Increase in adult ADHD

[RH33]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001m0f9

 

[Richey Edwards]

ADHD sounds like the name of a party drug.

[No_Problemo]

3 hours ago, RH33 said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001m0f9

 

I’ve not watched this, though it is quite interesting - in terms of children there is a huge overlap in terms of kids with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, ADHD and those who have experienced trauma   - so there then can be a misdiagnosis as so many of the traits between them are so similar. I don’t imagine this would change in adulthood… 

[MarkoRaj]

Frustrating thing for me was that I had a psychologist in school. I was always doing stupid, impulsive stuff like shoplifting, setting fires, writing mentions in clear view of teachers. I had zero focus and was never ever able to do homework or studying whatsoever. However I didn't have any of the hyperactive stuff like shouting for attention in class, which seemed to be the main trigger for diagnosis. I also did well in exams in subjects I enjoy like maths without any studying so it somehow went under the radar.

I fucked about at uni for 3 years and was eventually flung out.

It was only when I lost a couple of jobs through silly stuff that I started to realise something wasn't right. I watched a couple of TV shows that said not everyone with ADHD has the hyperactivity side of it and it was a bit of a lightbulb moment.

I've recently started seeing a therapist for anxiety and she said that studies have shown the hyperactivity can be in the mind. That describes me to a T tbh, my brain is like a beehive of mayhem, I've normally got about 6 threads of stuff going on in different directions, all while my gf is trying to have a conversation with me. Drives her mad tbh

With the NHS being so useless, what's the best way of getting diagnosed? Anyone share any advice?

[RH33]

25 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

I’ve not watched this, though it is quite interesting - in terms of children there is a huge overlap in terms of kids with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, ADHD and those who have experienced trauma   - so there then can be a misdiagnosis as so many of the traits between them are so similar. I don’t imagine this would change in adulthood… 

Private clinics charging ££££ with a bored RMN running through questions, short video call with psyc and diagnosis of an adult. Kerching again   with the repeat private writing of prescriptions.

Whom full NHS assessment of 3 hrs concluded was not ADHD. This was an adult.

There's a reason education authorities won't accept private diagnosis, yes in part as it delays them having fund support but also if you're paying someone you're more likely to be told what you want to hear.

Edited August 28, 2023 by RH33

[alta-pete]

8 hours ago, Central Belt Caley said:

Reckon there’s a high chance I’ve got ADHD as I see a lot of the symptoms in myself. My GP is hopeless though so not even going to try and bother finding out if I do have it 

I’m kinda on the same page here - I do not mean to demean those suffering, but - once a diagnosis is obtained, what then? Everyone has different struggles in their life, developing their own resilience in dealing with them probably goes a long way towards managing them. 

[Don Diego De la Vega]

How many kids with adhd does it take to change a light bulb?

 

Let's ride bikes!

[parsforlife]

11 hours ago, alta-pete said:

I’m kinda on the same page here - I do not mean to demean those suffering, but - once a diagnosis is obtained, what then? Everyone has different struggles in their life, developing their own resilience in dealing with them probably goes a long way towards managing them. 

I think one of the benefits of diagnosis is that it can be used as a way to point you in the direction of different strategies to help deal which you can use to build your resilience. I guess the later in life you are the less need for some to get a diagnosis as they have already built up their own ways of handling it.

As someone without ADHD but with other diagnosis I’m glad I did have them diagnosed as a child as it was hard enough fighting for a way that allowed me to complete tasks with something to back me up.  Had to argue till I was blue in the face that it wasn’t just a case of me doing it how they wanted but try harder, f**k knows how I’d have got on with no diagnosis.

only once had to fight my corner in the workplace , they backdown pretty quickly but again it would have been harder without a diagnosis.

Reality is don’t be a dick mentality hasn’t been taken on by enough people and you need something solid to smack them over the head with.

Edited August 29, 2023 by parsforlife

[Sergeant Wilson]

How do you feel if you don't get any diagnosis, even in today's environment.

"What have I got Doc, ADHD, Dyslexia, OCD, Autism, Aspergers...?

No, all the tests are back and point to you being a thick, objectionable c**t. Try not to mix with the community, everybody will hate you.

Goodbye."

[hk blues]

44 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

How do you feel if you don't get any diagnosis, even in today's environment.

"What have I got Doc, ADHD, Dyslexia, OCD, Autism, Aspergers...?

No, all the tests are back and point to you being a thick, objectionable c**t. Try not to mix with the community, everybody will hate you.

Goodbye."

So, how did you feel?

[Sergeant Wilson]

16 minutes ago, hk blues said:

So, how did you feel?

Best advice I ever had, I've avoided other people like the plague since.

[throbber]

My sister is getting tested for it and is fairly certain she has it - my mum is trying to convince me into being tested for that and autism as she’s fairly certain I’m on the spectrum. I don’t see the point in finding these things out, I’m nearly 37 and it’s not as if finding this out is going to help me in any way. 

