I was diagnosed with adult ADHD AMA

[IhaveADHD]

Hello!

I'm 37 years old and was diagnosed 3 months ago with ADHD. This is after a few years of depression and anxiety all linked to not understanding me and being frustrated that I seemed to think differently to others.

Please ask me anything - even if you think it doesn't exist! I'm here to answer :)

Hi OP,

This is a great thread. I'm suspicious that I may have ADHD - have had it suggested to me as well as thinking it myself, but it's hard to be clear headed as I suffer badly from depression and anxiety.

My sleep pattern has been awful all my life - chronic insomniac episodes followed by a few days of not being able to get out of bed. I obsess about things a lot, am an excessive worrier and my mind doesn't stop. Like you I can't just watch tv or a film I have to be doing other things at the same time because I just feel restless. I talk a lot, I'm very spontaneous (once I got on a train to Scotland to see my boyfriend for two days - for context I live in the South West).

There's loads and loads of little types of behaviour from me but I don't know if it's an anxiety thing or if something else is going on. Thank you for your post - I'll keep reading to see if what you say matches anything else I tend to do. Half the time I feel very erratic and crazy!

Stewpots that is certainly some symptoms and ADHD can come hand in hand with anxiety. It's why I was behaved at school, too anxious not to be

This video is very funny but also informative

OP - thanks for this post. My DS1 (28) has ADHD and it has derailed his life. He is very intelligent so wasn't picked up as SEN at school. He couldn't cope with uni and can't really cope with being away from home. He has his own flat but has never had a job and I have to do all his paperwork.

He can never be alone and is often watching TV plus fiddling with a laptop at the same time.

Tbh he drives me nuts but resists all suggestions and won't keep up with the adult ADHD clinic.

Violets - oh yes I can't watch TV just on its own have to be on my TV too.

Has he tried any meds ?

I was assessed for ADHD before reaching a diagnosis of Asperger's when I was 11 or so. I'm not convinced I don't have ADHD. Do you know if the two can or often do coincide?

What would you recommend for getting a diagnosis on top of another diagnosis?

For example, the longest essay I've ever been able to write is a mere 2 pages...

I find it painfully difficult to follow anything at length. To complete tasks. To not flit between hundreds of different things etc. My mind is always running but never getting anything done properly. Do you feel like that?

Also have depression.

I was going to ask the same - about the overlap between inattentive ADHD and Asperger’s

I have thought for some time that I may have ADHD. I can definitely relate to the not being able to watch TV without doing something else at the same time thing. My mind just feels very jumpy, constantly flitting from one thing to another.

Having to sit still for any length of time and concentrate, for example in a long meeting at work, is simply torture. I've deliberately avoided office based work as I've done this in the past and felt like a battery hen (I do a field based role, so I can control where I am and what I am doing to a greater extent)

OP is it worth pursuing a diagnosis do you think? What have been the advantages for you of being diagnosed? And do you think I need to go private to get diagnosed?