To think this is real adult ADHD and not part of a trend

[ReadyTeddyGoooo]

I'm 35 and I've had anxiety since childhood. Over the years, I've had times where it has been extremely complex and debilitating. I've had both NHS and private therapy and been on meds for a long time. I have severe health anxiety linked to ocd. I have a panic disorder and have also had pnd twice.

My 4 year old son is going through the assessment process for adhd. Since researching it for him, I've discovered that I could also have it. Obviously it's highly hereditary so it would make sense.

However, since exploring adhd, it seeks to have become over saturised on social media it seems and could almost be seen as a trend. There seems to be a lot if people getting diagnosed and it makes me wonder, do this number of people actually have adhd?

I had an appointment with a psychiatrist coming up primarily for my anxiety problems but I do also want to talk about adhd with her. But don't want her to think that I'm just jumping on the bandwagon with it.

I feel I do have adhd because...
I'm terrible at time keeping and I'm always running late.
My house is chaotic. There's little order and I lose things all the time.
I can be quite reckless in some ways, e.g. parking where I shouldn't and getting fines.
I leave everything to the last minute. Especially things that seem too overwhelming. Even my wedding - it was somewhat a rushed job.
I find big shops snd supermarkets very overwhelming. If there's too much choice and things to look at, I just flounder.
I have mind chatter and songs plating in my head a lot! Constant ideas too. I dart from one thing to the next.
I rarely finish projects.
I've never been great at reading books, I feel like I don't have the patience.

Does this sound like proper adult ashd?

I feel sad that women from my generation who are undiagnosed got such a kicking growing up, perceived as messy, unfeminine, disorganised', naughty, clumsy, selfish, lazy etc when we were trying our best to swim against the tide.
And now there's an explanation, and, as noted, it's often because our children have inherited the condition and are picked up quicker, particularly if you have boys, people like Jenny come along and invalidate it for no good reason.
Btw 'Jenny' I've worked in education for my whole adult life and know that school admins have bugger all training or expertise on the matter. I'm not surprised you are not one anymore with the lack of empathy you display. Oh and I notice it's ok for your condition, asd, to be real, but everyone else is a faker.
Oh and I have asd/ADHD overlap before you start crying out that I'm discriminating against you.

I've asked you twice, and others have asked you also, for the proof of the stats you are tossing around this thread luke so much confetti.

Until I can read them, I remain unconvinced by your fervent venom.

"I've never been great at reading books, I feel like I don't have the patience".

I use audible for audio books and multi task whilst listening. Otherwise I can't concentrate.

With a book I read the words, I can repeat the words I've read without taking the meaning in. I need more stimulation to absorb the text.

Audio books are actually a good technique for getting going with adhd. Not being able to start (or finish) a task is a big thing. Lots of stimulation from various sources helps give the brain what it needs to function for a short time.

You can clean the house, or drive, I even watch TV whilst listening. Fast brains needs so much stimulation to function.

Johann Hari too. And read the two articles by Sami Timmimi that I posted upstream.

I should add key to my diagnosis was my behaviour in childhood. I was that child. The one constantly being excluded, always in trouble. Very frustrated and angry at times, bored, restless unless I had the right book.
Back in the 80s you would have easily been able to pick me out of the entire school as that child.

I think I might have ADHD - and I think my dad does too. I can't pursue a proper diagnosis though and I'm not sure what the point would be anyway. I do feel that if I pushed for one, it might be seen as following a trend but that doesn't mean I DON'T have it!

It's been told to me by my GP, I didn't ask for him to provide me with printouts.

No where have I given out any 'venom'. Having a different opinion isn't 'venom'.

I really hope the medical profession isnt getting it wrong 95% of the time! Particularly when our rates are similar to most other countries.

I have ADHD and ASD. I do finish books , usually the same day I start them and don’t sleep so my anxiety gets triggered by lack of rest. My house looks immaculate but my cupboards are like war zones and there are things in my shed that should have gone in a skip 20 years ago. I don’t drive , I can’t , people would die because my mind is always somewhere else . Somehow I’ve stumbled through to a postgraduate degree and been a good mother but honestly I cringe at how awkward and weird I am. I have one typical child and one that’s like me and it’s so obvious when you have this type of comparison in front of you. There’s no trend , it’s just that a good chunk of the population have these ‘fast, restless minds ‘ and now they have a name for it . They were probably just called ‘odd’ before .

Maybe you should have said that at the beginning then, instead of coming up with numbers that can't be verified.

And yes, it does come across as venomous when you claim superiority of experience and knowledge on a condition you don't have yourself or have any sliver of training in, and attempt to undermine women's experiences with fake statistics. You've not come across well here, at all, despite the fact that your concern may well be genuine.

I do find it interesting that the cases of ADHD/ADD/ODD shot up as soon as proper discipline fell out of favour. I wanted to comment on that but figured I'd be pilloried for it. However I will say the correlation is interesting.

