How I Got Diagnosed With ADHD at 29
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 พ.ย. 2024
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Let's talk diagnosis, assessments, symptoms, and memes - how to got my adult ADHD diagnosis...
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Your compulsive vacation video about Luca suddenly makes perfect sense. If you're hyperfocused on something, of COURSE you can't wait till after vacation to do it! 😊
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Fun ADHD example - I am so perpetually late for everything, that a friend recently invited me to stay at his the night before our mate's wedding, under the guise of a "catch-up"... It turned out this was a carefully planned operation to ensure that my friend would be the one driving me to the wedding the next day and thus I would be there on time 😅
I have to know
Were you late to the “catch-up”?
From the bottom of my heart I have to say, hahaha, same
@@chocolatewolf3914 how dare you be so unashamedly correct about my life 😩
Thats why i tell my Friends "i will Text U when i am there so U can come" or "lets meet around 15:00-15:30 o'clock" to ensure that i dont get anxious about being late and Not making people wait for me
@@simont390 I would have been the same 😂 #adhdBuddies
Im 38, my son was diagnosed with ADHD and autism this year, I told my parents who said "oh you were diagnosed with Autism at age 4, but its all made up. Its just your personality. You are just shy." They dont believe in it. I struggled all my life not knowing, and that really upsets me. I saw a psych, who said "yep you have Autism and ADHD as well." If only I knew, my life would have been so different.
I am so sorry, this just broke my heart. . . If only you had known earlier, it would have saved you from so much pain, confusion etc etc. . . I hope you are coping well with life. . . All d very best to you ❤️❤️❤️
@@xyz-jv9df Thank you 🥰
I understand. I have just gotten diagnosed at 53 with ADHD. It pisses me off really. I thought I was a flake but really I have a neurological problem
A similar thing happened to me. The teachers always told my mom when a was in elementary school that they thought I had ADHD but my mom never pursued any help in treating it. As a result I had horrible indeciveness depression extremely shy felt different from all other kids and much more. I used to have to read something maybe 3 times to retain the information but now I only have to read it once. I just got diagnosed at 40.
@@Lannie74 it seems like a common theme with a lot of late/undiagnosed women.
My mom works in a hospital and it took FOREVER for doctors to honestly diagnose her with anything useful despite the fact that she, herself, is a MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL (who is capable of a licensed to diagnose). She told me something along the lines of: "The diagnosis of 'hysteria' never really went away....they just call it 'depression' and 'generalized anxiety' now." The older I get, the more I understand what she meant.
Yup, as somebody who has been on a nearly decade long mental health journey this is for real.
I just found out today that women were cautioned from riding in trains, when they were first invented because the speed could cause their _uterus to fly out_ . I have a feeling that a lot of doctors still have that mentality whenever someone other than a man comes to them with "male illnesses."
@@bunnykatzen omg there are still some men in my local community that are convinced women have the mental capabilities of children throughout their life and it’s....REALLY disturbing.
yey misogyny
@@bunnykatzen prolapse is a real thing (MiL had that issue), rare, but yeah... Blatant sexism bullshit.
Here's a "fun" ADHD thing: I was diagnosed at like 12, and my guardian at the time decided she knew better than the doctors and discontinued my medication really quickly after I got on it. Fast forward 18 years, one pandemic, associated unemployment, three attemots to get treated for ADHD, and a single semester at a university (rather than community college), and I'm literally in a psych hospital. The psychiatrist there FINALLY gives me something for ADHD and my mental health improves basically overnight.
This is sadly reality for us adults all over the world. Especially if you do not live in a 1st world country, they never take these things seriously which can ruin our lives or let us go on a downward spiral. I am now pushing 40 and regret not having been properly diagnosed when i have lived in the uk..... I now have to pay for all of these privately and may i say at a hefty price
@@hotmessmissy I get it with the Bill's. I live in the US and I can't find a doctor who's on my insurance and will prescribe my meds. I wish you nothing but luck.
Wish you luck 🍀. This is really sad because even with a diagnosis and access to proper treatment the people around us can misunderstand and it affects our lives for a long time
Can I ask what medication they have you?
@@sarahlou5777 As a kid I was on Concerta. Now they have me on Adderall.
2:07 - what is ADHD
4:21 - why did i think i might have adhd?
16:22 - diagnosis process
20:25 - diva form :D
24:02 - medication
28:07 - dealing with adhd
30:24 - some potential ways to help/support partners or friends with adhd
31:26 - do i regret getting diagnosed?
time stamps for my video jumpers and attention losers! great video thank you so much!
THANK YOU ❤️
thanks :))
Thanks!
Thanks!
am i the only one struggling to watch this?
Huh. I've spent my life with 'abnormal' anxiety, where I don't consciously worry about things or have anxious thoughts, I just FEEL anxious, like my adrenaline tap is always open. This is the first time I've heard someone else describe the same thing.
At 27 minutes in when you were talking about how it wasn't laziness and you were just finally able to do the task! And before you physically and mentally couldn't make yourself do it before. I'm crying. That is me. I have hated myself and lost so much self-worth over feeling that I'm useless and can't do basic things. The idea that it isn't myself and there is a way I can stop it is making me burst into tears. I really need to get a diagnosis.
Rowan didn't explicitly say (and you may already know this), but this is called executive disfunction!
Same 😅 I really should look into how the process works here, but like with a lot of other things I should do, I will probably put it off for another year ... 🙄
This is one of the reasons I am now considering if I need to look into this. I always put it on me being chronically ill, but now I think that maybe being ill just gave me the excuse, that is, I couldn't do it physically so there wasn't the same pressure. Because before I got ill I used to think I was lazy at the same time I was working full time on shifts and always out and about meeting people inbetween. Because I had these instances where I just couldn't start
@Washing Up Liquid You don't know what you're talking about. There's something called "executive disfunction" in people's brains who have ADHD, it has nothing at all to do with that
@Washing Up Liquid go do some research on how ADHD brains work differently from neurotypical brains
If you don't wanna educate yourself, that's no one's problem but yours. Go through your life misunderstanding people if you want
I was just diagnosed this year...at 32! And I must say, not having a diagnosis before has severely (and I do mean "severely") affected my development throughout adulthood. I've never been able to hold down a job, I've always been highly emotionally sensitive to pretty much everything (including but not limited to rejection and failure), and I was impulsive in partying and other excessive behaviors from a very young age (I'm talking early teens here), etc. All this to say that if anyone here believes they might have ADHD, please do seek out a mental health professional for an evaluation. Even more so if you are still in your 20s or younger. People tend to underestimate how much this can affect one's life. As I write this, I'm unemployed, and so far, because of my spotty resume, showing how much I jumped from job to job without knowing that I had ADHD, no company seems to want to hire me. So please, please, don't ignore the signs (including if you think a parent might have it, since it's proven how hereditary it is!) ... and thanks for coming to my Ted Talk :)
hello I believe I have it but I don't want to get dismissed by doctors for self diagnosing. do you have any advice?
