Hello... I just wondered if anyone had any advice and experience on exploring ADHD diagnosis as an adult, and whether if anyone has been in a similar position my symptoms sound like they are even likely to be attributed to this if I did try to find out. Thanks so much for any insight.
I have struggled on and off with low mood ever since I was a very young teenager at least, I struggle to remember if it was an issue before then but think it may have been.
I've seen a dr for my mental health only very occasionally - was given beta blockers for anxiety at university, and more recently in 2021 CBT and help from psychologist for believed post natal depression when my 2nd child was almost 1. Last year, I did speak to my dr again about bouts of low mood which had become more and more debilitating in the last few years, and she focused on regulating hormones with contraceptive pills due to cyclical nature and ups and downs of my mood.
I never could quite understand my mental health struggles as I'm a very happy person with my life but just get very down about myself if that makes sense.
In the last few weeks and months, I've done a lot of reading about inattentive ADHD after coming across something by chance and have got more and more convinced this might be what I'm struggling with.
Basically I've always struggled with being messy, being disorganised, being clumsy, running late for everything. I've tried more times than I can say to sort these things out and always fail, and feel terrible about myself when I do again and again. I'm terrible with money, I impulse buy magazines and comfort eat junk food, something that's escalated since lockdown and the birth of my second child. In work, I'm a mix. I'm committed and love working in a team and in some aspects of roles I've done I do well, especially customer service and care, but I have also done things horribly wrong, procrastinating and losing the thread of things and when I've been involved in projects becoming completely lost, not asking for help and generally doing a terrible job. I get particularly panicked with numbers and data. I now work in a much lower level practical job dealing with people and I love it but I sometimes make really silly mistakes and I feel like it takes me longer than everyone else to learn procedures. At the moment I've been feeling very down about my performance at work not being better, and I'm in a position where I've got the opportunity to move on to further roles but I feel totally paralysed by my limitations.
Whenever I've been down, and it has been often over the years, it's always about my own inadequacies. The reading I've done recently has made me think it's really executive function that I struggle with. I didn't mean to write so much but I'm desperate to find a way to improve some of this and feel better about myself - and just be better!!
Has anyone felt the same way, whether it ended up being ADHD or anything else? Has anyone approached own GP with anything like this, or is private really the only way to go? I'm unsure if I did get a diagnosis if it would help, and if I could access any medication that might improve things.
Thanks so much for anyone who's read this ramble 