Btw 'Jenny'

Jennifer is actually my real first name, but you do you.

I've worked in education for my whole adult life and know that school admins have bugger all training or expertise on the matter.

I never said we/they did. But we are/were the ones who had to dole the medication out.

I'm not surprised you are not one anymore with the lack of empathy you display.

On the contrary, I had real empathy for the kids. I think it is those like you who don't even stop to think of the harm, who are the ones who are without empathy. Your post is quite ironic. I see people like you as being compassionless and without empathy and not deep, critical thinkers.

Oh and I notice it's ok for your condition, asd, to be real, but everyone else is a faker.

Yes, fair enough, I did think about that. As someone in my group said recently when discussing this, they feel bad because it's almost as if we're shutting the gates/pulling up the ladder after we've been diagnosed. However that doesn't mean it isn't majorly over-diagnosed.

You genuinely think you're not coming off as venomous, when you dismiss what others say, because it goes against what you believe? I find your posts not just venomous, but very smug and arrogant.

What do you hope to get out of a diagnosis other than wasting the time of an overstretched doctor?

The NHS is on its knees it can't unfortunately be the national mental health service for every ladt minir complaint. The problem is amidst the sea of anxious but well folks, how to help all those poor souls who do have conditions that could be managed better to their own benefit and the benefit of society.

Well using your own logic, Jennifer, I could argue that asd people don't lie and tend to remember facts so therefore your own condition is attention seeking fakery.
Luckily I know it's more complex than that and I also know you can have asd and still demonstrate unpleasant personality that's unlinked, just like any other person

I wish people would use common sense when considering why there is a surge in people seeking diagnosis. It doesn't mean it's the new 'in thing' to have (no-one would want it!) It means that five decades worth of people are coming forward at once because there never used to be a diagnosis for it. Growing awareness that something can be done has people realising they no longer have to live like this, having put up with it for decades. It doesn't mean they are making it up. It means there's a lifetime's backlog of diagnoses as they didn;t exist years ago.

You can't substantiate the statistics you are sharing here, @JennyNotFromTheBlock . I find that problematic.

I also know you can have asd and still demonstrate unpleasant personality

As you've proven.

One of my friends is a world renowned expert in adhd and autism. And I appreciate you may not believe me because its MN but it is the case. And her expert, many years of study, opinions are extremely different to yours.

One of her areas of study is the under diagnosing of women and girls, due to research having focused previously on boys.

It however does not suprise me that your GP may think that women and girls starting to get diagnosed more routinely after being ignored all these years is 'misdiagnosis'. I mean it's not like the medical profession has a reputation for being sexist etc!

The fact that adult women are having to seek diagnosis now is essentially because schools and medical experts let them down as children (which is more scientist and medical experts faults that schools to be fair, they were operating on the advice they had) So funnily enough a GP not being willing to admit that it's been done wrong in the past, and blaming it on 'social contagion rather than previous 'medical/scientific ineptitude' isn't really proof people are misdiagnosed...

@JennyNotFromTheBlock I think the point on discipline is interesting I am old enough to have gone to school in a time when I was caned starting age 5. I had the ruler across the hand at 4 etc. Real punishment. It hurt.
I really tried to fit in and behave and I didn't succeed. My the time I was a teen, I went to a religious school and to regularly pray in front of the whole school for forgiveness - a brilliant punishment for a teen as it was so humiliating.
Nothing changed my behaviour - I was still that child, one of the worst 5 in a school of a thousand.
But there were probably 5 of us with real issues in my school.
You are absolutely entitled to your opinion. I was wondering if you thought that with old-fashioned discipline more children can pay attention and behave?

I think this is a key point.
Its the same for asd, there has been a massive increase in diagnosis but its been in quite an old age group and more females. So its not getting more prevelant in children. Its a backlog of 45-70 year olds.

There are also people who are 'experts' in Transgender issues and 'gender identity'. Or anything. It doesn't mean anything other than justifying their grants/position.

My GP never said specifically about women being misdiagnosed, rather about everyone, male or female, being misdiagnosed.

Maybe you should be less bitter and go and get a real qualification in it if you are so.surr about it Jennifer.

@TenPointsFromHufflepuff Having the temerity to have a difference of opinion from the tide doesn't make me 'bitter', I think you are projecting your own resentment of someone else daring to have a different opinion to you.

Anyway I have so much to do unfortunately and I am stalling, so, have a good day everyone.

I think it is a bit of a trend tbh.

I also have OCD which I have been under the care of psychiatrists for, and have gone through multiple counseling courses and different drugs for. I was in particular trouble after birth of my daughter. Now it's largely controlled by medication.

I also have difficulties you list. I don't think it's ADHD, I just need to get my arse in gear. The OCD diagnosis helped to identify my thought patterns but I don't see how an ADHD label will help.