@@lillieslollies first get a diagnostic from a Psychiatrist, once you been tested you can go to your doctors. it took me almost 2 years to get medication and in a few days from now I just seen my doctor today and I got prescribed medication for my ADHD i am 30 now but my adhd started affecting me later in life i always had it and was able to keep in in control but now it's a struggle. Good luck
I feel you. now, one year later i hope you‘ve found a good job and are doing better. i‘m not diagnosed (yet, waiting for my appointement) but i KNOW i have it. Same as you, job to job and to add a big mountain of debt on it, my life is a mess. But it all make sense now. I‘m already working on my problems since 2 years now, i had the luck to have a saint of a partner who tries his best to help me re-write my story. So know with the ADHD aspect, i hope to get the help and resources i need to get my life together in the long run. I wish you all the best, you got this!
15:13 A similar situation with me, a doctor when I was 17 (who talked over me and seemed very flippant about how "girls are just shy") diagnosed me with depression and anxiety. After 8 years of therapists who did by-the-book CBT and didn't listen to me, on Monday I started seeing a new therapist who was a mental health nurse for 35 years, who listened to me explain my issues for all of 10 minutes, said "that sounds like autism", we went through one of those criteria questionnaire things & she has now referred me to the (18 month) waiting list to be officially assessed.
It took one therapist 1 session to see something that first doctor would have seen if he'd listened to me & not been rude about it because I'm a woman.
I'm sad to say I have had the same experiences. Sure, I have had clinical depression one time at least (the medicines actually helped), but they just kept on diagnosing that and giving me medicines that didn't help (because those times I wasn't clinically depressed!). Was diagnosed with all kinds of anxiety disorders, and even general anxiety disorder.
Sought help in my thirties after some of my siblings got diagnosed with ADHD (one with that and ASD). Thought I might have ADHD too, but ended up with a diagnosis of ASD. I had been seeking help from different types of mental health professionals for years upon years at that point, but none had said anything about me maybe having autism. None.
When I went to this new place, they suspected me having autism after meeting me just one time. Everything after that just confirmed it for them, apparently. Feels good to finally have an answer to so many of my questions about myself.
Apparently most people just don't want to see autism as a possibility when it comes to us women. Since our symptoms isn't an exact match to the men's symptoms, then it must mean that we don't have it, right? (She said sarcastically.)
Just out of curiosity, did you finally get the diagnosis?
I’m 36, my roommate was diagnosed with adhd a year ago. i had panic disorder and was treated, moved onto anxiety treatment, and I am now stuck there. I am currently unemployed, yet I still struggle to get up or shower or go out. Or make food. After learning about time blindness i googled, started watching this video. Asked my roommate (with adhd) and she said no she doesn’t think I have adhd. But she does say my conditions are bad. And she thinks it’s a miracle if I get a chore done before midnight. I thought I couldn’t take showers because I used to have panic attacks in there. But I actually enjoy it now and still need an appointment that forces me to go out and take off my mask and have social conversation to take a shower. I never did anything in time, I was always late or worried about arriving somewhere. I am always addicted to something, or if I am not, I just lay in bed with my phone. Finished your video finally (2 days!) going to call the doctors in the morning for an assessment, please wish me luck.
I hope everything went well!!!!
@@halicusnguyen8864 It did!!! About a month on concerta! Now I am such a busybody, (doesn’t mean I actually get things done, lol) everybody is sometimes worry about me. I made food yesterday! Go diagnosis! Go meds!
@@dodoburnable That's awesome!!! I'm so glad to hear that :D!!
Oop, I’m literally in the process of trying to find a psychiatrist who can diagnose with me ADHD so the timing of this video is perfect for me
Me too, I’m 22 and always though I had something, but now I’m pretty sure it’s ADHD
Me too. I‘m 32 and had my child 1.5 years ago and i‘m not the same ever since. I read, that it can manifest in women after child birth.
Im literally in that journey too rn :)
Me too, 22 years ✋.
I took the screening test through betterhelp. The result was ADHD at max. But I need real diagnosed
Don't be afraid to change doctors if you feel the one you are seeing isn't up on latest research (so much has happened in just the last couple of years) or doesn't understand the how your various intersectionalities impact your experience of having ADHD.
Also, the channel How to ADHD is a great resource, especially for anyone new to the diagnosis.
When you talked about the stereotypical adhd "type" I was so relieved to hear you say it. Nobody says it. I grew up thinking that's exactly what it was. I had younger family members who may potentially have been misdiagnosed because that is in fact how they act and so they were diagnosed and treated for adhd. It's taken me until 25 to understand adhd beyond the stigma.
One tip - when they ask "why do you think you have ADHD" they're asking for examples form your daily life instead of what symptoms. I suggest leading with issues you notice in your daily life first, then going into possible ADHD if you can do that order. They take it more seriously if you say (as an example, everyone's symptoms looks different) "I always forget things, I have a really hard time with verbal instructions, I'm always behind on chores event hough it's just me, I feel like I can't get anything done even though I have the skills, I'm under performing even though I don't want to be..." Instead of "I have memory issues, difficulty with initiation, difficulty doing tasks I'm not interested in")
Sounds like the person asking that question could be expected to clarify that.
I feel like you allways need to dumb down what you want to say, otherwise they become dismissive and wary
This may be true but if it can be boiled down to two sentences instead of a 15 minute ramble why!!!
Also notable that you're focusing on the negative instead of the objective aspects, because that's what doctors do. It's not "this is why my brain is different, I need a diagnosis to get accommodations," but "my brain is a tragedy and a curse upon my life and the lives of my loved ones."
The former is not taken seriously because you're "too smart/well-adjusted" and you did the research, meaning you could be lying for... whatever benefits a stigmatized diagnosis would give a neurotypical person.
