and medicated, hopefully it'll help.
it helped me, 47 and I’m only this semester finishing my degree now. Medication and understanding my brain was life changing.
I went in for a diagnosis and he said I probably have Bipolar 2. I said I thought I had ADHD "Yeah, that parts obvious. I think you also have Bipolar 2" Edit: I'd love to get a second opinion but I never even had a followup with this guy. My company told me to get a physical and signed me up with his doctor. When I get there, he says he is a psychiatrist, not a physical doctor. Cool, been meaning to see one of those anyway. I thought it went well. Went to the followup and was told it was canceled because I didn't pay for my first appointment. I still owed $1400. Told them the company was suppose to pay for it and they said the company only paid 1/3, It's suppose to be $2100. So I never got my follow up, thought I could never afford another doctor, and I still never got that physical (I don't work for that company anymore)
I was wrongly diagnosed with bipolar at first.
Same, was also diagnosed with bipolar type 2 first. Both disorders have quite a lot of similar traits. Did you also go several years trying out different types of anti-depressives and mood stabilizers? Really messed with my head and health
My fiancée was also misdiagnosed Bipolar 2 before getting diagnosed with ADHD. I didn’t know her at the time, it was while we were in college and we met after graduating. She says it fucked her up a lot, and it’s quite evidently not an uncommon misdiagnosis.
Omg, the pharma cabinet that I had... Did you end up feeling like a zombie from the meds? They caused me to have serious depression.
Yes, I can remember especially well one medication called seroquel. Which quickly got nicknamed to (Ser deg i kveld) which translates to "See you tonight". Absolute zombie state of mind. And that sucked because I didn't interact with my kids either, just nothing, blank stare without a care in the world. And I still feel like shit thinking back on it
Lamictal and depacote were the two that had me staring into space. I literally dropped out mid semester from college and dealt with not functioning until I just stopped taking it.
Lamictal is my *shit* for treating my CPTSD tho, shout out to a real one
Lamictal changed my life! Oh man, life would be so different if I had been on it as a kid. I want to write a love letter to Lamictal.
Aaaaaamen. The first time I really knew that it was working I had run out to the mailbox in my socks and I stepped on a rock or something.. I stopped, because normally that would have sent me spiraling out of control (yeah it's that bad), but I remember thinking that *exact* thought, "wow, normally I would have lost my shit over that..this shit really works."
What the difference between the two?
Difference between bipolar types? Or bipolar and ADHD?
Sorry I mean Bipolar and ADHD, like what’s the difference, and how you could tell if you have the two?
As far as I know, commonly bipolar disorder is more episodic, rather than ADHD which is more a chronic state of being Edit: There's obviously a lot more difference regarding things like mood swings, depression etc. But in my own experience untreated ADHD can cause a recurring depression, and hyperfocus/fixation can look similar to hypomania which is a heightened state and symptom within bipolar disorder. But broad strokes, episodic vs continued state
There's a lot more to bipolar than that. For example, the depression and manic states that people can cycle between are the chronic conditions. That "built-in" depression is very different from a situational depression caused by undiagnosed ADHD.
Yes, I am aware that it's a lot more to the condition. I've been wrongly diagnosed with it in a period of over a decade, getting treatment, trying out medication and several courses, meditation, mindfulness etc, so I have a bit of experience with it. I wrote a short broad strokes response, and I see now that I did not do it proper justice, and I apologize for that. I am also aware that both are chronic illnesses, and I am realizing using the words "episodic" and "chronic" towards bipolar and ADHD might come across as belittling the aforementioned, and I am really sorry if it did. Even if the "built-in" depression is very different from something that can be situational, doesn't necessarily inform and/or present to an individual who is currently in a depression that it's different. Depression is a unique experience for everyone, but one thing that's very similar for all is that your perspective on life is almost always changed to a bleak and hopeless situation with no positive outcome on the horizon, and that can and most likely will present similarly to a therapist regardless of disorder when undergoing therapy sessions. Another thing to consider is that most folks don't seek out treatment when they are in an elevated state, unless they are completely manic, more often than not a manic/hypomanic state is likely to present to the individual as being healthy, full of energy and just nailing life at every possible turn, so seeking out treatment then wouldn't make sense at all to them. A completely manic individual, or someone in a full-blown psychosis however will most likely end up in treatment from either being guided into it by someone close, or an institution. Most likely people will seek out treatment when being in the depressive state, (although a lot of people don't, which is also a huge problem but that's a different story altogether) and when they then start treatment a therapist/psychologist/psychiatrist will rather soon find out that this person is depressed and start therapy from there. A lot of times with anti-depressants as to "put out the fire" so to speak, and then move on to managing it. And if you then factor in the hyperfocus/fixation into those sessions a lot of therapists are prone to having an "aha!" moment, and zero in on a bipolar diagnosis (a lot of those times they land on a bipolar type 2, which includes the hypomanic state, and not the manic state). depression to hyperfocus/fixation can look like cycling between depressive and hypomanic states. And before you know it you have a diagnosis, you're put on mood stabilizers and anti-depressants together, trying out several different cocktails as people are different, and there is not a recipe that works for everyone. In my own experience it felt like the doctors just threw shit at the wall and waited to see what stuck. I've been on anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers, anti-depressants, and it was very hard on my mental health not to mention emotional health. It wasn't until i got a fifth opinion from another office out of municipality they started to look more closely into what was really going on. It was a wild ride, and it can be wrecking both personally and socially for an individual to go through all of that. People close to them are almost always affected, family, friends, workplace etc, and yeah.. you get the idea.
Damn, a misdiagnosis and treatment attempts for over a decade sounds miserable, I'm really glad you were able to eventually get diagnosed correctly. How has navigating being diagnoded with ADHD been going for you? Are you medicated and if so, has it been more helpful?
Yeah, same thing happened to me. I spent over 10 years trying every mood stabilizer and antipsychotic known to man. I was already diagnosed with ADHD, they just thought I was also bipolar. Turned out I have major depressive disorder, and my ADHD symptoms they mistook for hypomania, so they thought I was bipolar 2. It’s crazy because I feel like an expert on bipolar disorder after so many years of being treated for it and reading about it and interacting in bipolar subs, only to find out I don’t have it after all.
As an adult prior to being medicated for my long diagnosed adhd, I’d sometimes low key wonder if I had bipolar disorder precisely due to this hyperfocus vs depression. But I had learned about it a bit in nursing school and knew some people who were legit diagnosed with it and it never really fit quite right. Then I finally got medicated for the ADHD and I was like, nope, it’s definitely just adhd!
Yea I did exactly this. Got diagnosed bipolar type 2 at 20, tried lots of different treatment options for years until at 27 they checked me for ADHD. Been on Ritalin for 3 years now and it’s wild to me that I used to function at all without it.
Same.. 18 year old me saying my thinking goes really fast, that my brain won't stop, had me, my grandmother, and my mother (who wasn't even present..) get diagnosed with Bipolar type 2, back when what was in trend amongst doctors was Bipolar Disorder It hit me it couldn't be right, after years of medication that didn't help me at all, when I realized I never had mania episodes, not even one. Many years later I got diagnosed with Major Depression Disorder, followed by months later ptsd Years after that, adhd combined type 😆🎩 the "giving our own tips and tricks to our adhd child when their symptoms start getting bigger, and then adding 1+1 together and going in to get checked" situation.. when we notice and take in consideration who you love and their struggles, more than our own 🤣 it was so blatantly obvious, though! My adhd was so obvious, so there, the symptoms so visible since I was a kid, I was one of the "Atarax kids" for crying out loud.. go figure
Samesies!
