Psychiatrist very dismissive. Feel angry but don't know how to voice it.

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

I was referred several weeks ago by my GP for an assessment to determine whether or not I have ADHD.

I strongly suspect I do.

This was an NHS referral BTW.

After waiting for a good few weeks I got an appointment with the duty officer and poured my heart out to him. He said that the psychiatrist would have a look over the notes he had written and make the assessment then.

I waited to hear from them for 7 weeks before losing patience and phoning up. The receptionist said there would be a letter sent out to me that day.

3 days later I got a very short letter stating that the psychiatrist didn't think I have ADHD.

Am I right in feeling let-down and angry? I feel as though I have puredmy heart out to total strangers and have just being promptly dropped like a tonne of bricks. I don't like the way it's being handled at all. How can this psychiatrist diagnose me when he hasn't even spoken to me?

Now I need to go back to my own GP, to be patronised again and try and get a referral to an ADHD specialist where at least I can trust the diagnosis- good or bad.

I'm just so angry and don't know what to do next.

[autodidact]

I'm sorry to hear this.

Ime, diagnosis of adult adhd is in its infancy in many mental health teams and is consequently not always handled well. Depending on mental health needs in your area, getting adults diagnosed can be also be seen as fairly non-urgent in the context of frequent crisis referrals coming in. Clearly this is not an excuse for bad practice though. I think you might need to call the team again and/or approach your GP and say you want to see the psychiatrist or a psychologist directly. You are very unlikely to be referred to a specialist unless the mental health team agree it. What are you hoping to gain from a diagnosis? Do you want treatment?

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

Yes I have been warned of the difficulties in obtaining a diagnosis and I thought I was prepared for a fight but I just don't know where to turn now TBH.

All I want is to be told- from an expert/specialist- that yes, I do have ADHD, or no, I don't. If I am diagnosed then I would like some treatment and therapy.

I just feel totally dismissed and let down by them.

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

Sorry, I forgot to ask you- what do you mean 'in your experience'?

[Earlybird]

Genuine question from someone who doesn't know about the condition (forgive me) - what can be done for an adult diagnosed with ADHD?

I agree you haven't been treated well, but as a basic query - what help do you think you need/are you hoping for?

Another (perhaps ignorant) question - are there any self-help books that could help you find a strategy to cope better?

[autodidact]

I work in mental health.

I think your best bet is to ring the team again and ask for an appointment with the psychiatrist. If the duty worker can't help ask to speak to the team leader.

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

Children with ADHD grow up to be adults with the condition. It doesn't end in adolescence. It can go on to cause a great many problems and many adults with undiagnosed ADHD end up under-achieving, depressed and having problems with drink, relationships, addictions and drugs.

Treatment involves taking stimulant medication and/or therapy and can turn a person with ADHD's life around.

Self-help books are hard for a person with ADHD to get along with and as it's a chemical 'problem' within the brain it doesn't really address how a person with ADHD functions.

here is some info

and here is a very good website for support and info

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

Thanks autodidact, you don't happen to live near North Wales do you?

[bigstripeytiger]

I agree that it would be worth contacting the team and asking for more information.

You say that you dont see how the psychiatrist could diagnose you having not seen you, were you diagnosed with anything?

With regards to the ADHD it sounds from what you say that screening questions were asked, and that was felt that was enough for the team to not investigate further?

What outcome were you hoping for?
ADHD can be difficult to diagnose, and so even if it was felt that ADHD was likely that might be as certain as anyone was prepared to be, rather than saying that it was 100% certain that you had ADHD.
Also, what treatment were you hoping for - typically any treatment offered to adults would be medication, rather than psychotherapy - did you have any particular therapy in mind?

[autodidact]

No, nowhere near, TheBreastmilksOnMe.
Good luck.

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

I have just been diagnosed as not having ADHD and the questions that were asked of me were my history from a young child up to the present. They didn't give me any of the assessment questions that you have to fill out for a diagnosis for ADHD. I've forgotten the name of them now, someting like DVii or something. If I was diagnosed I would like to start on medication combined with psycotherapy. Don't now what sort but that I would imagine would be sorted out at a later date.

[aegeansky]

Sorry that you are feeling like this. I can see how sometimes it can feel desperately important to get the diagnosis that we feel is relevant.

But could you look at it another way? What about if the psychiatrist is right? That you don't have ADHD? In that case, you won't be taking meds that are irrelevant and that might even harm you.

There may, of course, be another problem, but that doesn't mean that a neat diagnosis (the one you were expecting) is the best outcome.

Perhaps you could go back to the psychiatrist for an explanation of how to make sense of your symptoms if you don't have ADHD?