Anyway, I'm ASD and not seeking a formal diagnosis because of these concerns.
@@NoiseDay small note here is that there are people who sell adderall cuz of the effects on people who DONT have adhd. like if you have adhd you just focus a bit better, for me it just made me feel a bit sick, but i had people in my high school offer 50$ for a pill because its one of the most widely abused drugs in the usa
It's really hard for me to conceptualize my symptoms as a child because I had such extreme anxiety since I was very young that it would never be apparent to anyone around me that I was struggling with ADHD, but in retrospect, the constant fear that I wasn't remembering something, or wasn't informed about an assignment, or was falling behind on something was probably a manifestation of trying to cope with my forgetful nature while also being very high strung. And, anyway, even though I was regimented and strict with myself, I was always forgetting binders, homework at home, homework on the printer, things to bring to class, would forget where I put my calculator, ect. It wasn't until I became depressed in college and my anxiety wasn't able to compensate that I started procrastinating and turning to alcohol and escapism to regulate my emotions.
I relate to this a lottttttttttttttttt
One of my favorite adhd "symptoms": self-employment. There's an extremely high correlation between adhd and success in self-employment. It's been scienced and everything.
Wow. Thanks for mentioning this. I've always thought I would prefer some form of self-employment, but I never knew it was actually something proven to help with ADHD.
I feel strangled when I'm employed, and I don't have the structure and drive to be self-employed. OuO
Any chance of a strong correlation with long-term unemployment?
Huh. This is fascinating. I was dianosed with ADHD this year in my mid 30s, and I'm self-employed because I've NEVER been able to get/hold stable employment. (I've never been fired, but every job I've ever had had an expiration date on it - it's always been hacking together temporary/freelance/part time/seasonal stuff. It's been like two decades since I got my first job, so I know it's me and not just the economy or whatever.) I now freelance full time because it's literally the only option.
So I wonder how much of this correlation is a result of ADHD people being naturally inclined to the demands of self-employment (taking on multiple roles, having control of their own schedules/work environments, etc.) and how much has to do with the massive difficulties we have with getting or maintaining traditional employment. (Of course, like everything, it's probably both!)
@@caseydimaio9601 it's not so much a thing that helps, it's that a lot of people with ADHD find it's more compatible with their life to run your own business than to be an employee. It's still difficult and risky, but in exchange for the risk and hard work you gain a lot more control over how you work, and for ADHD people like me who are incredibly lousy employees, it's a good exchange
That's actually encouraging to hear because normally I feel like ADHD makes me worse at everything, but I've always wanted to be self employed
In relation to the women getting overdiagnosed with anxiety and depression and undergdiagnosed with ADHD, I had an assessment and the refused to diagnose me because my base level cognitive skills were so high that most of the drastic dips that would signal ADHD were only a little under average. Instead of looking at the patterns, they just said oh you have anxiety and depression (I have anxiety but am not depressed) and said that my motivational issues were due to anxiety even though I repeatedly told them that one of the only things that could get me around the procrastination and motivational issues was extreme anxiety. My therapist eventually had to just go around the diagnosis and diagnose me with ADHD herself since she could obviously tell that I have it.
I also got diagnosed mid-pandemic, at 31. Turns out, having all of the structures you've carefully built around your neurodivergence ripped away from you with no warning is not great for your mental health! I got assessed by a therapist initially, then went to a horrendous psychiatrist appointment where he scoffed at the idea of treating ADHD and only cared about anxiety and depression (the speed at which that Xanax prescription was written was staggering). I was lucky to get referred to a much better psychiatrist who spent an hour on my first appointment (very hard to find in the US!), and was super thorough. He didn't talk down to me, and he gave me all of my treatment options with lists of pros and cons for each, so I could make the best decision for myself. It's been about a year now, and the difference that diagnosis made in my mental health is pretty amazing.
My psychologist when diagnosing me at the time told me depression is a SUPER common secondary symptom of untreated ADHD, especially in women. Treating my adhd also rid me of my depression, I am super greatful I did not end up being treated for surface symproms, can't imagine the struggle of having to deal with an antidepression dependency while still struggle with the deep self loathing that can come with ADD.
yeah, some people develop the organisational habits, but some of manage to sneak through without ever developing the organisation skills.
For example, I usually fail the coursework which requires organised work over an extended period, but succeed in exams by being extremely good at cramming the week of the exam and super focused in the exam.
It also helps that I (without braggning) am somewhat above average, so I can still get an OK grade while only studying half the semester. It still hurts to think what I could achieve if I worked hard all the whole time.
@@sterric401 But there isn't a cure for depression or any mental health problem... I have to take antidepressants, because I become super emotionally unstable without. I'll never b able to live without them.
Can I get the medication , like Ritalin, I think I have it I can’t never finish anything
same and i am also autistic so i handle sudden changes very very poorly
My spouse adds in "Kat-time" to everything. I am perpetually 15-30 min late, so he tells me the time that accommodates for that. This used to upset me but now I see it as his way of helping me time manage, especially before I had a diagnosis and meds. And I was only diagnosed and started medication at 34, which was Dec 2020!! Feel this a lot!!!
My entire extended family specifically does this for my parents. My boyfriend tries to do this for his mom because despite all three of us having ADHD, she has the least sense of time, since nobody ever helped her specifically learn useful time management skills for ADHD like my parents did with me
I am one of the few lucky women to be diagnosed as a kid, and it was as a direct result of a teacher trying to hold me back in KINDERGARTEN because I couldn't sit still - the district told her "no, her grades are too good to hold her back, sit down and shut up", and my first grade teacher Knew About It, kept an eye on me, and told my parents to bring me to a neurologist because there was Something Going On With That Child. I don't remember the appointment, but I was diagnosed basically immediately with A Whole Lot Of ADHD. And then the school district didn't give me educational support for all the same reasons they didn't let my kindergarten teacher hold me back 🙃
My first grade teacher actually told my mom that she should take me to a psychologist, but apparently she looked up the symptoms and decided that I didn't have it. The reason I talked and didn't pay attention in class was just cause was bored, apparently. 🙄Even though I didn't want to be doing those things, and if I was "just bored" I could've stopped.
Sure love being too "well adjusted" to receive support that could save my life
@@random23287 It makes me wonder if this was what MY mom did. She mentioned having me tested when I was younger (I don't remember it) and they said I didn't have it.