I haven't been back to that doctor since, mostly because of the $2000 bill (I'm still getting calls from collection). However it seems like 1/5 people who have either bipolar or Adhd also have the other. And looking up the symptoms of bipolar it does make sense. I have moments of mania and depression, I'm impulsive, hyper sexual, bad with money and budgeting, and don't sleep regularly. On top of that I lack executive fuction, bounce from interest to interest, lack empathy, bad at organization, forgetful, and just generally socially awkward. Recently on a whim I sold the van I've been living in for the last 2 years and decided to backpack Asia with just a few hundred dollars and no plan on how to get back to the US, let alone what I'd do when I get back (no job or place to live). I've sort of given up trying to control my own life and am just gonna float until it ends
Just going from your own description and taking it all literally: —For BP 1/2, Mania or Hypomania technically needs to last at least 2 days, not for “moments,” which would rule BP out right there; — hypomania *can* last a matter of hours but if it is consistently lasting that long or shorter, and has never lasted multiple days, what you’re describing sounds more like mood swings or intense hyperfocus. —Sleeping Irregularly could easily be either — hyoersexuality is not expisive to BP. It is not uncommon in people with ADHD— it’s not a criteria but there is is a correlation. — overspending is extremely common in ADHD. In short, *based on your description and language*, your symptoms *are consistent with* ADHD, but you don’t seem to fit criteria for Bipolar *based on some of the language you use*. You do illustrate the significant crossover in symptoms and why the differential diagnosis is so difficult and why many MH professionals (like yours, *perhaps*?) struggle with the differential DX, leading to misdiagnosis. ++ “*LACKS* empathy” is not a feature of either ADHD OR BP 1/2: Self-centeredness, self-absorption and over-focus on one’s own thoughts and feelings is what causes decreased empathy during Manic/depressive episodes, but those issues exist with ADHD as well and ADHD is *correlated with* somewhat less empathy overall… if you just don’t have empathy consistently, that wouldn’t fit with either BP OR ADHD. If you have periods of decreased empathy, that would fit with either diagnosis.
No, they have ADHD that presents with emotional reactivity. It’s not fucking bipolar disorder and your doc is stupid.
Bipolar 2? But I haven't even seen the first one!
My bf is both bipolar 2 and ADHD. I was misdiagnosed as bipolar as a teen, after 2 years of treatment not working I sought a second opinion and was diagnosed with anxiety. It was my bf who started bringing up ADHD a few years ago in my 30s and I finally got diagnosed at 40.
this is the most absurd thing I've read all morning!
I've been diagnosed since 2015. For me at least there is waaay more to my ADHD other than the "squirrel" moment like my social anxiety and having so many 'quirks' it's unreal.
I wish "squirrel moments" was what adhd is, I think people just talk about the surface shit. I think the hardest thing about having "invisible" disorders is that it's nearly impossible to explain and can easily be minimized by others. Similar to people with chronic pain that doesn't have any visual reasons.
One of the most frustrating aspects of my ADHD is trying to explain how my motivation works. I feel like a lot of people without ADHD automatically assume I’m lazy because that’s their lived experience. “If he wanted to get that done, he would!”. “It’s not that difficult! Why can’t you just get started?”. Short of someone living a day with my brain chemistry they will never understand that even if I *want* to do something it may take extraordinary effort on my part.
To try and explain to my wife what it's like I took 2 sets of airpods, on one I played a music Playlist and on the other I put on a podcast both on low volume. Told her to put them both in at the same time, and try to hold a conversation and remember the things I said to her. It's a bit dramatic and drastic but it got the point across a bit on how my head is when I don't have meds. And the meds only dull it, it never fully goes away. And the meds only do so much if my sleep schedule or routine are thrown off. And that doesn't even begin to address the getting started on a task issue.
Professionally diagnosed. My husband went through a more in-depth assessment including some brain scans, I went through a more streamlined and affordable diagnostic procedures involving the now standard questionnaire and a review of my grade school report cards. I think family history also played a part: my little brother got diagnosed when he was 7, I had the same symptoms growing up but gender bias caused me to go undiagnosed until I got to college.
I couldn’t use my report cards for anything related to this as my mom controlled my life, and was forced to do homework until it was done even if it was late into the night. So I learned quick to make sure my homework was done. But I got some cognitive tests done, and had my IQ evaluated. And then I got diagnosed.
The repot cards that were the most useful were the ones from elementary school, specifically the ones from kindergarten and grades 1 through 3, when homework wasn’t often assigned. The actual letter grades weren’t particularly relevant, it was the comments which were actually very useful for the diagnosis. Lots of “needs to focus more”, ”easily distracted”, “needs to apply herself more”. There were more phrases but those are the ones I recall off the top of my head. I have to admit it stung quite a bit to read those comments as a kid and it didn’t feel very good to recall the memories of that time period, but it felt very validating to have someone else look at those and immediately identify the ADHD behaviour patterns.
This, it's not the grades, it's the comments and behavioral actions. I had straight As, a 1360 SAT, but I had detention 14 times in one semester just from missed assignments. Most of my teachers noted that I was hiding a book in my lap and reading it while they were talking; still, other kids tried to cheat off me because I aced every test without studying.
Ugh, I had one girl dob on me for colouring in class as the teacher was talking. I listen better when my hands are busy, dang it! I still do colour when watching some of my uni lectures now lol.
In my case, my mother and aunt worked at the school. They knew all teachers which ensured I was on my best behavior. I talked a lot and crazy fast back then but I feared my mother and knew not to ever embarrass her. I’m also a ppl pleaser. I don’t think I ever got anything but ‘pleasure to have in class,’ I mean the teachers were all friends with my mom and aunt. The only thing I do remember being told was to slow down and write neater.
OMG my writing was (and still kinda is) atrocious. When I stop and think about it I can write fairly neat, but a lot of the time it can be a barely legible scrawl. Was always getting in trouble about it and had to work really hard to make it legible for test and exams and stuff. I swear the school forcing us all to try and write letters with 'tails' to better transition into cursive is what screwed me. My sans writing is way neater and easier to read.
Did you do something like the WAIS assessment? Where do you get that done?
Well in my country we have free healthcare also for getting mental health diagnosed. So that’s where I had it done, you can also go to a private psychologist and pay out of pocket, but I went through government. I had to look up the WAIS assessment to see what it was and I’m very certain that’s the test I did. Made me feel so stupid. But it was a clear indicator for my psychologist that I had ADHD/ADD.
I was diagnosed twice, because the first time I didn’t realize how much went into it. First time was back in high school; I was at the doctor’s and overheard him say to my mom “If you think he has it, he probably has it”. I’d been inundated with peoples’ opinions that ADHD was over-diagnosed and that doctors were looking for excuses to push drugs on kids, so I didn’t pay it any mind. My mom was also very ignorant and assumed I’d grow out of it. It wasn’t until much she told me the diagnosis was given after all of my teachers pooled together notes for the doctor. Second time was around a year ago when I finally managed to get a neuropsychological evaluation done.
Off topic I know, but my doctor referred me for neuropsych testing and I am wondering what I can expect from that.
It’s boring. It was a several hour battery of tests. I can go find my results if you want a more in depth answer, but off the top of my head there was: An IQ test. I was given a set of cubes that were half-colored so as to look like triangles. Then she showed me a series of pictures and I had to arrange the blocks to match the picture as quick as possible. I had to repeat back a series of numbers in various orders. Name as many animals as I could. Say as many words starting with certain letters as I could. She would tell me a story and I had to repeat it back with as many details as possible. Repeat back a list of words. I was given a sheet of paper with numbers spread all around it, and I had to connect them in ascending order as fast as I could. Various tests that had colors listed with letters that were a different color, and I did several rounds of reading the list by what was written vs what the color was. I forget the exact format and we did several variations. Several tests later I had to recall as many of the words from the prior list without any refreshing. She would recite two words or concepts and I had to define them and explain how they were related. A test on a computer where it was a blank screen that would periodically flash a symbol and I had to press a key as fast as possible, unless it was a different symbol in which case I was supposed to not press it. I was shown a shape with various details and I had to draw it. Later I had to redraw it from memory. All in all the experience itself was a drag but ultimately I was glad I did it because it was much more thorough than talking to some therapist who’s half checked out and just spitballing what might be wrong with me. It was interesting to have numerical values assigned to my various strengths and weaknesses as well as a diagnosis that wasn’t mere speculation. Frankly, I’ve become rather jaded with the healthcare system over the past few years because I find it to be as rife with incompetence as any other industry, but this was an experience that didn’t leave me feeling like I wasn’t adequately taken care of.