[Sergeant Wilson]

10 minutes ago, throbber said:

My sister is getting tested for it and is fairly certain she has it - my mum is trying to convince me into being tested for that and autism as she’s fairly certain I’m on the spectrum. I don’t see the point in finding these things out, I’m nearly 37 and it’s not as if finding this out is going to help me in any way. 

It would help the rest of us understand the shite you put on here.

[Raithie]

23 hours ago, Craig fae the Vale said:

My wife is undiagnosed but has a myriad of symptoms. She's convinced she has it, and it seems pretty likely.

My wife also.

Wives sister (in her mid 30's) was diagnosed with ADHD only a few years ago and is now on medication which she can forget to take from time to time. The difference in her when on and off the medication is absolutely insane to the point when she phones her sister you can tell within about 5 seconds if she's taken them or not. Her two kids are now being investigated for ADHD as well.

[throbber]

18 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

It would help the rest of us understand the shite you put on here.

I suppose social media addiction doesn’t help my case.

[Boo Khaki]

16 hours ago, MarkoRaj said:

Frustrating thing for me was that I had a psychologist in school. I was always doing stupid, impulsive stuff like shoplifting, setting fires, writing mentions in clear view of teachers. I had zero focus and was never ever able to do homework or studying whatsoever. However I didn't have any of the hyperactive stuff like shouting for attention in class, which seemed to be the main trigger for diagnosis. I also did well in exams in subjects I enjoy like maths without any studying so it somehow went under the radar.

I fucked about at uni for 3 years and was eventually flung out.

It was only when I lost a couple of jobs through silly stuff that I started to realise something wasn't right. I watched a couple of TV shows that said not everyone with ADHD has the hyperactivity side of it and it was a bit of a lightbulb moment.

I've recently started seeing a therapist for anxiety and she said that studies have shown the hyperactivity can be in the mind. That describes me to a T tbh, my brain is like a beehive of mayhem, I've normally got about 6 threads of stuff going on in different directions, all while my gf is trying to have a conversation with me. Drives her mad tbh

With the NHS being so useless, what's the best way of getting diagnosed? Anyone share any advice?

I think this is undoubtedly a factor in the number of people being diagnosed as adults. It wasn't so long ago that there was a perception that you couldn't possibly have an attention deficit disorder unless you were a disruptive car-crash at school, left with no qualifications etc

It simply isn't true, because like you say, that's just a stereotype of one particular variation that comes with the hyperactivity.

Mrs Khaki is prototypical female ADHD, but she did ok as school and holds down a good job, so it's never been noticed by education and so on. TBH, in her case I don't think a diagnosis would necessarily be entirely helpful for her, but she does have a couple of other conditions that I think the ADHD exacerbates and compounds, so if anything, the diagnosis might open up certain treatment paths that wouldn't be available otherwise.

"Car crash" is the term that epitomises it for me. She's perfectly bright, a lot more clever than she lets on in fact, but it's simple, "stupid" stuff that she can't cope with. She loses her house keys inside her home every single day, she can't do anything like booking a train without having a colossal meltdown, she can't even set an alarm clock because she ends up in sensory overload worrying about whether or not she's set it to the correct time or not, so she'll set it for an 'arbitrary' time like 7:18am, then snooze it for ten mins, the clock itself will permanently be running 18 minutes fast or something, then she'll get up and run for the bus because she's late. It all looks like total chaos from the outside looking in, but it's her way of coping with the mayhem in her head. 

[coprolite]

Not endorsing this tool or anything but some people might be interested. 

https://adhduk.co.uk/adult-adhd-screening-survey/

I absolutely pissed the test and apparently have no attention capacity at all. But it's all work related questions and i'm fairly certain it's just identified that my job is boring af. 

[Granny Danger]

4 minutes ago, coprolite said:

Not endorsing this tool or anything but some people might be interested. 

https://adhduk.co.uk/adult-adhd-screening-survey/

I absolutely pissed the test and apparently have no attention capacity at all. But it's all work related questions and i'm fairly certain it's just identified that my job is boring af. 

I got bored after the second question.

[throbber]

6 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

I got bored after the second question.

I think you have a personality disorder.  

[throbber]

2 hours ago, Boo Khaki said:

It simply isn't true, because like you say, that's just a stereotype of one particular variation that comes with the hyperactivity.

I had the misfortune of working alongside a guy who had a very clear case of ADHD (and probably several other mental health issues including drug abuse) and if he was the benchmark for adhd nothing that anyone has described on here comes close to it. The guy couldn’t go more than 30 seconds without getting distracted and doing something ridiculous, he had one of these handheld foghorn things and he’d sneak up on people and blast it in their ears, would hide tools so people couldn’t do work and pinch peoples phones and run away with them. I’m getting traumatised even talking about it.