UGH, YES! "Oh, you have ADHD? Well, it's not impacting us, so fuck you." Just because we're able to keep up/manage doesn't mean we don't need help. ADHD diagnoses can happen in adulthood when the natural ability to keep up fails, and someone does not have any of the coping mechanisms/tools or knowledge of the coping mechanisms/tools they can put into place to help.
I got my ADHD diagnosis at 30. I'd already been diagnosed years earlier with Anxiety and Depression, so I'd gotten into the habit of keeping a mental health journal. One day, I decided to inventory all of the issues I seemed to be experiencing that were making grad school so difficult for me, and ended up with quite the list. Five minutes after I finished, my internet crawling brought up an ADHD self-assessment form, and looking at it, I realized that the symptoms it pointed out lined up basically 1:1 with the points I'd just outlined. I dropped everything else I was doing and made an appointment with my psychiatrist, who confirmed that yeah I have hella ADHD. Heck of a way to find out, imo.
My one tip for people who are considering seeing someone about getting diagnosed is finding someone who is actually very interested in understanding YOU, how you live your life, and your challenges. I have a friend who tried seeing someone but the therapist did a very cursory glance at her symptoms and told her she didn’t have it because it clearly isn’t effecting her that much if she can get all As in school. The therapist didn’t care to hear that my friend was still struggling, even if on the outside she looks very functional. Whether my friend actually has it or maybe something else, I guess who knows, but if your doctor won’t listen and doesn’t seem to care, I’d say just try someone else.
I did bring it up with my psychologist but not that I think about it, she brushed it aside.
Therapists can't diagnose ADHD or Autism. You have to go to a Neuropsychologist to get a test assesment. I think she would have to go to her Primary Care Doctor to get a referal rather than go to the therapist. Therapist also can't give out medication. So your friend would have to go to Psychiatrist.
@@angellover02171 Psychologists can't officially diagnose you but many work alongside psychiatrists and can tell the psychiatrist "this person has (disorder) and needs treatment for it and to be diagnosed" oftentimes the psychiatrist listens to them more than the patient as well. It's how I just got "unofficially" diagnosed and medicated for ADHD (it's unofficial cuz insurance wouldn't cover the official testing and this is a loophole/work around)
@@ThanatosMist I'm glad that worked for you but clearly that isn't working for op's friend. It's best to get the official diagnosis to get meds and get help in college.
@@angellover02171 Their friends psychologist clearly isn't helping them but that doesn't mean a psychologist can't diagnose or can't help you get a diagnosis. Psychiatrists often look at those wanting ADHD testing suspiciously because treatment involves a controlled substance, so they often take referrals and notes from a psychologist more seriously especially since psychologists/therapists often spend more time with you than a psychiatrist can. Especially if it's one they work with regularly. So seeing one can help you get a diagnosis faster than if you weren't. It's also not uncommon for psychologists to recommend diagnosis and treatments to the psychiatrist they work with in treating a patient.
I'm just correcting you on saying that they can't get you a diagnosis or help
I have most ADHD symptoms but funnily enough being late isn't one of them. I am always early to everything like I get anxiety of being late so I always end up going to everything extra early just to make sure I will be there on time. I think it comes from the fact that I probably got burned badly by being late in the past so now I overcompensate every time.
saaaame
Thats pretty common for adhders as well
I am diagnosed with autism (but I have been suspecting having both).
I’m exactly the same! In 1st grade I became aware of how late I was to class or how I’d completely forget about school and play for hours on end during break. Extreme daydreamer and losing focus at any given time 😂 I’d be so hyper fixated and after a couple of times this happening, I got detention and scolded by the teachers. It freaked me out so badly I got in trouble I NEVER became late again. I will get an hour early to everything most of the time because of how much the past of being late affected me. So fascinating, because I thought those with ADHD are always late 🤔
This is utterly brilliant. I wholeheartedly agree that the seperation that the medical world does with ADHD and anxiety is inane. Co-mordity and ADHD should be one of the central tenements on discussing how to better support people.
Also I need to do the looking outside of one self first. Thank you for such wonderful idea.
The difficulty is that untreated anxiety can cause executive dysfunction issues, so typically the process is to treat any anxiety, and then if there are still symptoms move to ADHD or other sources. For example, one person can have difficulty starting work due to rumination and perfectionism, and another person can have difficulty due to difficulty with attention and shifting/initiating task, but in screens this could look the same. It's an issue though - I was hugely anxious as a kid and it fueled my grades and behaviours, so I didn't get diagnosed with ADHD until adulthood after I'd treated most of my anxiety. And the anxiety stemmed from untreated ADHD (missing social cues, difficulty with "hearing" people, only being able to maintain one thing in life at a time - I chose homework over friends for the most part because I did luckily enjoy school).
OMG i didn't even know people would have those separated. I got diagnosed, and I luckily got a psychiatrist who whole heartedly believed in this, and then also explained it so well. Not having that in the center, and not having communication about that can be so hard, I can't even imagine.
@@thenopedetective Totally respect that. The issue can happen when the medical services stop at the anxiety which has happened to me and I can imagine a few others. In my case my assessor got a whiff of PTSD and focus shifted immediately to childhood trauma specifically. Which while understandable wasn't the focus of the consultation. It also caused me to have to re-live parts to answer his questions.
@@thenopedetective I was treated for anxiety with talk therapy. Things didn't really get better until a psychiatrist diagnosed me with ADHD. I was on anxiety meds, but they weren't really needed. My anxiety is caused by the ADHD and of that's treated, I'm OK.
@@Firegen1 The complicated thing for ADHD too is that there is emerging evidence that it may be related to trauma, so it trauma can change how the brain works. It's really complicated because cPTSD and ADHD can look so similar (in women in particular), and may or may not overlap. Different meds help each, different psychotherapies. Though - behavioural skills in both can be helpful in the same way. But externally if you remove the trauma reactions the executive functioning and related behaviours can be so similar so it's a hard thing to tease out.
Really sorry you went through that. Unfortunately screening out other sources of executive functioning issues is a key part of diagnosis. Particularly for ptsd, meds can be really risky if a person is treated for ADHD instead so it is an important thing to explore for mental health providers.
