To think most online adult ADHD diagnoses are bullshit?

I don't want to rile you up op but could you maybe give me some advice - I suspect I have ADHD, I have 1 child diagnosed and another on the pathway. I don't suspect its a few quirks, my life is negatively affected as are my children's because of my struggles. I'm mid thirties and I'm considering giving up work because the struggle and stress just to get through each day leaves me absolutely wiped out and not fit for purpose. I've never been to a doctor or told anyone how I feel or how much I struggle but it's left me so low at times I just haven't wanted to he here. The reason I haven't been to the GP is for fear of not being believed, looking stupid. The reason I haven't gone private is for fear of people thinking I'm jumping on the bandwagon and hoping to get a label to make myself look cool. I'm stuck and frozen with fear that even if I was diagnosed now people still wouldn't believe me. Your post hit hard and sort of reinforced what I think others will be thinking about me.

Has anyone used ADHD-360? Any thoughts?

They are more affordable than Berkeley which was recommended on here, but I actually tend to agree with the OP's pov, and although I do have a strong feeling I might have ADHD, I don't want one of those 'paid for/bullsht' diagnoses as would rather get to the bottom of it!

@Catza

So you object to pay-to-diagnose companies for giving out the diagnosis but think you yourself are perfectly justified in diagnosing someone as NOT having it based on their social media post? Tell me how this works exactly

Menopause is known to exacerbate previously managed adhd. This post actually has been SO annoyed. OP you can seriously FO

I work privately and do online ADHD assessments (as part of an MDT where there is a face to face element ) and I’m also the responsible clinician for an NHS ADHD clinic. Many nhs staff also do this work privately to supplement nhs work.

There are goood private clinics and there are bad clinics. That’s all it is. Most people with a professional qualification would definitely not be doing anything that sits outside of NICE guidelines, far too risky, we would get struck off. If the assessment is cheaper than other websites and there’s no involvement at all from psychiatry or psychology it’s probably a bit rogue and it’s likely the nhs wouldn’t accept the diagnosis for any further treatment (any assessment needs to fit nice guidelines).

I would be reluctant to diagnose if no practitioner had seen the person face to face.

I've never heard ADHD being linked to mediocre intelligence, quite the opposite actually.

I don't think anyone these days can accept that life is hard and they just have a mediocre intellect

Completely agree. I'm finding that intellectual performance drops off sharply with age, for a lot of people including myself. I don't need a diagnosis, just a bit of peace and quiet.

I don't know if you're correct or not, but there was this report on the BBC last year which suggested some clinics were cashing in on greater visibility of ADHD and related conditions: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65534448

YABU. I am a doctor, I know several doctors who have been diagnosed on the NHS. ADHD traits connect well with medicine as a career eg as an A&E doctor I can jump from one task to another, constant high energy environment, little time to have to sit still and concentrate for a prolonged period etc. I can manage my job pretty well but it’s exhausting, my house is messy as all my mental energy goes into work and I constantly miss appointments, am late for other commitments etc. I never failed a single exam at medical school because I spent ages finding workarounds to help my concentration, such as mind mapping, careful choice of environment, studying later in the day when I was less distractible etc.

If you just saw me at work you might think “oh she doesn’t have ADHD” but trust me if you saw the full picture you would see I tick every box.

Agree with this.
im not sure OP is right but I understand. My life has literally been chaos and ADHD has negatively affected every single aspect from school to relationships to work to the state of my home. I find a lot of basic skills painfully difficult. It can be difficult when you see people who appear to have a busy but highly organised and successful life proclaiming the same diagnosis. But ultimately I can’t pretend to know the inner workings of their life and mind, and what everything is like away from social media.

You sound disappointed that you thought you weren't like other girls but now it looks like you might be.

Girlboss? OP how old are you? 🤣 Pathways - to what? Signed off, from what? Again whom exactly are you talking about? There seems to be some army of made up ADHD women living in your mind threatening your ADHD identity with their tidy homes - how sad.

