To wonder if I actually have ADHD after all?

[FlipsFlops]

I was diagnosed with ADHD last year at a private clinic after getting nowhere with the NHS. I did a fair bit of research and went to a named psychiatrist who specialises in treating ADHD and went in with an open mind not necessarily expecting a diagnosis.

Somewhat to my surprise I was diagnosed very quickly (I'd filled in lots of very lengthy forms before my assessment and off the back of that was told I was a clear cut case), and strongly encouraged to try medication (I haven't yet).

It's taken a bit of courage to tell family and friends - some have been supportive, some a bit sceptical ("but you seem completely normal?" "yeah I've seen all those TikTok videos too").

I still struggle a bit accepting the diagnosis and am prone to beating myself up about it (it's not ADHD, I'm just lazy, don't try hard enough, etc...).

Then I've seen this BBC news report today about the "ADHD private diagnosis scandal" suggesting people are being diagnosed by private clinics who don't actually have ADHD.

ADHD: Private clinics exposed by BBC undercover investigation - BBC News

Have I just been taken in by all the TikTok nonsense (even though I don't use TikTok) and exploited by an industry trying to sell me expensive drugs?

Or do I have a genuine neurological condition that's being called into question by journalists looking to turn everything into a some kind of scandal?

I don't honestly know what to think any more.

The answer to this is, pursue the NHS assessment! I think there is a scandal waiting to break though. If ADHD were so prevalent in society, then surely it ceases to become a ‘disorder’?
There’s big money to be made by unscrupulous clinicians and pharma out of peddling what are in effect class A drugs.

Are you still on the waiting list for an NHS assessment? I'd not rely just on the private diagnosis
My son is 13 months into a wait for NHS referral as his behaviours are suspected wider than "just" ADHD so whilst would be good to know if he does have ADHD worry the private diagnosis route is too narrow and focused on diagnosing ADHD rather than ruling it out
Are these people/centres offering private diagnoses even regulated?
Definitely watching tonight

Try the meds. I do have ADHD and was diagnosed privately (by a psychiatrist who also worked for the NHS and who I trust) and the medication was life changing for me.

I also had to have forms filled in from someone who knew me from childhood though - my DM did it and had no doubts at all!

also though I was excluded from school at 15, mostly because I couldn’t stop talking and then kept forgetting to go to detentions for said talking… so there definitely signs there prior to adulthood 😄

who filled in yours for you OP?

Also, I went straight into NHS for meds so no money there from “selling expensive drugs”.

I don't like the spin that's been put on this, as the reality is that adhd is under diagnosed and waiting lists, including now for private assessments, are getting longer. You have symptoms indicative of adhd therefore you have a diagnosis. You're not just lazy. I was diagnosed last year (on top of an asd diagnosis) and the validation is huge. The meds have transformed my life.

If the psychiatrist who works for the NHS, and also privately, worked purely for the NHS, would the waiting lists come down at a quicker rate? Or am I missing something?

OP I’m in a quandary about this too. I was just about to book a private appointment but have now been put right off. But the symptoms are really affecting my life so I don’t want to wait years on the NHS 😔 Don’t know what to do now.

The meds don't work for everyone as meds usually go. But for those they do it's changed their lives. Always worth a go

The key part of the article linked from that one for me was this:

”the effect of such trauma can sometimes manifest itself into symptoms similar to ADHD.”

Some of those children and adults I know who have had recent diagnoses have also suffered enormous trauma (DV particularly) and I do wonder how much is a trauma response rather than ADHD. Though support and treatment pathways may end up being the same I worry some aren’t being helped to address the root cause of their symptoms.

Just as with other MH conditions there's very much a range. The NHS threshold for diagnosis is very high, whereas privately it seems its a bit lower but those people are still affected and many would still benefit from medication. It's sort of self selecting private really, you're unlikely to spend a fair amount of money unless you're fairly sure there's something going on. I'd try the meds personally and get on the wait list for NHS.

Seek out an NHS assessment.

It's been well known for a while that some psychiatrists have been making a lot of money on shoddy private assessments but if you ever dared mentioned that on MN you were shot down as a liar and threads were deleted for being ableist.

I'm glad panorama have looked into it. It's been going on way too long.

It should all be the same threshold. DSM-V diagnostic criteria for ADHD in adults is very clear.

I'm exactly the same as you OP - got privately diagnosed recently and am now wondering if the clinic that did it is like those mentioned in the report.

Some of those children and adults I know who have had recent diagnoses have also suffered enormous trauma (DV particularly) and I do wonder how much is a trauma response rather than ADHD.

This is partly me, although I did show ADHD behaviour as a child.

It's hard to know what to think tbh.

I think that could be the case if all consultants only did NHS work I suppose and there wasn’t a private healthcare system.

As it happens, the organisation I use now have an NHS Right to Choose contract, which means I don’t pay for ongoing apts anymore and neither do the other patients that come through the NHS. That has obviously increased waiting list though and I’m sure some patients still go privately to speed it up.

What I’m saying though, is that if you use private drs who also work in the NHS and who are assessing using the same criteria then it’s the same assessment. However, private medical apts of any kind usually have much longer consultation slots so there is time to get a much more detailed history and to consider co-morbidities.