It's so imperfect. It would be so much easier if there was a scan which could be done so we didn't have to go through all these processes which are so not ADHD friendly and definitely not useful for anyone who has medical trauma or even mistrust 😔
I watched this video like a year ago thinking "hey that kind of sounds like me" and flash forwards to today I got diagnosed at 23. The medication worked wonders and now so many things I found so hard are now a lot more manageable, Im a lot more confident and working on bettering myself. If theres anything I regret is saying no to getting tested at school for various things when I was a teenager. Oh well, no point in dwelling on the past
I was lucky enough to get a diagnosis when I was in like, second grade, but I was given SO little resources to actually tell me what having ADHD *MEANT* my whole life that I still spent all of my teenaged years wondering "what was wrong with me" when the answer was a diagnosis I had gotten when I was *6*
Same for me, but with autism. A word is just a word if you don't know what it means.
Yes! It was the same with me. I was diagnosed at 5 thanks to my mom who was an educator at the time. I didn't get the resources I needed until I was 23.
I'm nearly 40, I got my diagnosis from my Psychiatrist 2hrs ago.....i can't describe the whirlwind of emotions and thoughts I'm experiencing.
This has been a start, thank you.
i was just diagnosed with ADD last month actually, I'm in my late 20s too. the hardest part was coming to grips with the imposter syndrome I felt, mainly because my brother was diagnosed with ADHD in first grade, so it was easy to dismiss my symptoms as paranoia or learned behaviour. So I am very happy to see other late diagnoses, thank you.
Dude, I feel you. I had no reason to believe I wasn't neurotypical until a friend with ADHD told me the stuff I'm experiencing wasn't normal. Even after getting a diagnosis, I'm still trying to kick down those decades-old thought patterns of "I'm lazy, incapable, irresponsible, etc" and I find myself getting into long conversations with other people trying to explain it to them and make them believe me when really I'm trying to convince myself. Logically I know what the truth is, but my emotional side is still catching up.
i feel exactly the same! brother got diagnosed at 6-7 and i got diagnosed at 21.. imposter syndrome is real :(
I recently found out at the age of 36. I'm not hyperactive, but "inattentive", although for me it's never been complete lack of attention as much as it's selective. I'll avoid the things I need to do until the last second, but if it's something I actually want to do and am passionate about, I get hyper-focused on completing it and don't move until I'm done. I also have issues with hyperfixation where I'll obsess over something for hours, days, weeks, or months at a time, then drop it (usually after a spending spree) and not focus on anything specific. But before long, I become fixated on something else. The waxing and waning attention is awful and has affected me most of my life from early childhood, but I've been talking to my therapist and might try some medication. Not being able to focus on what I actually need to sucks.
This whole post is me.
Did you ever get medication and did it work? How are you doing now?
i was diagnosed last year, at age 31! but i swear to god, getting help for adhd has been like a checklist of all the things my adhd makes difficult. i've been taking ritalin for almost a year now and its not as effective as it was at the start, but my doctor quit and the clinic said they have no more space for me as a patient, although they will refill my prescription in the meantime. but its really hard to find an english-speaking psychiatrist in prague who deals with adhd and doesn't believe that it is a "children's disorder" :/
When I was in Prague I went to a place in Kobylisy called NUDZ. The doctor’s name was Dr Pavla Stopková and she speaks English. If that doesn’t work try speaking to a GP for recommendations on English speaking psychiatrists, there were at least 3 in Prague when I was there (2019-2020) but many didn’t have space.
Good luck to you!
Maybe you could go to an psychiatrist in another country (in some cases your health insurance will pay as well). Do you actually need someone who is able to give you a new prescription or are you searching for a new therapist who knows ADHD in adults? In the first case you could go to any doctor of medicine and he does not have to be a therapist, he can give you your prescription. In your in need of an therapist, search for psychologists. I studied psychology as well and we learnt soooo much more about mental disorders than friends of mine who studied medicine. And especially about the fact that theres a huge problem with diagnoses in adulthood or by women. Psychologists are not allowed to give you a prescription and they are not a specialist for meds. Thats what the psychiatrists have learnt. But they are good in therapy, at least hopefully most of them.
Dont take ritalin. Change your lifestyle to what keeps your focused. Trust me dont take ritalin. It will make you stupid and dull.
@@theartemisgland And what about when I need to drive a car, pay my bills or do household chores? What lifestyle changes will help me with them
Not judging Rowan for taking the sponsorship (everyone needs to eat and pay rent), but I'm really sick of companies that target ADHDers with that "pay to unlock basic features that make our app actually functional" trash. Like, great, one of many difficulties I have that makes it hard for me to get or hold down any job is also the thing companies want me to pay reoccurring costs to manage. Lovely. Not utterly maddening at all, really.
Would you develop an app for free?
@@estebanmayorga6921
I've attempted exactly that a few times out of frustration with these apps. Trouble is my executive functioning is stuck somewhere in a void and actually finishing or following through with even just making one for myself is basically impossible.
I'd be happy enough if there were tools designed to do the same thing provided through disability support services - profiteering on the unmet support needs of disabled people is not particularly something that I as a disabled person think is cool and normal.
@@thatboringone7851 like, if they would let us just pay a one-time higher cost, that would be nice, this way it's just exploitation because they are super aware of how that is our exact massive struggle.they are banking on it
I’m 23 and I’ve been in therapy for the past few months and in that time I’ve started to realize I probably have ADHD. It wasn’t ever really a concern growing up cause I was a “#giftedkid” straight A’s, took like 9 AP classes the rest honors, was a year ahead in science, two ahead in math. I’ve always joked that I work best under pressure because I procrastinated EVERYTHING. 10 page research paper that I’ve had months to do, maybe I’ll make a plan for it the day it’s assigned but then I’d be freaking out and starting it the last two days. I’ve written 5 page papers the day they were due. Even justified not writing papers in a couple college classes because I knew if I at least got a C on the final, whether or not I wrote the paper I’d get a B in the class. That and you’d think with my grades I would have gone to whatever school I wanted, I didn’t apply anywhere. The entire process was so overwhelming that I never brought myself to do it and then was stuck with going to community college until I dropped out. Now I struggle at work to record my hours, or sit down and work on projects I know don’t need to be done for a couple days. My short term memory is bad, I’ll leave the house and drive halfway down the street and forget whether I locked my door and have to go back to check because of my anxiety. Idek how many art projects I’ve started, fully planned out and then abandoned after a few hours of work. So many projects that I would genuinely love to finish but now it’s overwhelming. As a child I would hyperfocus on books, now I hyperfocus on Netflix series, or scrolling through TikTok for houuurs (deleted it but now I just do it on youtube shorts) I have an appointment next week with an online program that does assessments diagnosis and prescriptions so hopefully I can get some insight.