Again, touchy goes with the territory of neurodivergence and generations of trauma. Have you considered that you might just be chaotic? You really don't seem to know what your talking about.

You are confusing prescription and street stimulants. Prescription stimulants don't work for non ADHDers, and DO NOT "make you feel good" (at least in the way you mean).

Which people OP? Are we talking generic people that exist in your mind? Or are you talking about yourself? Other people you know? Research studies?

ADHD is usually genetic, are you suggesting whole families have been misdiagnosed? What about going back one, two, three generations, women with hysteria who were quite clearly neurodivergent. In my family they were given electric shock treatment, so yes, I am touchy. Misdiagnosis is a scandal - but you're barking up the wrong tree here. I'm glad you don't think you're stupid because that means you have the capacity to learn.

Looking forward to more wisdom from the OP. Topics could include

If you can play sports, you're not asthmatic
If you don't have a wheelchair, you're not disabled
If you can see how many fingers I'm holding up, you can't be blind

So many more OP, don't limit yourself to one disability because let's be honest, none of them should be having any sort of life while 'claiming' to be disabled. Apart from you OP, because you're real but tbh if you stopped posting ill thought out rumblings on Mumsnet, you could actually be organising your life. I recommend getting up early and organising the day before anyone else wakes - no distractions, no excuses.

Maybe you're bitter that you're struggling and others seem to be doing a better job than you. If so, there's better ways to channel it than this.

I agree to an extent. I’ve said before on here that I wonder if ADHD symptoms in adults are just a symptom of modern life. If you’ve got a high stress job, raising children, running a home, and everything around it it’s little wonder we feel disorganised, drowning, and mentally pulled from pillar to post. Is it any wonder we become overwhelmed and procrastinate, or look for dopamine hits to fuel us? I don’t think that means that there’s something wrong with us. We’re reacting perfectly normally to an unnatural modern life.

I strongly disagree on OP’s correlation between ADHD and intelligence. My DB was diagnosed (NHS) in the 1980s. He was textbook, running round jumping off things, noisy, always in trouble at school, and having accidents due to his impulsivity. He ended up in rehab for substance and alcohol abuse in his early 20s. He sorted himself out and 10 years later had a PhD. He’s the most intelligent person I know.

I get what you are saying.
It's hard not to feel like shit when other people with the same condition seem to function so well when the condition literally is executive dysfunction.
I think it clearly manifests in different ways as it is a spectrum and for some people a diagnosis and treatment won't be as necessary as they can function.
There will be some people who are diagnosed that don't have it as it's based on self reporting. We can't pretend this is impossible.

@jimjamjames Have you accepted that you don't have ADHD then, if you've been assessed by psychiatrists and don't meet the criteria? Not hating, just curious about what happens after someone has sought assessment for a diagnosis thinking they have ADHD but turns out they don't?

www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/finding-purpose/202208/the-real-reason-everyone-seems-to-have-adhd-these-days?amp

This article sums up my opinion on it.
TLDR: There is a spectrum of executive performance and as our modern society places high demands on executive function it becomes more noticeable if yours is at the bottom end of the spectrum

What's it revealing?

Emotional dysregulation? Nah, that might make me neurodivergent. Us adhd-ers are known for flying off the handle at the slightest thing.

I note you seem very cool headed...don't take this the wrong way...but do you think it might be your diagnosis that's wrong?

I have ADHD, 3 degrees, a great job, why is it to do with low intellect?!

Hypertension affects 1 in 3 adults.

Almost 11% of women have asthma.

1 in 2 people will get cancer.

Are these things 'a norm'? No.

Plenty of people share the opinions that are bad and harmful, I am not sure what this proves.

OP didn't come here to talk about who shares their opinion, they came here to bash ADHD diagnoses that they consider less valid than their own because they are the protagonist of ADHD. It's harmful and ableist.

Ah the weekly ADHD bashing thread, where people diagnosed with ADHD don't actually have ADHD but are just 'a bit thick' and shit at life.