ADHD in adults

[toboldlygo]

Sorry, didn't know where best to post this, I figured people in here would be more familiar with the condition than those that frequent the mental health board.

Anyway, having dropped out twice before I've finally returned for my final year of university but I'm already struggling to keep my head above water. Again. :(

In my final year of school a particularly perceptive psychology teacher, recognising that I was struggling, suggested that I fit the template for inattentive type ADHD and might benefit from investigating that further. However, my GP was extremely dismissive and sent me away feeling like an idiot for even asking. I let it go until last year when I had a course of counselling provided by the uni and, after lots of discussion and considering other possibilities, ADHD was mooted again by the counsellor.

I fit all of the criteria, have pervasive issues in education and work, had symptoms in childhood and have evidence in the form of written transcripts with the uni counsellor and my old school reports. Do I just go to the GP and present all of this? What do I need to ask for, exactly? I'm afraid of being sent away with a flea in my ear again when I genuinely feel like I need some help, this is my last chance and I'm so afraid of failing again.

Hi. I found this here which may help you. I found it as my son was ADHD as a child and has some traits now, and my DH is also ticking lots of boxes .

There is the adders website which has quite a bit of information for ADHD in adults. Most GPs tend only to refer on for children as it's quite easy to send a child of to the Paediatrics unit at a hospital. But the problem with ADHD in adults is who diagnoses. When there is a diagnoses it tends to be through a psychiatrist and tends to be part of other issues.

I would recommend that you ask for a referral to a psychologist on the evidence provided by the counsellor. Others may know better than I but Adders is probably the place to start.

Hi, I don't really know what your possibilities are, as I don't live in the UK, but I still wanted to answer this. I would go talk to the GP again, and if s/he is negative, would it be possible for you to change GP or ask for a referral to a specialist anyway? I'm in the middle of getting assessed for ADHD. I went to my GP, who sent me to the University mental health services, whom I then told about my ADHD suspicion, and they referred me to a specialist who is going to put me through tons of tests. A GP isn't really qualified to dismiss ADHD without careful testing, I should think. The one thing they can do, though, is make you lose your courage. Please keep on pushing to get diagnosed. Maybe it isn't ADHD, but seeing as you're struggling, it evidently is something, and you need to find out what. Read up on how referrals are usually done, and who the appropriate persons to talk to are, and don't give in until you actually get an assessment.

When I think about how much easier things could have been for me if someone had picked up on this when I was a child, I become so angry that I almost can't think. It was nobody's fault, because ADHD wasn't really known back then, at least not for girls, but it still makes me sad to think of chances lost, and so on. Now that I'm grown up, and have found out about ADHD on my own, I will not rest until I get help, because I deserve that. As do you. Hopefully someone a little more knowledgeable about the NHS will come along and tell you exactly what their procedures are. Good luck!

There's also this forum, full of nice and helpful people: ADD forums

Thanks all. :)

"When I think about how much easier things could have been for me if someone had picked up on this when I was a child, I become so angry that I almost can't think."

Oh god, this. I got hold of my old school reports and flicking through them it's just so obvious that there was a problem. It's the same comments over and over again - TBG is a chronic daydreamer, doesn't apply herself, does not complete tasks, forgets essential work and equipment, is poorly organised. I was very bright and managed to coast for a long time but it all went pear shaped around A-levels where effort was actually required. As I wasn't disruptive and was still hovering above average academically no-one seemed to care to investigate further.

The older I get the more responsibility I have and, to borrow a phrase from the above links, the harder I find it to keep all the balls in the air. I have no idea how I will manage full time work if/when I graduate next year; I worked full time briefly during one of the breaks from uni and it damn near killed me, I've had nearly 10 part time jobs in four years.

At the same time I seem to make time for my hobbies and interests which I often hyperfocus on which makes me feel like a big lazy fraud. I can lose several hours a day just by daydreaming.

So what I need to be asking the GP for is a referral to a psychologist? Any ideas how long a referral like that might take, if I'm given one? Will check out the forums you've suggested also. I do have a couple of books but apart from confirming symptoms for me they're quite Americanised and not so useful on diagnosis and treatment as it would happen in the UK.

Mostly am dreading another appointment with the GP, I'm so sick of being fobbed off and it makes me wonder if there's anything actually wrong with me or if I really am just a bit down and need to just get on with it.

I hereby relieve you of thinking you have to 'get on with it' or 'just try harder'. You have tried to get on with it, and it didn't work. The sensible thing to do would be to try something else. Get help

Search for ADHD adults NHS nice guidelines (sorry, phone not good for links) and it'll give you courage to go back to the dr. All areas are meant to be setting up proper assessment services, but not all are ready. Psychologists often do various tests but it's usually a psychiatrist who formally diagnoses.

Your local mental health NHS trust should have something called PALS, short for patient advice and liaison service; they can probably tell you how referrals work in your area. if there's nothing yet, just keep making a fuss and the GP or local psychiatrist will have to pass you on to someone qualified.

Your uni can help too: approach the students with disabilities office and they can help you apply for funding for an educational psychology assessment. You may well then get extra mentoring, financial support, study aids etc.

I just want to add here that very little that will change with a diagnosis. It won't cure you or change anything. Some people take drugs to help but for most those drugs don't change you all that much. They don't magically make you more organised or better at finishing a project. It won't make you more employable or be given more time to finish your degree. There may be some help available through student services but probably not that much as so much funding has been cut. What a diagnosis will do is help you to understand yourself a little better. I wouldn't worry too much about getting your diagnosis immediately, just see your GP and ask for the referral. More importantly assume you have it and read some books aimed at helping adults with ADHD become more organised. All that has ever been offered to my daughter is a few strategies and drugs. Read around the literature on Rittalin if that is the way you want to go.

A diagnosis does mean you're covered by the equalities act. Which can mean people have to think about helping you overcome hiccups, rather than just reacting negatively and/ or mindlessly applying strict policies.

I have suffered all my life with symptoms of ADHD/ ADD and its only now in my 30's that I'm considering trying to get a diagnosis, in fact I went to my gp before and he was less than helpful.

My ds aged 12 has a diagnosis since the age of 6 and we are so similar in many ways.

My old school reports were full of 'daydreams, failed to produce homework on time, easily distracted' I spend hours daydreaming, like yourself, op

I cannot handle money, I'm in tons of debt. I just cannot remember to pay bills on time. People just say to me, well write them down whats wrong with you. But I just can't make them understand its not the act of writing them down that I struggle with, its the act of remembering to write them down. I lose car keys, housekeys. I have no recollection of where I put things. Its horrible.

I hope you get somewhere with your doctor op Good luck!