Update a couple months later:
So the doctor I spoke with from the online program (I ended up going with Klarity because of pricing) after I told her my whole story was just like yea babe you definitely have ADHD. Put me on 10mg of Adderall twice a day, initially with the morning dose being an extended release version of it. Day one of it was fantastic. I cleaned my room for the first time in months, did a bunch of random chores, things I’d been like “oh I need to do that” for the last couple weeks, boom, done in an afternoon. I was definitely able to relate to the feeling of just whatever boulder was blocking my brain from doing honestly simple things was pushed out of the way. My doctor recommended I only take it on days I have work, and though after a week or so of being on it, I noticed the improvement less, I definitely noticed the effects of not being on it. Besides the struggle to make sure I’m properly hydrated so I don’t get headaches, the hardest part of being on adderall has been the sleep schedule. Skipping it on weekends or holidays would lead to my schedule being off, and then I’d try to just take one dose (not the xr) when I got up or maybe it had something to do with my diet that day but I’d feel like the effects of it were kicking in hours later at like midnight when I should be going to bed. We switched to no extended release after the first month, and since then I feel like I’ve gotten better at switching between taking it and not taking it. Weekends feel less groggy, but the sleep schedule is still hard. Today was good, managed to get up at like 8:30 but last week I was consistently getting up around noon and didn’t sleep at all last Thursday night. I have a feeling it’s gonna be a while til I’m on the right dosage and type of medication but at least so far it feels like I’m on the right track…
Update 2: 3/10/22
Took me a while to build a routine but I feel like I finally have one again. I rent just a single bedroom and work from home so I got a loft bed to put my desk under and I started leaving my phone on my desk at night so that when my alarm goes off I have to climb down a ladder to stop it. And to pick up my phone I have to pick up my pill bottle from on top of it. For months I’d had the hardest time being consistent with taking the meds around the same time each day or at all. Now it’s been probably like 3 weeks straight of consistency. Which has been great for my energy levels and mood but I still feel so easily distracted like theres hardly any self control. Hell I’m procrastinating again rn writing this update. But it’s cause I just talked with my doctor about all this again a little bit ago. To stay on routine I need it to be every day otherwise it falls apart, which I think was making withdrawal symptoms way more obvious for me when I’d try to have a skip day. Switching to a different prescription that is a bit stronger so I can hopefully focus better and from what my doctor said usually people have less obvious ups and downs with. So we’ll see how that goes!
*im in this picture and i dont like it* lol
i identify so much
good luck with your assessment :)
I actually started tearing up reading this because you sound so much like me and when the first doctor's office I applied to in order to get tested never got back to me I just... never tried again because I've been so obsessed with the idea that I don't have it and it's just an excuse I've made up for myself but... damn
are you inside my head? thank you, this helped. good luck.
Shit that was uncomfortable to read as it was so relatable, I could have written it, although I wasn't quite a straight A's kid I still did pretty good in school. I remember saying during exams when we were required to revise that "if it's not in my brain now, then it's not guna be!" I could never concentrate to reread through things, it was so boring! I'm now 32 and still struggle with concentration and organising task and my time.
Wow. Thank you. Yeah that is literally me. I was recruited by Princeton in October of my senior year, but then got so anxious about asking a teacher for a recommendation that the application was submitted too late to be processed. I only applied to one other school because the idea of applying to multiple was awful.
Diagnosed at 37 here. Initially the doctor thought I was talking rubbish as I'd had a job for 15 years, am married and have 3 children. It took my husband going back with me to help me articulate my struggles and advocate for me along with my mother's notes about what I was like as a child. It took 2 years after going to the doctor's to actually see someone, get diagnosed and finally medicated. But nothing as bad as waiting to see the ASD people. That was just under 5 years.
Ooh, I'm a clinical therapist myself who also got diagnosed in my last semester of my master's degree at 24, so I really resonate with your experience here. Loved hearing your thoughts on this! I've had such complicated thoughts with how neurodivergence has been discussed on the internet but I really like what you said here!
What do you include in "the internet"?
@@Encysted I suppose when I say "the internet" I include things like the "self-assessments" that are usually based on misinformation/not actual self-assessments (the legit ones are fine) and social media, particularly TikTok. Like overall I have zero issue with self-diagnosis or discussion about ADHD, but there is an issue of people making popular TT videos that are really based in misinformation that are often like "you have ADHD if x" (that aren't jokes, and this is just one example). It gets so bad the sometimes real professionals who have tried to speak to the misinformation get harassed and doxxed. The complicated thoughts I have is the general way misinformation about neurodivergence is so widespread and how that misinformation is used, even within the MH field.
I hope you will not practice this pseudoscience and poison people with stimulants. They ruin lives (speaking from personal experience). So does the diagnosis itself, but not to the same extent.
That “am I a spreadsheet person or is this the only way I’ll remember anything coping mechanism” part hit really really hard. I have my own TH-cam channel and I’ve got like 3 sheets of just data and information for my uploads, and my file folders for the content are hyper organized.... I’ve even made lists like this for just video games I’ve been playing... this just hit really hard for me.
Thank you for making a video about your experiences, it gave me a lot to think about, and it helped me a lot.
Having a diagnosis is SO helpful. I'm autistic and I have very severe ADHD (both diagnoses I'm lucky to have gotten early, being a cis woman) and I can vouch for how much my self-esteem benefits from being able to recognize that a problem I'm having is NOT my fault, and how much having access to accommodations helps.
Thank you for sharing your story. I was just having a breakdown earlier today over not knowing how or if I would ever be able to fix the problems I've been having. The hopeful tone of this video put me more at ease. (Also I downloaded Fabulous immediately.)
I just started medication for ADHD and I just... I'm so glad I found this video. So many of the things you described I could relate to almost exactly.
I agree that co-morbidity with anxiety often isn’t accounted for enough. I’ve been thinking about how a lot of my anxiety may have developed as a way to treat my undiagnosed adhd in the sense that it realised that the only way I could get a lot of things done, or perform in the way I was expected was to put myself in adrenaline mode to do it.
