Re: Mild ADD? Or Midlife Crisis? Wondering/Obsessing, and in Need of a Pep Talk

[Anonymous]

holy crap. i was struck by your description of yourself. it is me to a T. the zoning out, the procrastination, the lifelong daydreaming, the excellent grades until math turned into a major challenge at adolescence, the major depressive episode in high school, being disorganized, missing an exam because of a calendar flake-out, and always running late!! seriously, every single one of these. (also, the PMS, gah…)

anyway, all i can say is, if you’re obsessing about this, go see an ADHD expert and get properly tested! you’ll obsess until you do it so may as well just do it so you know for sure. you already know your worst case scenario: the person will conclude that you’re just a regular stressed out person. but you know, i thought that would happen with me too but the whole process was much more nuanced than a ‘do you have ADHD yes or no’ approach. they do really rigorous testing so they can pinpoint what your brain is good at and where it has weaknesses. knowing your mental strengths is really helpful all by itself, and knowing your weak points gives you something concrete to work on. so yeah, just go for it, it is always a positive thing to learn more about yourself.

oh yes i forgot, on the note of how to go about it, i’m not entirely sure, but don’t just let your regular family doc diagnose you. sometimes folks who aren’t specialists in stuff will wave it off or dissuade you from investigating further. don’t let them deter you. find a referral to a specialist who does all the proper testing. i found a referral through the disability centre at my university, they gave me a brochure with a list of local practitioners who do “psychoeducational testing”, and i picked one and called them and made an appointment. it can be expensive but if you have health insurance it can cover it under psychologists (although that requires a dr’s prescription for seeing a psychologist). I’m not sure how else people find specialists in this area but i’m sure there are many avenues.

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