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.

I agree to an extent. I don't think it's a result of a secular society but I do think it's a society that is now very based on 'labels' and pathologising any kind of difficult or uncomfortable behaviour.

MN is a good barometer as you see not only armchair-diagnoses of every kind of behaviour being likely indicative of some kind of pathology but also becoming part of identity and how people present themselves.

A lot of threads start with "me, possible ASD, DH possible ADHD, DS1 waiting for ADHD assessment, DD 1 diagnosed ASD". Or end with " be kind, I have anxiety".

It's designed to make people not just be supportive or sympathetic but to also back off and never say anything critical ever because "ND or mental health"

It's not helpful, minimises diagnoses and really does result in people getting pissed off and then thinking its all rubbish when it really isn't

I understand pip and dla, dc are in receipt of both high rate care and mobility.

That's the thing though they genuinely believe they have it and are therefore entitled. Not as a scam but a deep rooted conviction. Its almost a form of brainwashing by social media.

Yes. Its this that I take issue with.

So, if you are capable of doing well at school, and holding down a decent job, and getting the bills paid (even if a bit late or it stresses you) then even if you DO have ADHD, why does it matter so much?

I did well at school but I COULDN'T hold down a decent job and I struggle with the life admin of remembering passwords. I have had multiple mental health breakdowns. With no satifactory explanation or reason. And THAT is the point.

On the surface, people will say I'm capable. In practice I'm not.

The stigma and all the people saying its not really an issue ARE part of the problem imho.

And I am willing to bet that those who have an actual diagnosis on this thread will understand that sentiment...

All mental health or neurodevelopmental diagnoses are essentially subjective because there isn't a blood test, X-ray to confirm it. They're not an exact science.

So diagnostic criteria is based on a number of the population exhibiting a number of certain characteristics outside of the 'norm' which in isolation may be very common in the general population but when part of a group of many characteristics are not that common in the general population so seen to be potentially indicative of a disorder or illness.

A skilled and experienced assessor will know the difference. You don’t need to.

Very good explanations of this have been provided.

GP discussions on their record (although were declined for referrals), counselling and private psychologist (not ADHD specialist).

Which may apply to some but certainly not all in my experience.

But to challenge that, what is the problem with "labelling" or "pathologising" these things?

I was depressed a couple of years ago and it took me a while to acknowledge that I was actually capital-D Depressed and not just a bit down and finding everything a struggle. Accepting the label of "depression" and seeking help made a huge difference to my life. Anti-depressants worked wonders.

What proportion of people take ADs? It's certainly over 1 in 10. And I know there's talk of ADs being over-prescribed etc but recognising how widespread depression is, being prepared to identify it in yourself and others is I think hugely beneficially.

I don't know how much that reads-across to ADHD but when I doubt my own diagnosis I do remind myself that I doubted my depression too, but with hindsight it was clearly 'real' and benefited from treatment.

Some of the people deciding they have ADHD may well not have it, of course that's the case. If you float a list of symptoms in social media, people will diagnose themselves; cognitive biases work that way. If I start posting at length about nits, your head may begin to itch.

But it's a dangerous assumption to make that people do NOT have ADHD because they appear to have had no problems beforehand. I could easily have been described like that but when I did get diagnosed, lots of people who knew me when I was younger said that suddenly things I'd done back then made sense - it's common for the bigger picture of difficulties not to be apparent at the time because you have problems with what feels like disparate things, but people who know you in different contexts will say 'ah, I see, that explains it'. And because each of those difficulties may seem relatively minor in isolation, if you are surface-functioning, no one is worried about you, but when you are experiencing yourself all those minor things at once, it's totally overwhelming. The effect though is to think that you're just a failure because you seem to get so many things wrong.

Do you mind me asking what you do? I have had a series of unsatisfactory (but reasonably paid) jobs. I crashed out of Uni due to the low contact hours and always struggle where this occurs.
I was diagnosed with ADHD 3 years ago at age 58 by paying for a private consultation but never completed the drug titration.

So, if you are capable of doing well at school, and holding down a decent job, and getting the bills paid (even if a bit late or it stresses you) then even if you DO have ADHD, why does it matter so much?

I can't answer for anyone else but for me it's been a lifelong continual feeling (often invoked by the behaviour of others) that I am a worthless piece of shit because I can't remember to do things or concentrate on them. I can do some things at work well, and some really badly - and by trying about 300% harder than "normal" people to do the difficult ones I can get them to a level where I mostly don't get fired.

I know this will sound like a cop out, but you really can't understand this if you don't experience it.

and by the way - for the things that take 300% extra effort - I can then just about manage to do them to a standard where most people would (and do) think I am a lazy feckless cunt. Try living your life like that a bit and then ask why it matters.

My husband has ADHD, diagnosed by the NHS, and there is no financial incentive at all for them to diagnose. We had the option to choose a private clinic through the NHS but ultimately chose to wait for the NHS psychiatrist at the NHS hospital because they weren't billing anyone for their time and weren't charging for prescriptions. There was literally nothing in it for them and that's what my husband felt would get him a more honest assessment

I hope she can find a dosage that helps her @Creamcrackersandricecakes.