I also think the requirement a lot of diagnostic criterias for adhd have for symptoms to be there before 12 can be a problem. It’s difficult cause I understand needing to prove that it’s something you’re born with rather than another thing that’s developed. But the problem is often adhd goes undetected until it starts causing major problems in your life (I think this is especially true for inattentive type, which is more common in women and people assigned female). So a lot of people might grow up in a household where their adhd symptoms are supported without them even being known, like if their parents provide them with enough but not too much structure, or if they have undiagnosed adhd themselves so they unconsciously accommodated for it, or symptoms were seen by both parent and child as normal, or if they enjoy and hyperfocus on schoolwork.
So it often doesn’t become noticeable until high school or uni when schoolwork gets harder and more self directed, or when managing the responsibilities of adult life on your own is too much, or you can’t keep up with the amount of work it takes you to appear normal. And it is common for people with adhd to not remember their childhood that much. It’s not that I think it should be removed from the criteria but maybe it doesn’t need to be such an absolute requirement if everything else fits and there’s circumstances such as these. Like the first psychiatrist I went to asked me if I was told off a lot at home like “sit down and do your homework!” and I said no. Then I remembered that I would literally climb the walls as a kid (crabwalk between the two in the hallway) but I was allowed to do that.
Thanks for these points! I'm someone who is questioning if I have this, but I'm only diagnosed with Anxiety. One reason I haven't even looked into getting an ADHD diagnosis yet is that I can't remember struggling in childhood or in class, only as an adult. Kid me was obsessed with learning and reading, and I don't recall much else about my concentration or behaviour. One of the only things I can remember is my mum telling me that whenever I had homework I would leave it to the last minute, get really upset and then do it really quickly and get top marks 😅 and this is basically still how I work now. So it was helpful to read your comments and see that maybe that could still actually fit with ADHD.
I didn’t really struggle with my ADHD at all until high school. I made all A’s in school without even trying up to that point and my parents (especially my mother, who I now suspect to be my genetic link to ADHD) unknowingly accommodated me in the name of self-expression and protecting my sensitivity. In high school, it’s like the work got harder overnight. It was easy and then suddenly it just wasn’t. I went from understanding everything immediately to not understanding at all. I don’t know if the work just got harder or if there may have been some hormonal change that threw my brain for a loop, but my ADHD didn’t present itself as a problem until I was in high school. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 22 and I’m pretty sure the reason I was diagnosed with inattentive instead of hyperactive is because my depression suppresses my hyperactive tendencies.
@@kyoyameganebereznoff this is so goddamn scary real cause im currently in my third year of high school and this exact thing is happening. Like stuff just has become so much harder. Also when the pandemic hit and my school closed i lost all sembelance of a routine and that whole year i got nothing done even though i had more time than ever.I thought i would be the most productive but the exact opposite happened and the only reason i got anything done was cause of my fear of failure and now that my school is starting to properly open im terrified cause i dont know how i'll get into a routine after a year and a half (plus my school got longer by 2hrs) . Im not sure if i actually have adhd (and who i get it from) i only started questioning in the pandemic but like i might just be having a bias cause of seeing so many adhd posts floating around Sometimes i cant even know if im being lazy or if i actually have trouble with something lol, but i dont want to self diagnose.
Anyways would love to know if you have any tips to help
@@payal1086 That bit where you talk about not knowing if you're being lazy or if you actually have trouble. . .
Laziness is literally just "I don't want to". If there's the smallest hint of wanting to do something, but you don't for whatever reason, it's not laziness any more.
If you consistently want to do something and just don't (and don't know why), then it's a good idea to look into ADHD and/or executive dysfunction. Especially if it starts causing distress where you really want to do thing but you're not doing the thing and you're TRYING to do the thing and shaming yourself for not doing the thing but you're still not doing it. . . then get help.
Yes this exactly! When she was talking about discussing things with your parents/bringing in family members, the first thing I thought of was how difficult that would be for me.
My father has diagnosed ADHD and so does my brother, but because my brother had the very stereotypical presentation, I don't know that my parents would think of my childhood behaviour as being in any way unusual.
"I just always have the *feeling* of anxiety without being anxious about *something* almost like being driven by a motor." OH SHIT! That makes so much sense! And I even already have my ADHD diagnosis. Thanks for pointing this out!
Currently in the process of possibly getting a psychiatric diagnosis (and more importantly, treatment). I’m in another country, but this video was still very helpful.
Not gonna lie, as an American, I busted up laughing at your reaction to your medication pricing. But that's mostly because I grew up in a broken system. Glad you got the help you needed though. Keep on keeping on sister. 😊
I'm a woman that was diagnosed at 28 and suddenly everything came together. I had noticed years before something was off to the point that I considered whether I had bipolar because I had depression but I had been misinterpreting my hyperactivity & hyperfocus as hypomania. In between depressive episodes I still struggled without explanation. I hadn't even remotely thought of ADHD due to its association with rowdy boys until one professor noted I reminded her a lot of her brother with ADHD because of similar thought patterns, writing styles, and our approaches to assignments. That gave me the push to seriously deep dive into the condition. It's funny that you mention health care professionals dismissing women with ADHD as having depression and/or anxiety. I literally had an unrelated therapist post-diagnosis tell me my symptoms came from depression even though I knew that didn't make any sense.
I relate to this so much. I had thought I was bipolar in middle school, but looking back at it, it's depression/adhd
Same. I also considered whether I may have bipolar disorder because what i was going through at the end of high school and my early twenties looked--on the surface--similar to depression and hypomania, but I now believe I can more accurately be described as depression and ADHD symptoms.
When seeking treatment/help, I talked to two different psychiatrists about my openness to medication, but that I also had concerns about taking antidepressants in case i did happen to have bipolar disorder.... because antidepressants alone are not an appropriate treatment for bipolar.
But both psychiatrists were older men (myself being AFAB) and dismissed that concern as being "my anxiety" speaking. 🙃 Never mind that I had legitimate reasons to express hesitancy and concern (namely that my father was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, leaving me a higher chance of those genetics being passed to me; as well as my own observable symptoms.) These experiences kind of put me off trying to seek help for a while.
