Could I have adhd? Maybe something else . Maybe nothing? (title edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

[Whyohwhy99]

So from my other thread several people mentioned possible ADHD so i'm going to message my GP but i wanted to type everything here about how i think things i avoid etc
Incase theres other suggestions or thoughts so I can mention it to the gp. Obviously not everything mumsnet says but if i think it could make sense. So here gos.

I try and avoid people coming to my house even if theres no choice.. examples are gas checks. Theres an appointment made. I then change it to a later date. Then they come to the door and I don't answer. Then bits rebooted I avoid again. Until I get warnings. Same with electric checks. My garden door lock has broken so I can't lock it. I have left it for over a year because I don't want to let anyone in.. same with a small leak /drip under my 2nd bath. Its been like it for years. Got got any worse over time so I think its a slow drip and only when shower/bath is in use. I avoid GP as much as possible. I got really ill at one point. To the point i couldn't breath properly stand couldn't get to the toilet at some points i thought i could die. Runs deep. But i avoided GP then as well. I have got a bit better with GP as its message and over the phone. But i still get scared they may ask to see me. I was meant to go for a blood test but didn't go.

Socially i only have 1 friend its not a close friendship maybe see her 3 or 4 times. She has been in my house a few times. But i still feel worried. Which i can't explain. Shes asked me to go out for her birthday a few times. But i always say no. I can manage a 121 chat with the friend as I have known her for 19 years. If a 3rd person comes along. I instantly remove myself .

I don't like being on buses /public transport. But I have no choice some of the time.

I can't do small talk. I feel nervous and kind of get knots inside.

With other more practical things mainly in the house. I will do a wash and leave it in the machine for 2 or 3 days then i have to rewash. That can then end up in the machine longer than it should be. In the mean time more washing is piling up and I'm going in circles.

Dishwasher is simlar load it cleam it. Don't put things away. End up with dirty plates ovet the work top because Dishwasher is full of clean stuff.

Have 2 hidden bins in only put a bin liner in one so only 1 can be used. That gets full and I start using carrier bags for rubbish.

When I'm tidying /decorating/ etc I kind of do to much at once in my head it all makes sense and all straight forward. But then once I'm doing things it changes. Examples i will leave my kitchen in a mess. And go to build a bed. Then I may come down stairs for something alan key for example. But I don't keep things in normal places so this Alan key could be anywhere. So thats apart of it to I have stuff in random places.
Whilst down stairs i decide to start cleaning/sorting the kitchen. Then my mind gos back to what I was doing up stairs so then I leave the kitchen .

I think theres more to explain or a better way maybe but I can't think clearly.

So i want to explain this to my gp in a message but obviously I can't write it like this. Even though this would be my natural way. I don't know how to explain it.

I don't know if it was you or another poster, but I remember another thread a few months ago where someone wanted to contact their old SN school and find out what their diagnosis/difficulties were back then. I think unfortunately they had just passed the cut off where records had been destroyed. If you are younger than 30, it might be worth a try? But I am guessing if you have adult children you are older than this.

I'm 99.9% sure that it will be no surprise to the GP. I'm not being unkind when I say that but I very much doubt you blend as much as you say you do, especially if you went to special school as a child.

This is what other people often don't understand, I find. When you're growing up the only "normality" you know is the one you're living. It's sometimes only much later in life that you start to really see the differences between your own life and what's generally seen as "normal", and to understand the toll it has on your wellbeing.

Why does anyone get access to special school, its because they have some sort of SEN, doesnt need a diagnosis.

OP may not remember or it might not have been made specifically clear for her.

Do you blend in with others?

Not much! But I've found my people who accept me for who I am and I've learned that those who don't aren't worth my time.

Oops i meant to say do you mean blend within people. I lnow what im trying to ask. Its to do with the ither message. But I have lost the words i need.

Some times its better to have a couple of friends who understand you asca person. Rather than lots who don't get it.

If you went to a special school you have some kind of diagnosis. I know you’re not sure what that is but the GP might be able to help you figure that out from past records etc

If i have no one told me 😔

Tell the GP you went to special school.

She might do, she might not

The old SEN statment is the same as the EHCP in terms of what its duties are and it doesnt need a diagnosis. It just needs a level of need that a mainstream setting without extra supports cant support. So even if the child goes to mainstream there will be things needed to allow the child to thrive there.

Could you Google the school you went to and see what it says?

Considering how few special schools there were when the OP would have been going to school I think she would have had to have very significant difficulties to be eligible

Are you in contact with your parents @Whyohwhy99 ? Could they give you any information?

They are both dead.

I'm sorry to hear that. Is the school still running?

There is very effective treatment (medication) for ADHD. You are only allowed to have tbe medication if you have a diagnosis. ADHD also has several significant and mental and physical health comorbidities, which can potentially be avoided by getting treatment. ADHD is the only health condition I can think of where people routinely advise others not to bother with a diagnosis. It is dangerous advice.

No i don't think so.

No its the other way round, it was much easier to get into a special school years ago, there are very few now. Most schools are mainstream with an SEN 'unit' or 'pod' type thing so that childfren are nearly always deemed as being able to manage in mainstream but with the support on site.

Yes, people did go to special schools without specific needs being identified. Two of my cousins went to special school and they were fairly 'normal' adults with no very obvious needs. Whereas most kids in special school today will have obvious needs as adults, too.

Apologies then, I’m in Ireland not the UK but I would have thought that SEN provision would have been similar in the 80s. But regardless of a diagnosis there would have had to be documented needs I would have thought? As in you don’t randomly attend a special school

I didn't say it needed a diagnosis. I asked why they attended a special school because if these traits aren't new then that would mean different advice might be given by posters.

Something just came in my head that I wanted to ask. When I go to gp would they do things like blood tests or anything like that?

They might do some general bloods because anaemia and vitamin deficiencies can cause or worsen cognitive difficulties and brain fog symptoms, fatigue, etc., that are often symptoms of ADHD.