this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
28 points (100.0% liked)
ADHD
9669 readers
191 users here now
A casual community for people with ADHD
Values:
Acceptance, Openness, Understanding, Equality, Reciprocity.
Rules:
- No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments.
- No porn, gore, spam, or advertisements allowed.
- Do not request for donations.
- Do not link to other social media or paywalled content.
- Do not gatekeep or diagnose.
- Mark NSFW content accordingly.
- No racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, or ageism.
- Respectful venting, including dealing with oppressive neurotypical culture, is okay.
- Discussing other neurological problems like autism, anxiety, ptsd, and brain injury are allowed.
- Discussions regarding medication are allowed as long as you are describing your own situation and not telling others what to do (only qualified medical practitioners can prescribe medication).
Encouraged:
- Funny memes.
- Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
- Questions on confusing situations.
- Seeking and sharing support.
- Engagement in our values.
Relevant Lemmy communities:
lemmy.world/c/adhd will happily promote other ND communities as long as said communities demonstrate that they share our values.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I haven't been diagnosed. When I finally got an appointment to see the psychiatrist and said, "My cousin has ADHD; here are her symptoms; I have all the same symptoms; do I have ADHD?" she told me that those symptoms are also indicative of an anxiety disorder, which I definitely have, so she couldn't give a diagnosis until my anxiety is under control.
So that's where I am. I try to address my anxiety and the rest of it is in the wind.
I find this so frustrating. Because the ADHD can cause anxiety to be worse so by just addressing the anxiety you aren't addressing the whole picture. At least offer some testing/ off label non stimulant options.
Well, I wanted to avoid medication if possible anyway; I'm more interested in behavioral modification. But I wanted to know.
Dr Russell Barkley, a respected researcher in the field of ADHD, basically states that there is a chemical deficiency in your brain that makes it physically impossible for it to simply 'be' better, and that things like behavior modification have been shown to be helpful... almost exclusively when the subject is also on medication. And even when environmental changes can make a difference, it tends to fall on those close to the ADHDer to help set up those accommodations, at least with children. However, with adults there exist the same struggles, just to a /slightly/ lesser extent.
Fair enough but you should be able to undergo testing/evaluation without monetary or personal hurdles.
Too right. I'm happy to say that the therapist I ended up with is great at helping me with my anxiety and communication issues, and supports my desire to receive evaluation for ADHD; she's just not qualified to perform that evaluation.