Re: Can I get help/diagnosed without my parents?

[Scattybird]

Hi Chrissybee –

You need to make an appointment with your doctor and if possible download this thread – especially your last post and take it with you. Let him/her read it and that will help you explain clearly once you’re face to face.

If you can’t see your familly doctor go into the practice and ask if there are local support groups for adolescents with problems like yours. If so, try to get along to a meeting. Talking to others in the same boat can be helpful.

Even if you do get help from your doctor it is likely that a diagnosis will take some time. Therefore you need to start adopting some strategies to help you cope. These are strategies we all have to do in order to cope – whether we have medication or not.

So consider where you need to help yourself most – e.g. If it’s with focus and getting things done then try to make adjustments to help you with that.

Use alarms to refocus your attention. Use notes to remind you what you’re meant to be doing. Break you homework down into chunks and and spend short spells at a time doing a chunk. It will seem less daunting. There are a host of coping strategies but just go for things that will help now. You can build others into your life once you have mastered these.

I guess you’ll read this and ask if I have been listening to you! Yes -I have and my heart goes out to you. But even if you get a diagnosis and a name for your ADD, you will still have to learn to deal with it. Even if medicated, all that does is enable you to perform these strategies a bit easier. Even with medication we need to ‘do’ stuff to help ourselves so if/when we can’t take the medication then we have strategies in place that help.

Please speak to someone about this – a local support group might be available? If not, have you thought about a minister in a local Church? You don’t need to be a Church-goer – they have lots of experience and at least you’d be confiding in an adult who might be able to help.

Don’t let yourself get too depressed about this. It will get sorted but sometimes things take longer than they should. Just try to be mindful and be aware in the moment.

I know – you feel like screaming at everyone NOW. But try to play the game and you’ll win it.

One last thing that you might have noticed is your ADD and OCD might be worse at some times than others. Look for a pattern because sometime symptoms worsen in women at certain times of the month. If that is the case then predict when you’re going to be less able to focus and make an effort to just drift on those days, be nice to yourself and be prepared to make the most of the other days. This may not affect you, but it’s rarely mentioned but can be just something else in the mix that we have to deal with.

Read as many posts on this site as you can – it will help.

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