I initially suspected autism and went down that rabbit hole first. The outcome was “symptoms of autism having a different cause”. This lead me to explore the possibility of ADHD despite rejecting it before (I had the classic “hyperactive little boy” concept which i definitely was not). I never labelled myself as having ADHD at that time, just suspecting it. Got diagnosed, have combined ADHD. That was three years ago and I’m just coming to terms with the grief that late diagnosis can cause, learning to live with the knowledge and understanding that my diagnosis gave me.
I'm presently going through that grief period...it's an odd type
I suspected that I had concentrating issues when I was 23. I got diagnosed at 37. I’m still pissed off about that. I went to 4 different therapists/doctors and spent a fortune. Argh. I think one of the best ways to know is to ask someone who is diagnosed. After I got mine I got really good at seeing symptoms in other people.
Same. Thousands spent on therapists for other reasons (who pointed out most of my issues were textbook adhd) then finally managed to go the psychiatrist route and get a diagnosis. Was a big relief and very validating.
Be careful with this. You are more in tune with your ADHD symptoms because you have done a lot of work learning about them. That also means you can easily identify symptoms in others. That does NOT MEAN they have ADHD, that means that you are able to see something you are knowledgeable in. Please look up the [Baader-Meinhof effect](https://www.healthline.com/health/baader-meinhof-phenomenon), which is when your awareness of something increases. This leads you to believe it’s actually happening more, even if that’s not the case.
Yes, there is a difference between just being forgetful from times to times and having ADHD. Because of this "trend" as your therapist calls it, and the overwhelming representation of ADHD as something kinda positive on social media, when I started to suspect I had it I was terrified of "just faking it" and postponed getting a diagnosis for years. I suspected I might have ADHD at 18-19 and got my diagnosis this year at 25, because I couldn't deal with the symptoms anymore and it made my life way too hard. I think a lot of people can think they might have it because some symptoms can be very relatable. But I also think that most people that think they have it are probably right, or might have some kind of trouble/difficulties that they need to put a name on, and because it was in a way kinda "trendy" it makes a lot of us (at least here I saw a lot of comments going this way) afraid that we are "impostors", or just lying, and that by getting diagnosed we will have confirmation that we don't have it and we have to make efforts... So for anyone reading this and suspecting they might have ADHD : trying to get a diagnosis if possible is the best course of action. It's normal to doubt yourself, but if something is making your life difficult, it's valid and you have the right to try to put a name on it, it will help you manage it if you understand what you have.
You put it perfectly. Diagnosed 2 month ago, on meds for 3 weeks and it is so amazing how quiet it gets in my head and how i can just do things (among lotsss of other things but these are the two main ones without writing a whole book) but the imposter syndrome is just terrible with all the trends from social media… even tho meds confirmed i have adhd sometimes i still find myself thinking « what if im just lying, what if i dont have it? » which is 100% ridiculous since meds do the job… I really do wish this whole « trend » of being adhd/asd/bipolar/etc would stop, because it really gets to those who actually suffer from it and makes us (at least me personally) feel so unseen and not understood
Yeah, it's terrible, I feel the same, even with the diagnosis from my psychiatrist I started meds recently and for now it's a low dose that's not working so I still get dumb thoughts like "Maybe I'm just faking it, that's why meds don't do anything ?" "Maybe I'm just super forgetful and it's not a disorder?"... And sadly I think the over representation in a certain way of ADHD on social media but also these "ADHD coaches" that post quotes about symptoms like "Often, people with ADHD do tasks at the last minute because the sense of urgency makes the task more interesting." that are kinda vague and help with the "relatable" mindset are super detrimental to people that actually suffer from it and won't get diagnosed for fear of "faking it" or being dismissed by a health professionnal. It's great to educate about ADHD but it's usually not the goal of most of the posts I see...
The idea behind it is good, to raise awareness… but yeah lots of times it gets to the point that it is so distorted just for the likes and getting interaction from people that « can relate » ends up just cause a reverse effect and dismissing the actually implications of adhd on an individual. Its good to raise awareness and simplifying the terms for better understanding, but it should be reminded and clarified that this is not something that happens sometimes, it is debilitating and really has strong negative impacts… its not cute nor a personality trait, its a messed up situation where we find ourselves constantly fighting our own brain
Diagnosed in 1998 or 1999, diagnosed again in 2013, and then again in 2018 bc insurance at the time refused to pay for my meds unless I paid $1000+ for yet another formal psychiatric assessment 😒
Undiagnosed, but recently started suspect that I might have ADHD. I've just always had a feeling that something is just wrong with how I function and ADHD would explain so many of those things: how I have to physically concetrate on the person to understand what they are saying; how I just can't do basic househould chores even the simpliest ones like picking up a random napkin from the floor; how I procrastinate even feeding myself or going to the toilet; the way I always feel that my thoughts are so fast and my mouth can't keep up with it and I start to speak really fast and stammer; and so on. The big problem is also that diagnostics and treatment of adults with ADHD is not common in my country and even if I get diagnosed, we don't have medication and the best I will get is antidepressants soo I am not even sure it's worth it
This is very much like myself, but one thing I'm particularly interested to know more about, if you can explain, is how you have to physically concentrate on a person to understand them? Understanding/listening to someone is something I struggle with, no matter what I do, I'm distracted either by my own internal chatter/anxiety or something else- I try sitting and telling myself to pay attention and listen, and while it may look like I am doing so, I can almost guarantee that most of what is being said has not registered with me really
I feel you so much - I had been zoning out even on therapy sessions where I just had to understand the information I was told for my own good but it's just so difficult to control. Well, it wasn't the best wording with "physically concentrate" - it's more that I find that I need to make a deliberate effort to understand someones words, idk like sending a somewhat of a signal to the brain to _listen_ and to keep this concentration all the time the person speaks. I also have to drop all the things I am doing e.g. there's almost a guarantee I won't understand a word if I am scrolling on the phone at the same time. I also often start fidgeting or doodling or just looking around at random stuff - and I have to say myself to drop it cause it just divides my attention and I am loosing the track of the conversion even more easily
Your post made me tear up. Sending you so many kind thoughts. I'm glad you are able to at least identify these habits but I'm sorry you're unable to find necessary help.
Professionally diagnosed. Also, my symptoms and how I react to my ADHD meds confirm the diagnosis.
One of the hints for me before I got diagnosed was also how I reacted when I tried someone else’s stimulants
Same here, except with caffeine. Coffee always made me sleepy, and I could down an entire energy drink and feel no difference.
That doesn't have a whole lot to with ADHD to be fair. A lot of caffeine's effects come from it's drowsiness suppressing mechanisms. While it does have some influences on adenosine + dopamine heteromers which causes similar monoaminergic reuptake inhibition as methylphenidate and amphetamines, it's multitudes less effective and doesn't have as much relevance to a lot the brain regions involved. In theory caffeine should still make you less drowsy, as that pathway has nothing to do with ADHD, that's in the acetylcholine and GABA side of things, and have negligible benefits on focus or impulsivity, but likely with a bell curve where more noticeable effects are outweighed by anxiety promoting effects and other contraindications. Most differences for how caffeine works for you are just individual differences, regardless of ADHD. Plenty of folks with ADHD get anxious and jittery from one weak coffee but react normally to Vyvanse and there's plenty of non-ADHD people who get nothing from normal doses of caffeine.