How do you know what clinics are being featured? Where can you find this information?

Yes, thank you for this 🙏

They’re named in the bbc article
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65534449

@InattentiveADHD - the clinics are named in this article.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65534449?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&atcampaignntype=owned&atlinkktype=weblink&attlinkorigin=BBCNews&attlinkid=D43FE234-F2DE-11ED-9C06-3503D872BE90&attbbcteam=editorial&attmedium=social&atcampaign=SociallFlow&atptrrname=twitter&at_format=link

It is really common to feel like a fraud after receiving an ADHD diagnosis so this is totally normal.
Everything you have described to me absolutely sounds like you do have ADHD. Going private for a diagnosis has been really stigmatized however most clinics follow exactly the same as NHS if not better and those identified in the documentary will be very few and rare.

I would really recommend doing more research on how ADHD impacts women, you are not alone and many women who have been diagnosed get the same reaction. The problem is that it's very much viewed as a young male issue and so we can reach adulthood just scraping through but at some point reach a burnout.

If you don't want to take medication there are also other things that can help, perhaps seek a counsellor who specialises in ADHD as well. Feel free to reply if you'd like me to recommend some accounts on TIKTOK that I have found personally helpful x

And the poor knowledge of ADHD by some of the MH professionals as evidenced by some of the ridiculous comments some people have noted on this thread.

I tried to get a referral for an ADHD assessment about 15 years ago on the NHS. I spoke to a psychiatrist for 5 minutes who asked me one question. I started to answer it with "I'm not sure but..." and he shouted at me that I didn't have ADHD and that was the end of that.

I also spoke to a psychiatrist at a med review for another condition day within 5 minutes of talking to me having just detailed my diagnoses including ADHD. Said "no I don't think you have ADHD". By this time I was much better at advocating for myself so I just replied "yes, I do" and continued with what we were there to discuss. I don't take this BS any more!

Obviously others on this thread reporting things said like "well if you have done a degree you can't have ADHD" or "if you had ADHD you would have had severe behavioural problems at school/been in trouble with the police" etc etc etc demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of how ADHD can present.

So the PPs saying NHS response to ADHD/assessments etc is always high quality don't know what they are talking about quite frankly.

Outwardly you wouldn't think I had any issues, decent career, dh and dc, nice home etc but privately I am a mess. Depressed, shockingly bad executive functioning, almost no emotional regulation, anxiety, panic attacks... the list goes on.

I do object to this ‘NT people can’t possibly know what it’s like to be depressed/antisocial/to struggle’.

There is a real undercurrent on threads like this that NT people breeze through everything, are social butterflies, and have a much higher tolerance for life’s difficulties. It’s not true at all and is quite unkind.

Why should we pathologise???

Well if we were talking about something else, it would be a scandal if women were being misdiagnosed for decades.

The impact of late diagnosis IS increased problems with comorbid issues such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders. It can therefore potentially be fatal in rare cases.

It is very typical for women to have a diagnosis of social anxiety or bipolar for it later to become apparent that its ADHD. And they will ALREADY have had years of various medications which haven't worked and perhaps have had side effects as a result of misdiagnosis.

The article talks about people getting unnecessary medication - but doesn't talk about whether they were on other medication previously or getting medication for the first time. This is perhaps relevant for context purposes.

Being on the wrong medication because of misdiagnosis and inability to access an assessment through the NHS FOR YEARS, is no less of a scandal than overdiagnosis and medication of ADHD.

People don't fork out hundreds of pounds on a diagnosis on the basis that they saw something on social media. There has to be something fundamentally 'wrong' in their life thats having a significant impact to their daily lives, to go through the process.

This bloke rocking up with a few thousand pounds without thought, isn't reflective of the real world.

If you are going down the private route, chances are there is a sense of getting desparate for appropriate support for SOMETHING.

Also the BBC article is based on the example of one male getting misdiagnosed privately. It doesn't talk about who is seeking diagnosis by private assessment. If there is a heavy basis to a certain demographic - for example adult women are particularly over represented in seeking a private diagnosis there may be other issues at play. For example we know that the autism diagnositic tools favour diagnosis of boys because girls present differently and the science is only just begining to catch up on that. It could be that the NHS is behind the curve on diagnosis in girls / women and the criteria they are using is no longer fit for purpose and not matching what we know about ADHD in women.

I am curious as to whether the programme touches on this at all. In using a male for the programme, I also worry whether the effect of the programme will further disportionally affect women who were much more likely to be underdiagnosed in the first place.

@Nn9011 pls can you recommend them to me? I'm interested (and addicted to TikTok, but mostly real estate that I can't afford 😂)

@NotAnotherBathBomb I can relate to beating myself up about not doing things straight away rather than put them off but I don’t seem to learn from this and do things differently. I frustrate myself. I know if I had someone to keep me on track or hold me accountable it would help.

My son is autistic and when we went through his diagnosis, I learned so much about neurodiversity to support him and found myself identifying with some aspects. It took me several years to pluck up the courage to speak to my GP and when he asked me to tell him why I thought that I clammed up and never went back. Own worst enemy springs to mind.