It is a scandal. And what happens is people get a private diagnosis, pay for private prescriptions which are expensive and then try to get into an NHS service where their diagnosis is not upheld and then they put in complaints about the NHS and are in online ADHD support forums complaining the NHS don't know what they're doing.

My ADHD assessment was NHS but more importantly it looked at my full medical history (20+ years of mental health notes) and concluded that I also have bipolar II, so stimulants wouldn't be given.

The private appointment I went to had no access to my medical records - just self reported history. Seems dangerous.

There is an interesting book about this by Gabor Mate - Scattered Minds. He doesn’t argue that it is an incorrect diagnosis though but that ADHD is a genetic predisposition that can be triggered by trauma. I don’t agree with that part of his theory but his work is still interesting and helpful in terms of approaches to ADHD that can help, as well as medication.

I agree with this. You thinking you have ADHD from a TikTok does not equate to a diagnosis made by a professional. They are not related at all.

You say you got a diagnosis 'quickly' but also state that you filled in lengthy paperwork. The contents of that will be the reason for your diagnosis.

Many conditions are assessed purely on self-reporting. Not every illness can be diagnosed by a blood test.

I'm sorry op, but I do imagine there are some unscrupulous private doctors who will tell you exactly what you want to hear in return for money. They are a business after all.
The great thing about the NHS is that there is absolutely nothing in it for them to say what you want to hear, so their diagnosis will always be a correct one.
I don't know if yours was a correct diagnosis or not.

Whoops sent early. I will wait to see what the actual documentary contains, I've heard form someone who took part in it and they claim it's been misrepresented in a clickbait title.

If it is as it appears, it does a disservice to many of us, mainly women, who've gone undiagnosed for years and thought we were failures, and perpetuates the negative idea that we're all attention-seeking TikTok addicts.

My DD was diagnosed by ADHD360, who are one of the clinics featured. I'm now terrified that we've been fleeced of nearly £1000 and that my DD is on unnecessary medication.
I tried to get her assessed through the NHS and they wouldn't even put her on the waiting list due to her masking and being a high achiever at school...it didn't matter that she was an anxious mess at home as there was no 'independent proof' of that.
I've already had my dad, (who 'doesn't believe' in adhd or anything like it), phone me AND send me an email this morning, insisting I watch the panorama programme tonight as it 'proves' that private clinics are just 'money grubbing shysters' apparently. FML <screams into a pillow>

I'm worried about this too tbh.

DS has a real issue. But he is bright. And that's going to affect whether we will be allowed by the NHS to pursue a diagnosis.

DH has all the class symptoms from school. He underachieved massively and was in trouble with the police - but is exceptionally bright.

I have classic symptoms for a girl/woman but behaved at school and was academically good. But underachieved at alevels and degree and beyond. I've had a social anxiety diagnosis (which makes no sense - my friends have been ripping the piss out of me all weekend for saying I'm not very sociable as I've had a mad fortnight) I've had two breakdowns at work and struggle with managing simple day to day things.

There was already a thing about it being massively fashionable to go for an ADHD diagnosis. I've been holding off attempting it, due to the stress of going to a doctor and getting yet another 'sit down little girl' response until we'd got somewhere with DS as it would help my case.

The whole thing really makes me feel like I'm less likely to get taken seriously and just be dismissed. When I think there is a real case for me to be diagnosed - I probably need it as it's severely impacted my life.

Them BBC article goes on about how diagnosis should only be given to those it affects on a daily basis - but the whole outcome of the article is that it's likely to make it harder for those who most need it to get that at a time when even going down the private route is a massive issue and not as easy as they make out.

I am well aware that going down the private route means you can be locked into it with the NHS not obliged to recognise the diagnosis which has certain implications.

I can't say there are too many positives to be had with this one tbh.

It's just highlighting the total inadequacy of the NHS provision which is allowing exploitation of often vulnerable adults

The bar is also far higher for NHS. I was told at my last psychiatry appointment this month that while I have "a lot of" ADHD traits, since I can work full time in a professional job (with difficulty) I wouldn't meet the criteria as I "don't require a carer" to assist me.

I still talk too fast, very messy, leave things to the last minute, need to constantly write notes, interrupt etc but he put that down to bipolar II hypomania.

Thing is, folk who don’t think they demonstrate ADHD or don’t have symptoms that negatively affect their life don’t usually go to the bother of seeking out private treatment. So it’s always going to be a self selecting group with a high diagnosis rate surely?

Which isn't what panorama found to be true. The NHS assessment was 3 hours including a full psych history, DIVA interview etc and the private ones were much shorter and much less thorough.

I knew a corrupt ADHD psychiatrist and his NHS assessments were the standard 3 hrs for that clinic with a lengthy MDT report. His private assessments were short and reports barely reached 2 pages for several hundred pounds.

Which wouldn't be accepted as a formal diagnosis by an NHS clinic who would want to assess again. So it didn't reduce waiting lists, just that people with a diagnosis who were on medication prescribed privately would jump the queue above people who'd been waiting much longer because it's a priority to reassess people on controlled drugs for obvious reasons.