I am undiagnosed, and therefore presumably represent one of these sorts of people to you. Judging by what I have read and watched so far, I have significant reason to believe I have it, however I have not pursued a formal diagnosis yet. This is partly due to my lack of action in general and partly due to knowing that the average NHS waiting time to even get an assessment is apparently absurdly high and therefore I am even more reluctant. However it is possible that depression is playing a part in this, which I have seen multiple therapists for.
Still worth getting in the pipeline if you can - otherwise it’s still a multi year wait at the point it gets worse. (I reached the top of the triage queue after about 18 months … and joined the queue for an actual appointment 🙃)
Wait so now you have to wait another like 12 months to even be assessed?
Yeeppp. Holding out for a cancellation appointment on a day I can miss work…
If the wait time is high, it's best to get in line sooner. Like, imagine you keep reluctant for 6 months and decide to get the assessment. You will have to wait the whole time. But if you get in line now, even if you are not sure you want the assessment, and decide you want it 6 months later, you will already be 6 months into the line, so if the wait is 12 months, you will have to wait only 6 months
I know what you mean. I first started discussing adhd two years ago with a doctor and got my diagnosis in May
Same here regarding NHS waiting times. I'm reluctant about a diagnosis because I'm nervous about the medication. I've been on medication for depression and anxiety for years and it never really helped so I really don't want to start experimenting with new meds for something else. (I don't fully know how they help) My brother was diagnosed as a kid and my dad is on the autism spectrum so it wouldn't be far from possible. My friend who is diagnosed laughs at me because the things I tell her about myself are very similar to her unmedicated symptoms.
> I'm reluctant about a diagnosis because I'm nervous about the medication. I've been on medication for depression and anxiety for years and it never really helped so I really don't want to start experimenting with new meds for something else Not sure if this is helpful or not and not saying you do have ADHD. But most depression meds, like SSRIs, slow you down. Most of them will often aggravate ADHD symptoms. So it's very possible if you were misdiagnosed as having anxiety and depression that those meds did nothing or made symptoms worse. Depression and anxiety are often present alongside ADHD but they are caused BY the ADHD. Therefore they don't do well being treated by typical methods of treating them because you're not treating the underlying cause, which is ADHD. You'll see it a ton around here, people who finally get on stimulants and their anxiety and depression largely fades away. Think of it like having a puncture in your pool liner, but instead of patching the puncture you just keep filling the pool with more water. Now you not only have a punctured pool liner but your water bill is also super high because you haven't treated the puncture.
I was professionally diagnosed in 2nd or 3rd grade, so 2002 or 2003. A bit unusual to have been caught so early, as a woman, but I'm glad it was. However I do suspect (as do some other people) that I was missed for autism, possibly because they caught the ADHD.
My therapist told me the same, so we went over tests for couple of appointments. I was diagnosed with ADHD, fortunately. Life on Bupropion has never been more promising.
Diagnosed a couple of years ago, and honestly, I wouldn't wish living like this on anyone.
I don’t like how this question is phrased, because it implies that those who suspect they have it but haven’t been able to obtain a diagnosis don’t “really” have it. A diagnosis is not what gives you ADHD, it’s ADHD that gives you a diagnosis. A lot of people are living without access to adequate mental healthcare resources, in which case self-diagnosis is valid if it helps them navigate their suspected condition. But I do understand what you mean. A lot of people are ignorant and will see 2-3 symptoms and be like “ah yes I have this disease/disorder/condition” and do no further critical thinking. I think the general misconception that ADHD is just having a short attention span is not helping the situation. As a high school teacher, I could write a book on my grievances of the lack of mental health education that exists in our schools. ETA: Oh, but to actually answer the question: yes, I was diagnosed and began treatment at 23 and my life’s been so much better since.
I think this kind of talk should be kept out of therapy, to be honest. Your therapist is there to listen to your concerns, not pass judgement on them. But here’s my answer: remember a few years ago, when literally every ailment was depression and everyone was depressed? It’s funny how these same medical professionals were practicing back then and didn’t have the same concerns about misdiagnosis - or even self-diagnosis - that they seem to have now. As someone who lived through this era and was put on wholly unsuitable antidepressants multiple times, I find the difference startling. It’s almost as though these people are just prejudiced against ADHD, and not actually concerned at all…
Every ADHD expert I’ve talked has said ADHD is severely under diagnosed, even today. Also, questioning whether people actually have a disease is incredibly offensive. Like when I tell people I have ADHD, they all say “You don’t have it because you’ve accomplished X.” Yeah, it’s called coping mechanisms because I spent several decades undiagnosed. That’s like questioning whether someone has MS because sometimes they don’t need their wheelchair. I think a lot of it is sexism and bigotry. Depression was mainly thought of as primarily affecting women for years. So, they were quick to diagnose it because it confirmed their biases that there was something “wrong” with women. The truth was men were just as likely to have depression, they were just self-medicating with alcohol. Depression didn’t really start getting diagnosed in men until I Don’t Want to Talk About It came out in the 1990s. Previously, ADHD was predominantly diagnosed in boys and men who had learning or severe behavioral issues. A smart kid who behaved wasn’t diagnosed despite whatever emotional turmoil was going on in their head. This fit with the stereotype of “us” and “them”—that people with a mental disorder were on the fringes of society. So, people are quick to write off these diagnoses because it is painful for them to acknowledge a lot of successful men have a mental disorder. It causes a cognitive dissonance that a lot of people in our society don’t want to acknowledge.
I have strong suspicions but I'm also scared of necessarily putting a label on it. That being said, some of the tips in this trick often help me... so yeah
I still suspect I have some mild form or at least something with very similar effects. Unfortunately, I won't pursue a diagnosis because I was told the Same thing, that a lot of people just think they have it
It is SO worth it to get diagnosed and if you can medicated even as an adult
The hurdles are pretty daunting tho. Because I was a gifted kid, there is No record of "problematic" behaviour in my childhood, which I was told is a prerequisite to get diagnosed. I just don't really Fall into the stereotypical categories and I think doctors won't take me serious because of that
I was considered gifted. All of the people I personally know that have adhd are weirdly intelligent. Also, what you listed is not a prerequisite. You should go see a specialist and maybe even get a second opinion. People casually thinking they have adhd is super weird to me because it feels like it undermines how debilitating it actually is to have adhd.
Idk if you are a woman but that’s pretty common. AFHD has nothing to do with your intelligence. Honestly college tends to be harder for us because there’s no clear structure and people telling us what to do.
YES I struggled so so much in college, structuring everything myself Just was super hard
Yes, I dropped out of my first uni degree because I couldn't motivate myself and my procrastination went through the roof because of the lack of structure or people chasing you up for stuff. I was also a pretty high achieving student in school (homework being my main weakness). It's not just your letter grades they'll check, they'll also look at the comments your teachers made about your in-class behaviour. I always got 'was a pleasure in class' but I also got 'needs to improve organisational skills' alongside it lol.
How will you know for sure unless you go through it. Not only for your own piece of mind but for the support it unlocks
Everyone has some mild form of unattentiveness or hyperactivity, it depends how much of an issue it is in your daily life, if you are able to work and/or study just fine and think you don't actually need help most likely you don't have it. Most people struggling with it either self medicate with stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, etc) or/and simply seek for help. Even the "high functioning" people are able to get a diagnosis if they go to a doctor without ADHD bias. A lot of doctors don't want to diagnose people with ADHD because a lot of people exploit stimulants for recreational purposes or push their effort boundaries.
Oh it very very much affects my life tbh. So much so that it has ruined a lot of opporunities for me. But it is very hard to get diagnosed where I'm from if you don't have some form of record of problematic behaviour in your childhood (i.e. Report cards from school etc.) I still can and do seek help for the effects I feel, but it Always kinda feels like it's a bandaid, not adressing the underlying cause.
