My Story

[ashockley55]

Wow, Alex. What you are going through sounds so familiar to me.

See here:

http://totallyadd.com/forum/topic.php?id=2379

and here:

http://totallyadd.com/forum/topic.php?id=2440

Yesterday, I had my boss write out a script for me to read when I call the place I’ve been. I asked her to also loan me the ovaries to actually make the phone call. She told me to call her for a pep talk before I call, and then call her to decompress afterwards.

My goal is to get them to count the money I’ve already paid toward a session where I come in and am officially assessed, or else give me my money back so I can use it to pay someone who will.

Good luck with your situation. It is frustrating and exhausting when we feel we have to struggle to be understood, or accomplish something that seems like it should be pretty straightforward or easy.

The way I see it, even if they don’t believe you have it, there wouldn’t be any harm in evaluating you for ADHD. What skin is it going to take off their nose? That they’ll have egg on their face if it turns out you do? In fact, I might ask for an independent evaluation or go somewhere else for a second opinion – this place may just interpret (*edited to put interpret, not “interrupt” ha ha ha!) your answers through the view of what they’ve already concluded about you.

Don’t know what options you have in this respect, but you deserve to be heard.

We both do!

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[Anonymous]

Alex….this can be a long inexact process (at least from my perspective) that could take…..hmmmmm….quite a bit of time to sort out. Psychiatry has a distinct disadvantage over other medical professions in that the human brain and behavior is not a black and white issue and the profession struggles with that. An MD can look at an x-ray and see a broken leg….take blood pressure…..a blood test, even then there are medical issues that make some medical diagnosis more difficult than others. Determination is the result of elimination, or the process of exclusion rather than discovering a tangible like a rash or a broken arm.

If I may add, when one is trying to determine a diagnosis like ADD…. the process can be even more difficult by being a spectrum condition. Folks suspecting ADD behaviors can and do fall everywhere on the spectrum, with any of the properties of the condition being expressed with different severities. The more severe the condition exhibits a trait, the more easily a diagnosis can be made, especially if the exhibiting behaviors or traits are particularly problematic, and have a clear historical element as well.

Comorbidities further complicate the process because traits or behaviors can leach across the various conditions, which can be very difficult to determine or isolate, or determine which is the root issue, and therefore which to treat???

Being 18 might pose further complications….just because of where a typical 18 year old falls in the cycle of physical and maybe more importantly social development. Teen years can be an interesting time of life if memory serves me……great fun, great pressure, great heart ache……great times!!!! Enjoy…….I did!!! I digress…..

I didn’t see in your posts any indication of attempting to work with a counselor…..talk therapy. I guess if one reads past posts, it would be evident that I am a huge advocate of “talk work”…… It I believe the potential benefits can be enormous at any stage of life, regardless of the condition. Either way a multi-point approach seems to provide many folks benefits in excess of that of a single point approach. Diet, exercise, talk therapy, meditation and for some yes, Rx………is a great help.

Reading, reading reading and educating oneself on the subject can only help one gain knowledge and understanding, and that will be an enormous help. If nothing else it will assist you in communicating with your Shrink or MD….and they do need us to be active participants, otherwise they are left to grope in a huge grey cloud….trying to eliminate possibilities. We may not think so, but we are experts on “US”…..and as such our contributions are invaluable. Active participation ( I believe) is key!!

Hahah…taking a book or your Ipod to the waiting room is a good thing too!!!

I’m not Lazy Crazy or Stupid…..is a decent read….written by two ADD people all about ADD and provides some very good support as well.

Some people like Barkley’s books…….and find his take on ADD/ADHD quite illuminating. So maybe shop around on this site, get some perspective……do some reading…what is the down side to that????

Toofat

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[Anonymous]

Thank you so much, guys.

Scattybird, you helped clear some of my self-doubt and your advice is simply excellent. It’s a great reply and I’m really glad for it because it really feels like you’re paying attention and you understand my situation.

ashockley55, I did see your threads! I didn’t reply because by the time I did, everyone else already said what I wanted to say. I totally relate to your situation and sympathize. Good luck with your own diagnosis!

toofat, I agree with what you’re saying. My weekly sessions with the psychiatrist also involve talk therapy, I think, but so far we haven’t really done anything extensively. We’ve only met two times so far though. Before I finally saw a psychiatrist, I was seeing the university counselor for a few months already, just to talk. It really helped me out then, when I was struggling with a lot of things. I haven’t found a copy of <i>I’m not Lazy, Crazy or Stupid</i> but it does seem like a very good book. I’m gonna bring a book every time I go for my session now! Those waiting rooms really do exist for a reason.

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[Scattybird]

Hi Alex

I am glad you found our advice useful. Thank you for saying so – that was very thoughtful.

Let us know how things go.

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[Anonymous]

> I brought up my concerns of ADD and assessment, but he says he doesn’t think my inattentiveness is from ADHD, but rather depression. He says he’s seen some patients with ADHD and cites their hyperactivity, like they can’t sit still or something like that. I’m not sure what I was supposed to say, like how I don’t think I have much of the hyperactive subtype and anyway most of adult ADD is internal or something but I felt uncomfortable acting like I knew more about it than he did because he’s the psychiatrist after all so I just went, “Okay.” <

This is exactly what happened to me (see my latest post), but I was diagnosed with anxiety instead. They used my score on the hyperactivity section as a way of suggesting that I can’t be ADHD, and my mum and I had to rectify this by telling them that I am probably the inattentive subtype. I seriously do not know what happened. I think I was more educated than the doctor to be honest. I’m very angry with what has happened, because I know for a fact that it isn’t anxiety that makes me lose my keys everyday, and gets me into social problems because I haven’t been listening to what somebody has said. It’s so sad. I know I’ll just have to continue in a positive way, though, and forget about everything that happened in that appointment. With support from friends, and support from people with ADD that understand, I’ll be absolutely fine. I just need to learn coping strategies and stuff, which I don’t need a diagnosis on paper for.

I wish you all the best, and stay positive!

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