This was a couple weeks ago. He said he wanted to try me on stimulant medication, but I needed to go get clearance from my primary care doctor because I've also been dealing with some tachycardia. She put me on a beta blocker, although hopefully with better time-management and more energy I'll exercise enough to eventually come off the beta blocker. I had a follow-up this week and asked the psychiatrist if he thinks I have ADHD. He was a little reluctant to say I definitely have it, that it's more of a clinical diagnosis and I could go do some tests with a computer or see a neuropsychiatrist for a more definitive diagnosis, but also didn't seem to think I really needed to do that. Still need either a formal letter from my primary care doctor or possibly the visit notes would suffice if she mentioned taking stimulants so he can prescribe them, but I'm really hoping they'll help.
I finished describing the behaviors I wanted help with to my first therapist and they said "ok, so you're here about your adhd." I had no idea I was adhd, I just thought I was a bad adult. Several second opinions and tests later...I'm definitely adhd.
What's sad about that is this line of thinking never went away for me. I have doubts it will.
I'm pretty sure most of us start by thinking were just bad adults... Or bad at being people... Or lazy at least.
It takes a while to process that you're actually not lazy or a bad human at all. You're just wired differently. Knowing that and getting help with it isn't a bad thing.
I’ve spent probably 30 years feeling like that