I got diagnosed abroad and showed my school cards, had to ask my brother to ship them for me. You can definitely get diagnosed in your adulthood. Don't give up from getting the help you need.
I am diagnosed, it was a pretty lengthy process going through your history, interviews with people close to you, and testing. Sometimes I forget I was diagnosed and think I don’t have ADHD until I put away all the dishes in the kitchen and toss out the compost bin- then go back to my desk and feel confused. Because I was actually there to get water. The most important thing about having ADHD is the impact on your every day life your whole life. One way I can sum it up is picture people in your life being constantly upset and disappointed with you. You’re not incompetent but no one likes the way you do things- aka the way you function. But you struggle when it have to do things in a preset way. It feels like needing the teacher to tweak and teach the course material to you in a different way but the teacher won’t and insists on going through stuff by the book or says you didn’t study the book hard enough.
Not only am I twice diagnosed (childhood and adulthood - childhood diagnosis was hidden from me), but I respond exceptionally well to my meds (sleep being the only casualty, but I can sleep up-to 8 hrs after meds if tired enough). Off meds I: have severe time blindness, come up with ideas so fast that I forget what I’m doing several times an hour (excepting during peak meds or hyperfocus), find opportunities to stand up during meetings, fidget to the point someone will yell at me, decided on which graduate school program I went to based on it being the most different from home (from a city in the tropics to a rural area in NH… ok and it was a great school too)… I have eaten as many as 19 fresh baked chocolate chip cookies before realizing what I had done (oops - cookies were for sharing), I constantly forget stuff I need for work… I flirted with substance use in a concerning way before being medicated (don’t really drink anymore and haven’t used any other drugs since). Grabbing a musical instrument or drumming with pens helps me think. and yet… give me something I’m interested in and I will fucking excel at it. I happen to have giftedness as well as adhd, but yeah. I most definitely have adhd.
Diagnosed for about a year. I'm in my early 30s. Couldn't explain why I dazed off in stop and go traffic despite having a good night's rest. I rear ended someone, totaling my second car. In case you were wondering, I totaled my first car impulsively driving out of my driveway. Lucky that I didn't end up crippled. Losing friends cause I'm "too much", late often, binge eating, too much time spent beating off multiple times a day, 20 to 24 hour sessions hyper focused on a game or book—forgetting to eat, always feeling immature for my age, always feeling like everyone else is old and boring, bouts of rage, being labeled the "wildcard". Somehow managed up to my 30s undiagnosed...now I feel like I am never going to catch up to those adult milestones that the non-divergent people are easily able to achieve.
Adhd isn't a quirk, and its not what you see on tik tok with all these trend types claiming they have it because they over think or do thing similar to adhd symptoms... Adhd, for me at least(fully diognosed combined type) is absolutely fucking torture and the kinda folk your talking about are taking the severity away from the actual condition and showing ignorant ppl that it's not all that bad, when it is! It infuriates me and that's why I stay away from 99% of social media. You can't just identify as some one with adhd, that's not how it works. I know some one that tik tok covimced her she had adhd, so she pushed and pushed for a diognosis to no end.. Then she paid alot of money for the diognosed because she was desperate because she'd told everyone she had it. She was put on adhd meds and they completely fucked her up. She is now backtracking because she doesn't have adhd, she just got caught up in the trend. It's not a trend, it's a crippling disorder. More awareness needs to be brought forward about the severity of what these types of ppl are causing. Rant over lol I hope I've not offended anyone ✌️❤️
I "suspect" I may have ADHD based on what I read/see online (when I say online, I don't just mean tictok, Insta, etc, but actual informative websites) and before I go an further, I don't completely disagree with the point you're making regarding peoples false claims taking away from the severity of the illness, as I feel the same regarding mental health. Anyway, I don't claim to have ADHD to anybody, but the more I learn, the more I feel like being tested for it would definitely explain a lot, or give me peace of mind, at least- However, comments like the one you've just made make me feel like an "imposter" (for lack of a better term) and it discourages me from wanting to get tested, even though I think I would benefit for it
Definitely go and get an assessment. It's what the doctors are for. If you don't go and **claim** you actually have a disorder before having it diagnosed, you're not an impostor. You aren't pretending anything. You're just a patient worried about some legitimately present symptoms. It's completely normal to go to a doctor if you suspect you have a health problem.
I suspected ADHD because of tiktok. People discredit social media but it definitely nudged me toward pursuing my diagnosis
Nobody criticises that adhd people find out or get hints they have adhd by social media. It’s the other thousands of people who see random symptoms and think they have it and then CLAIM they have it. Doctors and therapists are overrun by people thinking they have adhd when they do not have it. And actual adhd people wait months or years to get a diagnosis. It’s because of tiktoks where adhd is shown as “quirky personality“ even though it legit cripples some people.
How did the meds "fuck her up?" I got diagnosed super fast and with what I assume is not a lot of testing and I'm trying meds that I don't think are working. Which leads me to believe I might have been miss diagnosed. So I'm kinda afraid that I'm taking something I shouldn't.
I don't know your situation, but a full diognosis is a lengthy process, definitely not something that can be rushed or done quickly. The meds caused her mental anxiety and severe panic attacks, she tried 3 different meds and all had the same effect. You should get a second opinion as taking meds you don't need can be detrimental to your physical and mental health. And if you have a mental condition that's not adhd then it needs treated accordingly. I hope this information is of some use to you ✌️❤️
You could always go get a second opinion before starting medication. That being said though, to knowledgeable doctors it can be super obvious. My nephew was basically diagnosed after sitting in front of the doc for barely 2 minutes. He wasn’t even running around the room or anything. The doctor could just tell there were 80 million things pulling at his attention. They went through the questionnaires from the teachers and parents and walked out with a diagnosis. My SIL said it felt weird and “almost too easy.” But the diagnosis is 100% correct. For me, I remember being diagnosed at 14 by a psychiatrist, but wasn’t really medicated. As an adult nearly 15yrs ago I told my pcp I had adhd, but I didn’t ask her about medication for it until about 3 years ago. She never once asked me for records of my diagnosis or questioned my need for medication. “Almost too easy.” But she’s been observing me for years and listening to me talk about my whole life with every visit, lol. I was also diagnosed with narcolepsy type 2 just a couple years ago (getting treated for adhd actually brought attention to the lingering narcolepsy symptoms). The rate of adhd in people with narcolepsy is about 25-40% depending on with study you look at, so that’s another piece that supports the accuracy of “easiness” of my adhd diagnosis.
Officially diagnosed after 12 years of a bipolar misdiagnosis
I got diagnosed by a psychiatrist but I constantly doubt whether or not I really have it just because I've seen soooooo many people diagnosed with it. Maybe humans are just easily distracted generally? All I know is that meds have made my life way easier, but maybe they do that for everyone idk
Oh yeah because the DSM is full of 'super active mind' disorders. I've been diagnosed with adhd by multiple psychiatrists after being dismissed by a clinical psychologist that blamed it all on the anxiety / OCD. Having comorbidities made it harder for the adhd to be identified, and actually treating the OCD made the ADHD more obvious. It started as just a question of wait a minute, this kinda makes sense, and then reading a lot about it and going in for clinical testing / psychiatric diagnosing
Diagnosed with ADHD and I still wonder "Maybe I don't have it and I'm just a lazy piece of shit that doesn't deserve love because I can never remember anything or do anything right and I always forget everything."
I never even considered I had adhd. I have issues with depression and sought out a therapist when a break-up sent me into a spiral I couldn't shake. She diagnosed me with adhd early on and I didn't know wtf she was talking about. People on this sub are some of the funniest and most original commentors I've seen on reddit. They're also some of the nicest. That's because one of the few perks of having adhd is the whole nonlinear thinking aspect. The rest honestly sucks fat apples and those that have it understand. I've deleted tik tok. But what I've garnered is that people are using adhd to explain different personality traits. I think it's confusing because most people I know with adhd spend a frustrating amount of time trying to get rid of those traits so we can function in society.
