Post by jjbrooksy on Mar 19, 2017 18:35:14 GMT
Hi everyone! Totally new to this sorta forum and I think I'm about to ramble a lot, so I'll end with a summary for those who don't feel up to slogging through it all.
So, I've suspected for some time that I have Inattentive-type ADHD; I've done a LOT of research into it and I display enough of the symptoms to make me pretty sure. I've kinda just got by with it until now, but my university work is really suffering from my constant procrastination, forgetfulness and general disorganised messiness. I spoke to my GP who agreed that I likely have ADHD-PI but told me that the waiting list with the NHS could be up to 3 years. So, because I want to get this sorted as soon as possible (for the sake of my degree and because I'm just generally impatient) I decided to book a private assessment, and I had my first consultation yesterday.
Thing is, some of the things the psychiatrist said just didn't sit right with me. First of all she seemed to zero in on my sleeping problems and just presumed that that's what is probably causing my other issues, despite my repeated insistences that I still struggle to focus etc. when my sleeping pattern is fine, and that I'm pretty sure I struggle to get to sleep so often BECAUSE I have ADHD, since when I go to bed my brain just refuses to switch off and my thoughts incessantly leap all over the place. I told her I've tried pretty much everything under the sun to help but she still gave me a sleeping schedule to follow until the next appointment. But hey, maybe when that inevitably fails to work she'll get the message.
But what really got to me was when she gave me her two main reasons for holding back on a diagnosis of ADHD: 1) I've never displayed any hyperactivity, even as a child, and 2) I'm generally (but not always) able to focus ok on things I enjoy/ I'm interested in.
I didn't wanna seem arrogant by arguing with a professional (and I still don't), but aren't those two things common with ADHD? From my own research I thought it was completely normal for ADHD-PI adults to have never shown signs of hyperactivity, and to easily engage with things they enjoy. I raised the first point with her and she said that generally adults with ADHD-PI tend to have been hyperactive as children. But from all my research of academic writings and anecdotal evidence... Yeah, that just don't sound right.
She sent me a questionnaire to fill out (and I don't need the marking criteria to know that it's gonna indicate that I am indeed ADHD) and I have a follow-up meeting in a few weeks where she's gonna give her conclusions. But what she said makes me kinda concerned that I won't get the diagnosis (don't get me wrong, it's not that I want to have ADHD; it's that I'm almost sure that I do have it and I want the support that I'll get following a diagnosis). So what do you folks think? Does anyone else find my psychiatrist's reasoning a little dodgy?
TL;DR: My psychiatrist doesn't think I have ADHD-PI because I've never been hyperactive and fairly often I can give sufficient attention to things I enjoy.
So, I've suspected for some time that I have Inattentive-type ADHD; I've done a LOT of research into it and I display enough of the symptoms to make me pretty sure. I've kinda just got by with it until now, but my university work is really suffering from my constant procrastination, forgetfulness and general disorganised messiness. I spoke to my GP who agreed that I likely have ADHD-PI but told me that the waiting list with the NHS could be up to 3 years. So, because I want to get this sorted as soon as possible (for the sake of my degree and because I'm just generally impatient) I decided to book a private assessment, and I had my first consultation yesterday.
Thing is, some of the things the psychiatrist said just didn't sit right with me. First of all she seemed to zero in on my sleeping problems and just presumed that that's what is probably causing my other issues, despite my repeated insistences that I still struggle to focus etc. when my sleeping pattern is fine, and that I'm pretty sure I struggle to get to sleep so often BECAUSE I have ADHD, since when I go to bed my brain just refuses to switch off and my thoughts incessantly leap all over the place. I told her I've tried pretty much everything under the sun to help but she still gave me a sleeping schedule to follow until the next appointment. But hey, maybe when that inevitably fails to work she'll get the message.
But what really got to me was when she gave me her two main reasons for holding back on a diagnosis of ADHD: 1) I've never displayed any hyperactivity, even as a child, and 2) I'm generally (but not always) able to focus ok on things I enjoy/ I'm interested in.
I didn't wanna seem arrogant by arguing with a professional (and I still don't), but aren't those two things common with ADHD? From my own research I thought it was completely normal for ADHD-PI adults to have never shown signs of hyperactivity, and to easily engage with things they enjoy. I raised the first point with her and she said that generally adults with ADHD-PI tend to have been hyperactive as children. But from all my research of academic writings and anecdotal evidence... Yeah, that just don't sound right.
She sent me a questionnaire to fill out (and I don't need the marking criteria to know that it's gonna indicate that I am indeed ADHD) and I have a follow-up meeting in a few weeks where she's gonna give her conclusions. But what she said makes me kinda concerned that I won't get the diagnosis (don't get me wrong, it's not that I want to have ADHD; it's that I'm almost sure that I do have it and I want the support that I'll get following a diagnosis). So what do you folks think? Does anyone else find my psychiatrist's reasoning a little dodgy?
TL;DR: My psychiatrist doesn't think I have ADHD-PI because I've never been hyperactive and fairly often I can give sufficient attention to things I enjoy.