I just had my first ever meeting with a psychiatrist to get diagnosed with ADHD.

Long story short, they said that I clearly exhibit ADHD symptoms.

But they’re not willing to go forward with a diagnosis because, according to them, I seem to be doing alright in my life, so the symptoms are hardly causing me enough problems to be eligible for a diagnosis. (And also because there’s no evidence of me having had such symptoms in childhood.)

And I was just sitting there thinking, do you really think I would be here if I didn’t think the symptoms were causing me problems in life?

Based on what they said, they expected me to have experienced things like getting warnings or being fired from jobs, ruining my relationships with people, and such. And they suggested the usual things, exercise, the Pomodoro method, etc. As if I haven’t tried them already.

My bad for masking so well, I guess.

Anyway, just wanted to vent a bit. I know it’s too common a story. I guess the next thing I need to do is to find a psychiatrist specializing in adult ADHD. Once my (still undiagnosed) ADHD lets me do that.

  • slippery_salmons@lemmy.todayEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    I feel you and that’s frustrating.

    I went back recently as an adult over 30 and was basically told the same thing. What’s frustrating to me is that I was diagnosed as a teenager. I was on Ritalin, Adderall, Straterra, and more. There is documentation. But my parents lost it all so it’s like it never happened. What’s even more frustrating is that I’m going to the same exact doctors office as when I was a teenager, but they don’t have those records anymore. Apparently they purge records after 15 years. So basically they have to start with me as an undiagnosed adult, which they don’t really do.

    They said the same things to me, I have a good job, house, relationship, and all that, so I must not be doing too bad. But what bothers me is the level I feel I should be operating at compared to how I’m actually functioning. When I was in the military there was enough structure for me to function decently. Now that I’m out and higher up in my workplace with less supervision/accountability/structure, I find myself struggling more with my ADHD symptoms. But no medical professionals seem to care so I guess I’ll just keep self medicating…