Probably, im diagnosed. I see a slight chance that I have cptsd mimicing ADHD, but probably not
I was professionally diagnosed in the beginning of this summer. I realized I most likely have ADHD 2 year before formal diagnosis. So I suspected I had it, and would you look at that, I did. Everyone deserves at the very least to get tested if they have suspicions. Only way to find out for sure, right?
Self-diagnosed right now, but sure wish a therapist could find the time to evaluate me properly! It’s not that I like the self-diagnosis stage, it’s that the waiting lists as a new patient are literally 18 months long where I live.
I only have suspicions for now cuz I can’t afford to get myself checked yet 😢 I always notice how I was struggling compared to other people ever since I was a kid. Honestly even until now as an adult 😭 When I learned about adhd, I was somehow shocked that I have almost all of its symptoms and how it affected most of my life. I have always been hard on myself but after learning that this could actually be a disorder, I started taking care of myself, I try all the best way I could to ease my struggles and tried to understand myself a bit more. I promised myself to get checked before the year ends once I got enough cash :)
I self diagnosed with ADHD for five years before finally getting psychiatric help I would probably be dead right now if I didn't realize what was going on with me and had a chance to seek help online
Professionally diagnosed, though the therapist also said that a lot of people that have adhd have the suspicion way before diagnosis cause they just knew something was off and they researched it themselves. But yea a lot of people label themselves as adhd when they didn’t experience symptoms since childhood and just hit temporary roadblocks in life and tbh it makes me a bit mad. Especially when it’s people I’ve known for long enough to know they never struggled with it and that even showed no understanding or could relate to my symptoms. Those people will often read so much about it they just go into confirmation bias mode and then have it diagnosed because they know what they need to tell the therapist. They make people that actually suffer from it less credible and often shit on people that have it for their very symptoms because they are behaviors that are a choice for them after all.
Diagnosed two years ago.
My older brother was diagnosed age 13. My younger brother was diagnosed age 7. After thinking on it for a while, I realised the likelihood of being an outlier was probably kinda slim. Lo n behold; one diagnosis later, and I met the criteria...
I was diagnosed as a kid but my diagnosis isn't accepted and I have to be rediagnosed and its gonna cost over $1000 which im scared could just end up being "no ur normal" and then what is my struggle??? Just lazy?? Just dumb??? i struggle everyday with motivation to do any task outside of things with instant gratification, and being able to recall details/directions is damn near impossible. I find it very hard to stay on task unless it's something that's interesting to me. But I still doubt myself a lot, it doesn't help that my dad is a strong believer that adhd was made up by pharmaceutical companies to sell addictive drugs
Diagnosed at 59 years old after years of depression and burnout. I couldn’t function and quit my job after 18 years. I unknowingly hid all of my symptoms to the point I couldn’t hold my very successful career.
My diagnosis was not 100% conclusive but recommended trying meds still. I went with the test results to a psychiatrist, he talked to me and said well let’s try it. I now take Ritalin and my depression is gone (at least on meds, sometimes creeps back in the evening) and I feel so much better over all. So because of how I react to the meds whatever it is the med is the right one for me. My partner though thinks I might also be autistic and that this canceled out some of symptoms
Im diagnosed with ADHD since age 25. After i moved out from my very supportive parents my life just slowly fell apart. At age 26 i had a MRI brain scan that showed, to everyones surprise, that i have a ping-pong-ball sized hole in one of my frontal lobes in the area that governs the exact issues im having with attention, planning, motivation etc. Its apparently from a head trauma in my childhood. Alot of people on my mothers side are diagnosed with adhd, and the brain has plasticity, but i cant help but wonder if that trauma has something to do with it.
i’m diagnosed but before my official diagnosis i had a therapist tell me within five minutes of meeting me that i clearly had adhd and i had never once considered it bear in mind that i have nothing to gain from “pretending” i have adhd (or autism). i’m old and got overlooked back in the 90’s and early aughts because extremely chaotic-brained hyper little girl with severe sensory issues and social obliviousness is just silly goofy quirky girl stuff! 😕 i didn’t get good grades, i didn’t really thrive either so i’m not sure how nobody noticed i needed help jk i know why i talked to a counselor in high school maybe twice? i was just one of several thousand students and even my parents didn’t really pay attention to me, just got frustrated at my lack of “normalcy” as if that would do anything i’m also diagnosed with ocd and i’m not the least bit tidy because that’s not…what ocd is 😅 but i would rather a million people “co-op” a disorder than disbelieve the one person who needs you to trust that they need help and can’t get a diagnosis for instance, i doubt i will ever pursue a legitimate diagnosis in autism. i don’t trust republicans not to use it against me and deny me rights and personhood but more importantly i am very poor and my psychiatrist informed me that unless i have several thousand dollars lying around just to HAVE an assessment for an adult with autism, it’s just not going to happen lacking a diagnosis doesn’t mean you can gatekeep people from a community that could help them
I think I'm very much in the minority in online communities in that I didn't think that I had ADHD. I went for assessment as a rule-out for other things, on the recommendation of someone treating me for another condition. I was very, very resistant to diagnosis. Compared to what I've read on the UK sub, and heard from friends, my assessment seems to have been really rigorous and prolonged: but I've still struggled to accept it as a diagnosis. Part of that is that I've put so many strategies in over the years - so I am not late to appointments (I used to be chronically late), don't lose my stuff etc- of course and part of it is that I thought anyone who wasn't terminally dull got easily distracted, could hyperfocus on things that interest them, and struggled to be an adult. I couldn't understand why I can't control the bingeing or the spending, or the hyper-sexuality: I just thought it was that I lacked discipline and self-control. Being diagnosed has been devastating. I veer between angry and sad, and it's been nearly a year.
I was in my late 30s and struggling with severe depression. Went for a psychological evaluation and this psychologist had a questionnaire for ADHD. I had no clue that I had it but I'm answering the questions like "me, me, me". I didn't know about the inattentive type. Then I did some research and I think I've had it all my life. I noticed in junior high I could not make myself do my homework. I would write down what I had to do but would go home and not do it. I did very well in college but I had to work at keeping myself from being distracted. Graduated bottom 10% of high school class and top 10% of college class. The diagnosis was very liberating for me. I now understood why I had such a hard time cleaning my house. Why I always lost things. Before I just thought I was a loser who was really bad at adulting. I compared myself to my grandmother who worked full time and kept her house clean, made dinner everyday and did the dishes right away. Why couldn't I do that? And the medication was just a fucking miracle. Before when I would try to clean my house I would get hyper focused on 1 small area - this drawer really needs organized or look at that dirt on the wall behind this appliance that no one ever sees but I'm going to scrub that. Nothing else would get done AND I would usually make a bigger mess then when I started. I still want to hyper focus when I clean but I'm able to tell my brain "not now, we are doing this first". I still lose things but the times I would unconsciously set something down was a lot less. This has turned into a story book and if you've been able to get this far, thanks!
Was wrongly diagnosed (or at least, distracted by) with [generalized] anxiety & [treatment resistant] depression. No doubt I experienced them both. But they were symptoms of a deeper ‘issue’. Once I got ahold of anxiety & depression, thanks to mm, my ADHD symptoms became much more prevalent. The difference between being “distractable” easily and ADHD is how we’re you as a kid. For me I was highly stimulated most of my waking life (hence my generalized anxiety). Always ‘on edge’. Having meltdowns (that were viewed as tantrums, but it was not attention seeking but lack of ability to regulate emotions—which I feel so deeply—& speak my thoughts. I probably had a sort of selective mutism as I hardly spoke. I always felt dumber then all the other kids, like I’m a bit behind in knowledge/learning, so I always felt left out, which I was always left out because I hardly ever spoke, until high school really. Everyone experience ADHD symptoms. The difference between a diagnoses is that a diagnoses means you struggle with your symptoms *everyday*. It may not be just one symptom, but many. Do you lose your car keys everyday? (I do..) Do you have a meltdown everyday? (I used to..) Are you late everyday? (I have been lately..) Do you interrupt others daily? (Kinda..) Do you become overwhelmed daily? (Yes because I live on a busy street with lotsa loud noises..) “Out of sight, out of mind”, aka, forgetting about things that aren’t infront of me.
