What's the point of an ADHD diagnosis?

[HelpAGirlOut1234]

Just as the title says... what is actually the point if you have no intention of taking medication, or medicating your child.

The amount of ADHD threads today is just pathetic. Trolls day out.

@HelpAGirlOut1234

Oh sorry! I don't know if having a diagnosis helps in the workplace, I never got one (although my history/childhood anxiety and depression score almost certainly suggests I have it). Anyway, I think I can cope with e.g. my MIL judging me for having a messy house without needing her to understand neurodivergence

I'm not a troll actually. I'm here to learn so if you're not willing to engage then frankly you can piss off.

I have for a long time felt that I would be diagnosed with ADHD if I were to be assessed, but I don't see the point.

I'm fully aware of my shortcomings and weak points, and I put strategies in place to tackle them and deal with life and work.

But it seems so many people around me are being diagnosed with ADHD and some are using it as almost an excuse for disorganisation, lack of productivity, poor behaviour.

@HelpAGirlOut1234 you current school may do that for all pupils but not all schools do and the child is only there for a few years and may have a different experience at the next one.

I'd also put money on that being something that got put into place a few years ago as reasonable adjustments for those with ADHD and autism actually make school life better for all children. All children benefit from routine and quiet spaces , fidget objects aid concentration for lots of people etc, how many people historically would have clicked a pen, twanged a ruler, chewed gum now it's just tangle tweezers and fidget cubes they do the same job.

Please tell me what other disability or debilatating medical diagnosis you would say this about?

As someone with ADHD, I always enjoy people speaking my experience for me.

You have the skills to put things in place to help cope with the things you find difficult - that's brilliant. People who are able to put strategies in place often come from supportive households where those skills were taught and modelled.

Lots of people with ADHD will be raised in ADHD households where those skills aren't taught and modelled because the parents don't have those skills in the first place. Or they are raised in a way that causes them to have poor self esteem and no confidence in their abilities which means trying strategies is much harder and less natural than just accepting that their life will always be the way it is.

No need to get snarky, I'm not speaking your experience for you fgs. I'm trying to understand what benefit there would be to seeking a diagnosis.

My son was diagnosed later, at 20, having struggled through school and college. He ended up needing to claim UC for a time and was allowed reasonable adjustments of having his appointments at the same time and place each week, rather than constantly moving around, and he was paid two weekly rather than four weekly to help with budgeting.

He's back in work now and gets adjustments around fixed shifts and broken down tasks.

I think its about reasonable adjustments in the workplace and about being able to access medication if necessary.
Thats the main benefits in my case and for ds1.
Ds 2 was prescribed medication but didnt like how it made him feel, but i think maybe if in future he felt he might benefit, then would be a lot easier to organise getting medication rather than a whole diagnosis

There are lots of reasons. In my DS case he can’t take them due to a medical condition.

Me neither, if a child needed to be on long term medication for a heart condition I don’t think anyone would think twice.

@Singleandproud thanks for this, this is interesting.

My skills and coping mechanisms were definitely not taught at home, life happens around me and I'm responsible for small peoples lives so I just need to get on with. Therefore I had to get strategies in place for myself... regular breaks from chunks of work, standing desks, super organised house and routine, declutterred house to make things easier to manage etc etc

But I suppose not everyone is able to just get these strategies in place themselves?

But as an adult who is say, disorganised, can't focus etc. How does a diagnosis help with that? It's not like you're diagnosed and go to classes to manage these behaviours. Surely most people can recognise these behaviours in themselves without a diagnosis and just know they need to do something to minimise their impact on their lives and those around them?

Having a diagnosis can be affirming. Before I got a diagnosis my mental health was in tatters, I hated myself and felt completely useless. I didn’t understand myself or why I found so many things difficult that seemed so basic to most other people. I was regularly self-harming and suicidal, on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication and struggling at work. A diagnosis has really helped me because it’s made me realise why I find those things hard, that I’m not alone and that there are strategies I can use to help. I’m not on any medication anymore and my mental health is much better.

Also, even if you don’t want to consider medication right now having the diagnosis in place means if in the future it is needed it will be a lot quicker to have that put in place. I am not currently medicated and don’t wish to be as I don’t feel it’s needs right now, but if it had been an option whilst I was struggling with my masters degree (pre-diagnosis) I absolutely would have taken it as I struggled so much with focus during that time. I also got penalised several times for handing assignments in late, having a diagnosis in place may have meant support and accommodations could have been put in place to help me meet those assignment deadlines. I did scrape through it without but at a cost to my mental health and with lower marks than I probably could have achieved.

I have a few accommodations in place at work, the office is open plan but I am able to use a small side room with one other person. I have an iPad I can use for note taking rather than notebooks or paper which I lose. My team also understand why I might interrupt in a meeting or that I can get overwhelmed, I know my adhd means I can be hard work sometimes but I feel people are more accommodating of those traits when they know there is a reason behind it.

You are using disabilist details that draws on awful stereotypes that we always have to contend with when discussing this condition.

Also, my question was genuine, for the attitudes on display here. I get tired of having to say these things all the time. Like my friend with ME, my other friend who has tics, another friend who needs a stick and sometimes doesn't. It's exhausting, so being 'snarky' is just one part of that.

We don't want to medicate just yet. My DD is 9. We wanted a diagnosis so we could support her when things like friendship groups got tricky. It gives us a toolbox to work with. Yes we could have assumed she had ADHD and used that toolbox anyway but having the diagnosis means we can see behaviours that might be interpreted as her being 'difficult' in a different light. It also helps us try to get support from school, although they've done nothing apart from complain about her movement and chattiness.

What disabilist (not sure that's a term?) details have I used?

What medical diagnosis doesn't give rise to this risk, do you think, OP?

This, my daughter is exactly the same. Her brain just can't focus without the medication.

@MolkosTeenageAngst thank you so much for sharing your experience. That's really enlightening and I'm sorry you've had such struggles in the past but I'm really glad to hear that accommodations you have now are of such benefit to you. Its been really beneficial to read your experience.

Because sometimes it's helpful to understand what you're square peg doesn't fit into societies round hole.

I don't have ADHD but I'm bipolar for me the biggest difference in my diagnosis was having an answer to why? Why do I fall into the depths of depression when there is no reason - bipolar. I had tortured myself with the answer to that from the age of 8 to 25. My moods have caused so many issues over the years. Yes the treatment has helped but the mindset change that came with diagnosis made a huge difference too.

Unmumsnetty hug my friend 💐

Glad things have improved for you x

I'm understanding from a lot of that a lot of it is a mindset change, and the affirmation that comes with that, and that can be very powerful for a lot of people.

Oh go read all the other threads on this and stop trying to jump on the adhd isn’t really a proper disability bandwagon!

I think what grinds my gears a lot of the time is when shitty behaviour is put down to this diagnosis.

For example, a woman will post here that her partner is crap with money, can't organise the kids, is a chaotic mess etc. and invariably one of the first few posters will say... 'Does he have ADHD?'

Maybe he does or he doesn't, but he's an adult who with or without a diagnosis, should be tackling these behaviours and the fact that he isn't means he's a shit partner.

That's just one example, I have more in my own life that grind my gears but the above on MN just really gets to me.

Do you think all disabilities can be improved if the person just puts more effort in? Would you say that to a visually impaired person? Do you think they'd see better if they just tried harder?

FFS!