jon
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Post by jon on May 11, 2013 16:48:42 GMT
First, we all have attention span issues here so tl;dr version: Anyone know of somewhere I can go for an affordable but reputable and as-official-as-it-gets set of diagnostic tests for ADHD in the UK?..............anyone know an affordable place where I can go for a proper private diagnosis? What do you call affordable? And where can you get to? London specialists tend to be more expensive - if Yorkshire is within range then Dr Chris Taylor at Harrogate/Leeds is inexpensive. Cygnet Hospital Harrogate, 23 Ripon Road, Harrogate HG1 2JL Tel: 01423 500599 There is someone who is quite inexpensive in the southern area but I can't remember their name - they were mentioned fairly recently. Thanks PD! I'll have think about them. I've never been up north much, but I could combine an assessment with a bit of a holiday for myself and my other half. I've also managed to find an affordable place where I can possibly get an assessment here in London. My price range is basically £300-£400, and this place seem to be £300, which is do-able so long as my next ghost hunt sells tickets!
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jon
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Post by jon on May 11, 2013 14:09:03 GMT
Aaaaand I've just realised this would probably have been a more appropriate post for the Symptoms and Diagnosis Form. Apologies, folks.
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jon
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Post by jon on May 11, 2013 11:57:06 GMT
First, we all have attention span issues here so tl;dr version: Anyone know of somewhere I can go for an affordable but reputable and as-official-as-it-gets set of diagnostic tests for ADHD in the UK?
Hi there all, I'm not on here a lot but we're getting to the anniversary of my coming to the site, which sort of brings me to a topic I'd really like to get sorted out:
Formal diagnosis for ADHD. I've suffered from the symptoms of ADHD and depression all my life, and an American physician friend diagnosed me last year, as well as two mental health care professionals who put me through the tests and said that they thought I had it, but after going to my GP I was passed up the chain, and before getting to a specialist I had an experience with the area psychiatrist that has genuinely scarred me, and I don't want to try that route again.
Just to be clear: all I want is a diagnosis (or not, I'm prepared to accept that I might not have it, I'm just not prepared to accept the experience I had with the area psychiatrist.) I'm not interested in meds, and if I can get a diagnosis from a real doctor who is bureaucratically allowed to treat me, then I can get some concessions at work that would really help me.
So, yeah, anyone know an affordable place where I can go for a proper private diagnosis?
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jon
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Post by jon on Aug 8, 2012 7:15:55 GMT
I did pop along to the Costa on Argyll Street, but I couldn't find you chaps last night. I'll try again next month, although I might see if someone would mind messaging me their mobile number for next time so that I can get in touch and find you once I'm there.
It was a good night anyway though, I took my wife back to the restaurant where we had our first date.
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jon
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Post by jon on Aug 6, 2012 16:28:41 GMT
This is the Central London meeting? Tomorrow? Anyone mind a noob coming along? I'll bring my other half, too.
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jon
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Post by jon on Aug 5, 2012 22:04:08 GMT
Bob - I have to agree with Odat, tell the ones you need to tell when it becomes important. I told my mother and brother, and that was quite traumatic for a while, especially as my mother went into denial and took it very personally. My brother is a scientist, so looked at the evidence, and concurred that I was probably right. I'm quite lucky that he's open minded. Out of friends... I work in the arts, so my work colleagues were quite supportive with me (at least to my face, arts people can be bitchy upon occasion) and my wife is great... but there are people who I will never be able to tell, particularly two people, one a close friend, and another a family member, both of whom work in mainstream mental health and both of whom have massive issues with the idea of ADHD. I can be quite bloody minded about things in a 'take me or leave me' way, but I've decided to neither specifically mention it or to hide it. I don't put the ADHD books in a special closet when my friend comes by and I haven't sworn my mother to secrecy... and if either person does find out and have a negative reaction... I'll have to deal with it when I come to it.
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jon
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Post by jon on Aug 5, 2012 21:38:05 GMT
After all, Henry was known to be impulsive, irritable, incredibly prone to go from one great idea to the other AND had terrible problems with concentration/distractability. One of the reasons that Britain was nearly bankrupt (at least according to Ronald Hutton's Brief History of Britain 1485 to 1666) was that Henry was absolutely incapable of finishing anything when it came to sticking with a project or doing fiddly admin. In fact, the only time where he was properly able and productive was when he was supported by Catherine of Aragon and Cardinal Wolsey, who were both non ADDers and would take his great ideas and put them into action.
Elizabeth I was just the same, with exactly the same problems regarding impulsivity, hyperactivity and distractability. She also had rage control problems and would go into horrific rages that she would forget all about a few minutes later.
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Post by jon on Jul 28, 2012 9:51:58 GMT
Partner - thanks! I'll be honest, I have issues with mental health too, it's one of those things. Despite my father haivng mental health problems I still have this lingering shame and embarrassment about them. My other half is a massive asset, she's really helped me since we got married!