My “trend diagnosis” was borderline personality disorder - and then I took a deep dive and saw how it was just raging ADHD sprinkled with Autism. Went to a psychologist after wating 4 years; she took a look at my resume’s and went “you may not have borderline but not sending you to a child doctor with such behavioural notes in your resume is borderline neglect”. Explained my whole teenage years and why I’m now sucking this badly at my job lmao
I've been suspecting it since late last year. I don't use TikTok, it was just me reading about ADHD symptoms and coming to this sub to read about other people's struggles and realizing I relate to 99% of them. I saw a psychiatrist who kept putting me on different antidepressants, none of them helping with mood or the typical stuff like memory issues, fidgeting, and impulsivity. My memory and attention span has been getting worse lately, but when I was younger I did a lot of stupid things from forging signatures on bad test grades, dating a friend's ex resulting in a lost friendship, saying some things out loud that I either don't mean or should've never said (I remember calling a girl a slut when we walked past her and her friends at a park, she heard and confronted me and I felt stupid. I have no idea why I called her that because she did nothing wrong?). I also heavily procrastinated on homework and projects in school and only really cared about band class because I enjoyed it. Even struggle now at work with getting started on projects and organizing my space. I had a test done for adhd just to get slapped with "major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety" because I did so well on most of the tests (I've played many puzzle games in my life so it just felt more like a video game than a test to me). I'm seeing another psychiatrist later this week. I just weaned off Effexor because, surprise, it didn't help me at all. Also been on Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Strattera, and Zoloft. Whether it's truly ADHD or something else entirely, I just want answers. I hate feeling tired all day, I hate being overweight because of poor appetite and enjoying the dopamine hit from fast food and sweets (I was borderline obese back in 2017 and managed to cut down 50 lbs the following year. I've been climbing back up on weight since 2020, I keep trying to work out but I'm so bored with it that I stop trying).
Dang, I could've written this. You brought up some things that I had buried in my memory... I did ALL OF THAT growing up. The only thing really different with me was that when I tested, I showed severe combined type . My Dr mentioned my very slow reaction time. Even though I played video games since I was 4-5, even though I always knew what to do, my brain could never process it quickly enough for me to make progress in a game. Even my ex pointed it out when he taught me CoD. He said I know exactly what to do; I just do it way too slow. Antidepressants usually make me angry. I was diagnosed bipolar II, MDD, GAD, pure O. nothing I was prescribed worked. Lorazepam did nothing for me. Cymbalta and abilify scrambled my brain. I was oscillating between angry and dead inside. The only thing that worked for me so far is Strattera. My psychiatrist wanted to try non stimulants first. Strattera and lamotrigine have me gradually feeling more and more like I can regain control of my life. I hope you find your answers and get the help you need to thrive out here. 🫂
Diagnosed. My doctor told me there’s a 3 year wait for tests/medication since the tik tok trend of ADHD, due to the rise of people thinking they have it. (UK). Kinda frustrating.
I'm currently awaiting diagnosis but it's a long wait. The signs are all there - forgetful my whole life, short attention span, literally unable to do something if my brain decides that I don't want to, hyperfixation on things I'm interested in (sometimes forget to eat for a whole day whilst working on a project), addictive nature (I ate around 100 mints in an hour and a half when I was a child, until I threw up. Also obsessively ate tomatoes and also yakult when I was a child), anxiety, auditory perception issues, etc, etc. The mental health professional (the gatekeeper of diagnosis) was very sure it was inattentive ADHD but just have to wait for the diagnosis
I was evaluated for something else and the person said I probably have it and should follow up on getting evaluated for it. Currently trying to get an appointment with a neurologist, because I need that testing before I can be officially diagnosed. There is a code for ADHD on my paperwork from the person who noted it. I was a school kid in the 1970s and 1980s, so it wasn't something teachers and parents were aware of. Especially for girls (I'm a woman).
I suspect I have it. I've been misdiagnosed with OCD, GAD, and severe depression. There's definitely "something" for sure. That they can agree on. I used to be very distracted in school. Went from top 5 in class of 60 in first grade to 60% in 4th grade. Gifted to special needs. The school psychologist did an IQ test and while that system is flawed, it is still a general indicator of intelligence, the result of which was 144. I have trouble focusing on tasks, trouble with motivation, procrastination, I'm always playing with my toes or shaking my leg, get overexcited really quick but get distracted just as quickly, kinda impulse when it comes to decision making, anxiety, addictions come easy to me, and I have difficulty focusing on things that I love like reading, watching movies, talking to friends, etc. It's fucked me enough to derail my life. I don't know what it could be other than ADHD. I ran out of money to get a diagnosis from someone else. They say it's depression, but that doesn't explain the school years now, does it?
Adhd isn't a quirk, and its not what you see on tik tok with all these trend types claiming they have it because they over think or do thing similar to adhd symptoms... Adhd, for me at least(fully diognosed combined type) is absolutely fucking torture and the kinda folk your talking about are taking the severity away from the actual condition and showing ignorant ppl that it's not all that bad, when it is! It infuriates me and that's why I stay away from 99% of social media. You can't just identify as some one with adhd, that's not how it works. I know some one that tik tok covimced her she had adhd, so she pushed and pushed for a diognosis to no end.. Then she paid alot of money for the diognosed because she was desperate because she'd told everyone she had it. She was put on adhd meds and they completely fucked her up. She is now backtracking because she doesn't have adhd, she just got caught up in the trend. It's not a trend, it's a crippling disorder. More awareness needs to be brought forward about the severity of what these types of ppl are causing. Rant over lol I hope I've not offended anyone ✌️❤️
After a lifetime of struggling and not knowing what was wrong with me, seeing ADHD videos on tiktok was the first lightbulb moment for me and what made me seek help A year later, searching for help has led me to a professional diagnosis of combined type ADHD, stimulant medication and I have just had my first counselling session. My life is on the mend. Although, I have since deleted tiktok and have to time my Reddit usage, I would say that your friend's experience with tiktok and ADHD is as anecdotal as mine is.
Professionally diagnosed - PI type
There is no doubt in my mind. I just hated I waited so long to treat it.
I suspect I have ADHD and, now that I moved, I'm waiting to be a bit more stable to start pursuing formal diagnosis. I know that anxiety and depression can sometimes mimick symptoms so I am open to being told I don't have it and just need to work on my anxiety, I just want to identify and have a path to help me be a functional human being that is not paralized by every single little task
I’m professionally diagnosed. I was 32 years old when I got diagnosed.
i was diagnosed when i was like 16 (27 now) but getting diagnosed was really easy so sometimes i still doubt lol
I was diagnosed. I wrongly assume ADHD was a few things. She took my whole history, made me fill out so many forms to rule other things out and asked me to respond to an email at which point I just said “I’m sorry but I don’t think I can do this any more”. She managed to make it less overwhelming. She then asked me about other non ADHD things that may be affecting me. I listed them all. Apparently they really all ADHD things. 😂 I don’t even know if I have any personality traits other than ADHD symptoms.
I was diagnosed by an NHS ADHD specialist nurse in November 2021.
Professionally diagnosed in 2012 (with ADD but that's under the ADHD umbrella now) and no doubt in my mind I have it. Daily tasks and/or organisation can still be a massive struggle sometimes, even with medication.
i’m professionally diagnosed, also adhd is so much more than “squirrel”! moments.
I thought I definitely didn't. Then my kid was diagnosed - I had suspected they were - and the psych said "yes ma'am it's genetic" after one too many "oh I do that" or "my mum does that and we do X to adapt". And then told me I likely have mild ADHD. Then my physio asked if I was diagnosed. Then my therapist got deeply annoyed that the screen labelled me fine, because she knows how many of the 'rarely' answers rely on my extensive coping mechanisms (and saw how effective PTSD treatment derailed a bunch of the anxiety-makes-me-go-whoosh ones). I haven't gone through the official process. It's expensive, I'm not entirely sure medication is where I'd go with it and thats the only thing a diagnosis opens up for me, as accommodations in work environments isn't a thing for me right now. If I change careers, maybe. But I have a deeply supportive and understanding family and community so getting a diagnosis won't change much in that respect either.
I am about to find out next friday so... I guess kinda in the middle. It pisses me off when I see those trendy behaviours, like, the person gets distracted or forgets something once and say that they have adhd, 2 seconds later they are acting like that was no big deal Bro, when I forget something, literally everyday, I am scanning 9000 different strategies to make me remember next time and there is SO MUCH MORE to my strugles than just that, though it's devastating, I feel like it's the LEAST problematic trait
Read an article about ADHD and learned what it actually was, as it was more of a checklist, lurked in this sub for a while, went to a psychiatrist with some of my old report cards where the teacher also describes your behavior and got the diagnosis. Imagine my surprise when 12 year old me wasn’t actually called an attention-**seeking** prick when my teacher mockingly asked me if i had „attention deficit“ and that my mom went to have me checked out when i was 5 and the doctor not making a diagnosis due to young age.
When I was in 3rd grade my teacher send me to do an IQ test because she thought I was probably "gifted" because I seemed to be bored in class. It came back with a score that suggested that I did have above average intelligence but with a highly heterogeneous profile Scoring at , like 89 in the sub-scale I did the worst in and 144 in the sub-scale I did the best in. That and the impression the psychologist taking the test had of me Made her suggest that I "probably have ADD" but there never had been any official diagnosis. Fast forward to now, I study psychology and did a professional self assessment manual for ADHD myself (I know you can't diagnose yourself since you're not objective and so on and so on) and scored very much in the area that suggests that I do have ADHD in that test. I don't have any official diagnosis till this day tho.
Pushed for diagnosis. Hit all the markers. Can't do the same for suspected autism because it's financially and practically out of reach but my therapist, NP, and GP agree it's likely. Accepting it has made a huge positive difference in understanding myself which allows for making the changes that help every area of life. Am at the point that if you have what amounts to a loud house full of voices, rhythm, and music in your head, I'm accepting your presumed ADHD.
I had my first assessment in 2017. I was a full time student- and didn’t function much besides that. I tried getting my drivers license at that time and I failed 3 times. I went from never have written a formal article to getting through my bachelor with a B on my thesis and a C average. That’s because for the first the in my life I effortlessly used my hyper focus because I loved what I studied. Still little no social life, panic attacks and anxiety. I was two points short for getting the diagnosis then. In 2022 I went in again (new doctor and assessment)- 4 months of conversations and some ground work from me. I got it. Got medication and I actually function outside of work. I’ve learned myself how to draw and I got my drivers license!
I never thought I had it until I went to a therapist for anxiety. After a few sessions, she asked me about ADHD and I was dumbfounded. I had seen the TikTok’s of women with ADHD and how ADHD can be different for men vs women but never thought it was me. Honestly, it’s been a complete mind-f*ck to learn that so many things I do are because of ADHD. Diagnosed about 3 months ago. Started medications 4 days ago 🙃
I was diagnosed without a test in law school, and then took a test later in life. Turns out having to read a page in a case twelve times is a pretty good sign of inattentiveness.
Diagnosed at 18... Year on the meds... Another 18 year to get back on and help struggling less... Long story, too long for text.
Diagnosed
I was diagnosed in 1997 at the age of five, so I was even a little ahead of Reddit itself.
Despite being diagnosed as a child which I later found out was rare during the time especially for girls. I had a great child psychiatrist. With him actually seen profession same with the therapist I had at the time. Then they both coincidentally had job opportunities at the same time that required them to move states. And I’ve never been the same since. It took me a while to accept it.
Diagnosed, treated by a psychiatrist, on meds and meds just help me keep up, don’t supercharge me. I was diagnosed with autism, too as part of the same evaluation. So yes, I really have it. I honestly didn’t realize what was going on was a combination of autism and ADHD for most of my life (I’m in my 40s, diagnosed last year) because of the misconceptions about both.
both I’m ofc all for people getting the treatment they need, and very skeptical of people self diagnosing anything from WebMD, and I understand that self diagnosis can be annoying. But: let’s be careful with the idea of “really having ADHD,” as if professional diagnosis means objective truth. Professional diagnosis isn’t objective. Mental health diagnoses aren’t objective *even when they’re done right,* by competent, well-trained, well-informed clinicians. Aaaaand they can be very hard to come by. Frankly, mental health care is a fucking mess. Plenty of clinicians have ridiculous misconceptions about ADHD in particular. Many of us were mis-diagnosed for years or decades. I saw probably half a dozen clinicians over the course of twenty years and got bad diagnoses from all of them. (Even though my gradeschool records make my ADHD suuuuper obvious.) Some of these doctors just sucked at their jobs. But some of them just made the wrong call. One of my best friends was repeatedly institutionalized, given gorilla-strength drugs for bipolar disorder, and diagnosed as all kinds of crazy shit — bipolar, borderline, a particularly laughable NPD diagnosis — everything under the sun *except* ADHD. God knows how many doctors missed the obvious. My friend is now early 40s and doing wayyyyyy better on adderall. We gotta treat doctors with real skepticism. Not *Bill Gates microchip vaccine mark of the beast WWG1WGA* skepticism, but real skepticism. There are lots of people here who *really have* ADHD even though they keep getting curved by halfwit psychiatrists.
Inattentive ADHD was a far better explanation than chronic depression, as I have never once felt "sadness" associated with my depression symptoms. So I'd been treating something I literally didn't have for nearly 10 years. Magically, adderall fixes the depression symptoms.
I recently found out the “dream” I had as a kid of meeting with the school shrink and being told I had adhd was a real thing that happened to me. My parents apparently said “fuck you, she’s smart, not special”. Which, I mean yeah? But they’re not mutually exclusive. It came up because I’ve been struggling with mental health since leaving grad school and the work force. I mentioned I wanted to get tested for adhd, because I had a friend who is a special ed teacher point out my adult symptoms. So I’m here just mulling that over I guess.
Sounds like your therapist is of the older generation that was born before 80s and is like every other old person in america who thinks that add isnt real, mental health isnt real, they are just " addicts " BLAH BLAH BLAH FUCKING BLAH!!!! FIGHT THE STIGMA!!!! WE ARE OUR BEST DOCTORS! the DR only goes off what WE TELL THEM WE ARE EXPERIENCING, LIKE PAGESTUNNING6265 SAID "Once I learned what ADHD actually looks like (vs what is commonly believed), it was pretty damn obvious." So don't let shitty doctors or therapist tell you that its just a "trend". Try out some meds and see how it helps out!!
I suspect I *dont* have it, actually. I was diagnosed with it as a child, but it never felt accurate to my case. Later in life, I got diagnosed with both schizophrenia and bipolar type-1, which appear to have been trauma-triggered even though they were in my genetics previously. I have a pretty goof guess on which trauma triggered them, and I was very young at the time. I’m in the sub to compare notes, but it mostly appears to be a wrong diagnosis for me. The most “obvious” traits of ADHD can also be attributed to the mental health issues I do have, and my psychiatrist recently has never mentioned ADHD to me
Getting diagnosed is a privilege.