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Post by jon on Jul 28, 2012 7:46:05 GMT
Lonely - Urgh. All this is really familiar to me, too. One of the reasons I like being a tour guide is because it gives me a chance for social contact without any kind of two-way conversation, which is something I'm bad at. The only way I can cope is to turn conversations into a 'routine' where I tell stories and act like a standup commedian while minimising the need for actual interaction. My business partner calls it 'holding court' (very charitably,) and I call 'being a twat and monopolising the conversation,' so now I limit my social interactions to directly work based situations.
I've always been bad at social situations, because (like many ADHD people, I suspect) there always comes a time when I still want to talk to someone and I feel that pressure building up as my attention span slips, and I know that it's only a matter of time before my eyes unfocus and I just look at something else while they're talking, or I come out with something inappropriate (or even, once or twice, forget I'm speaking to them and walk off to do something else.) It's made me incredibly avoidant of social situations.
What I can say is this: diet and exercise have both really helped me. I didn't realise it, but if I look back at the time when my blurting and inattentiveness started to get a bit better, it's when I started combining a low carb (ish) diet with cutting out processed sugars and fats. I'm not perfect by any means, but now I get some warning before I say something and that lets me exercise some self control, so maybe that would work for you.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed the wedding!
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jon
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Post by jon on Jul 23, 2012 20:26:38 GMT
Odat: well, my GP called back and left a message saying that Primary Care Psychology definitely doesn't take kindly to muggles just phoning them and that she's having a meeting with Dr. Jummimümi on Wednesday where it'll all be sorted out. Oh, and I have an appointment with the vampires on Monday to get my blood tested.
My GP seems to be good. She admitted from the start that she hadn't been trained in Adult ADHD and that she thought the best option was to refer to a specialist, which is all I can ask for, really. She even spent a week trawling through resources trying to find out the best place to send me, before finding out that the only option was to go through the local mental health trust. However this comes out, it won't be for lack of her trying.
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jon
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Post by jon on Jul 23, 2012 20:20:39 GMT
Cakedreams: Ah, that would be a problem. I have to be honest, I don't even have the rhythm to skip rope.
What kind of stuff do you write?
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jon
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Post by jon on Jul 23, 2012 15:37:10 GMT
So... four days after seeing the Clinical Psychiatrist for my area and having a baffling and distressing experience, I get a phone call from my GP.
You see, one of the parts of the consultation that really pissed me off was that she said she was going to put me in for a ton of blood tests and some CBT, which I wouldn't sneeze at... but she basically left me to do it. She just said 'in a few weeks, arrange X' and gave me a huge list of things to get screened for (my family are in medicine, so I knew what some of them were, but no one, ADHD or not, can memorise a list of stuff thrown at them off the cuff,) and then gave me a number to phone for something called 'Primary Care Psychology' which didn't really sound like something that she should have been telling me to just phone.
So anyway, coming out of my appointment I ask the receptionist about getting my bloods done and she says what I expected, which is 'You don't do that...'
Then the doctor phone me. Apparently the psychiatrist 'wasn't familiar' with the procedure for getting blood tests done or referring someone for CBT. At that point I asked whether she (the psychiatrist) would be familiar with the procedure for referring me onto a specialist and she assured me that it would be okay since that whole damn event was a bloody formality, my GP basically admitted that the person I saw knew nothing about ADHD and couldn't even have diagnosed me if she HAD believed in it. And when I say 'basically admitted' I do mean that she said, 'Dr. Jummimümi isn't an ADHD specialist, it isn't really a part of mainstream training in mental health services.'
No judgement, just mildly irritated and feeling slightly vindicated. I wasn't shitty with my GP because she's been completely fine with me about that and other issues all the way along, and let's face it: who hasn't had to cover for a colleague sometimes?
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jon
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Post by jon on Jul 23, 2012 15:08:55 GMT
One of the things that I've always had trouble with is letting go of stress. All the 'sit down and shut up' based relaxation techniques for stress only make worse because I'm not very good at slowing down or doing things in a so called calming way.
On the other hand I've found some music that really helps. If anyone is on spottify they can find it as a published playlist (ADHD Music.) It might be attributed to me (Jon Kaneko-James) as author, or it might not.
I was wondering, though, what about everyone else? Do you chaps have music that helps you focus or let go? What is it? For me it's speed metal/extreme metal/apocalytica. What about you?
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jon
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Post by jon on Jul 22, 2012 10:32:50 GMT
Odat and Oooshiny: Thanks guys. I think I'll definitely trundle down to the next London meeting in September.
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jon
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Post by jon on Jul 21, 2012 11:12:46 GMT
Twix - I'll do that. Right now I'm back to being really confused and ashamed for wasting NHS money with my problem, but my wife still believes I have ADHD, and using the techniques for coping with it have immeasurably improved my life and my relationship. The biggest thing was being able to forgive myself for so many things. Getting this knockback was like having it all happen again.
I feel like such a fraud being here right now, and using all these techniques if ADHD isn't really my problem. I don't like disagreeing with a mental health professional... but the books I've read are like portraits of myself, and I was actually held back in a remedial class at school directly because I was staring into space and not doing my work.
Anyway, I'm preaching to the choir. I'll have a look to see when the next meetup is! Thanks to everyone who has read this.
Many thanks (you'll be seeing me again, I've just registered for the forum.)
Jon
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