I have since seen a third pyshciatrist who essentially also dismissed my concerns as anxiety, but i ended up agreeing to try the antidepressant. And lo and behold, no complications, and the medication has helped my depression, (indicating i do not have bipolar), but my ADHD like symptoms and struggles are still there. 🥲 I am now waiting until i may go in for an assessment specifically for ADHD.
It's unfortunate that nome of these three psychiatrists took my symptoms seriously enough to consider what else might be causing them, especially because Bipolar and ADHD are known to be mistaken and misdiagnosed for each other.
What a help it would be if doctors saw the depression symptoms and, instead of stopping there, asked where the symptoms came from.
Just to say a massive thank you, this video literally changed my life. You described my childhood pretty accurately and then when you said the Zoom meeting thing the penny dropped. 2+ years later I'm diagnosed, medicated and my life is so much better and so much of my past makes more sense.
You're so lucky that your parents understood, mine have a really old fashioned view of ADHD. I came to them after having done some research, with a list of symptoms that I thought I had currently and ones that applied to me as a child. They didn't even read them. I was a little emotional because the symptoms resonated so much, and I was nervous about talking to them about it. So they told me I was just tired and upset, even though I'd been looking at this for days. I know they were not going to get it so I've left it. Now I've left the house I'm starting to think about looking into getting assessed, but it's scary after the reaction I got from them, the only people I've ever talked about it to.
I'm sorry they didn't show more interest, feedback and empathy in that moment. But don't give up on that journey, would be my advice.
My family didn't react so interested as well which was disappointing too but this shouldn't stop us from getting a proper diagnosis. Wish you all the best:)
My parents dismissed autism for me out of hand as well. Well, turns out I did have autism, and so does my dad. Parents often have stereotypes in their heads and may even feel a bit attacked because if they didn't see something so "big" in you as a kid, did they mess up in their parenting? I'd take their (initial) responses with a big grain of salt for sure.
I hope they open up to the idea soon.
i’ve had the same experience, they were super dismissive “everybody deals with that” “there’s nothing wrong with you” even doubtful looks from friends. while it’s frustrating i have to remind myself that nobody knows me better than me. i’ve been struggling my entire life and dealt with serious rage as a kid and other emotional issues as an adult. maybe if my parents instead of calling me “horrible” and “lazy” had just taken me to a doctor things would have been different
I'm 32 and just found out that I may have adhd. Told my mom that I'm gonna get myself assessed and she scoffed saying there I go again trying to find excuses for my incompetence, laziness etc. She said all I need to do is be focused, like mom, that's exactly what I have trouble doing! I laughed, but I really felt like crying. Anyway, I'm so glad that I've finally found answers for myself, and that's the most important thing.
Dude, my case is almost the same. I literally have each and every symptom I've looked up of the inattentive one, and I fidget a lot (but that's as bad as my impulsive symptoms go) and have had them since childhood, to the point that I once eavesdropped on them (which I'd do on the regularly, because on the one hand I never trusted anyone and saw through people's bs /which in turn made me a manipulative bitch too from a very young age buuuut I'm not like that anymore so that's great I guess/and on the other hand my parents couldn't seem to be normal parents and always had to be talking crap about their daughter) saying that I was not right in the head because I forgot so many things, and I think I have never finished an exam in middle school, not out of laziness but because I'd forget to answer questions, lost everything, wasn't paying attention, etc. So yeah, I was a case of a person that should have gone to see a doctor as a very little child, but I was a gifted kid and very good at playing it cool, so nobody told my parents to do that, so they just made me extremely self conscious about things I wasn't and have never been able to control
I saw this video 8 months ago and wanted to return and let you know this was the catalyst for me getting in touch with a specialist/therapist and after 7 months of therapy and an ADHD assessment later, I was diagnosed with combination inattentive/hyperactive ADHD. I'd suspected I *might* have it since the pandemic lockdowns began in 2020, and the more I thought about my childhood/schooling + college ... it just seemed like it all fit. I went into the sessions with an open mind like you did, open to it not being ADHD but that something was def wrong. I was surprised when they were super receptive to that, in the past I've had very negative experiences with self-dx conversations and doctors. Thank you so SO much for this video. I'm happy to say I'm medicated now and on the right track of re-learning how to just ... use my brain :)
One of my biggest regrets is being put off after going to a gp at uni and describing my symptoms of ADHD, and having him tell me that everyone feels that way and the fact I was educated to a university level meant I didn't have it. I felt so guilty and embarrassed afterwards, even though I knew that was bullshit, and I haven't gotten up the courage yet to go back and try again. Now, it kind of hurts when I've been struggling to manage the symptoms on my own for three years when I literally could be diagnosed by now if he'd believed me.
Yes! They use the fact that you’ve been coping up to a point against you and just side-step that in this next stage of your life it’s not working now. I think if I hadn’t been clocked as a “gifted student” I wouldn’t have had to wait to be diagnosed until I was in my 30’s. I was told that lack of concentration, memory issues, and crippling fatigue were from gaining weight and getting older…like I had only just turned 30. Not 55…not 60. Like is was in my 20’s weeks before. The frustration is real. But honestly sometimes the experts have to like do this long line of guess work to land on something.
@@FreyaEinde even at 50s and 60s that is ridiculous and dismissive. Has anyone listened to folks like Noam chomsky, Jane goodall, Angela Davis, bell hooks, stephen hawking?...
dog, I hate doctors like that.
Oh my god, I had the same experience! I heard "you're a law student, you wouldn't be able to do that if you had ADHD". I mean, completely neglecting the fact that I was there because I wasn't coping with law school (/life). Bonus points for the other GP I saw who said "women can't have ADHD".
This is exactly what happened at my Dr. I’m 63 and just over two years ago I read about adult ADHD. She told me it was not possible because I was too smart. I think she just had a line ready to reject anything she didn’t understand. My whole life has been explained. I would really like to be medicated so I can see how the rest of the world thinks.
I've got a gp appointment next week, you've just given me a new fear
I just stumbled upon your YT channel, and I am in tears. You were able to express the feelings I have had for a long time. Thank you for sharing your experience. I, too am 29 and am trying to navigate my possible adhd.
Mind blown by that starting a task/finishing a task split. That’s genius.
Also this video made me cry and gives me hope
I liked that bit too! So far this month I've already done that three times unintentionally.
I would start a load of dishes but forget to finish it and my sister thought I had actually prepped it for her, not that I was actually trying to complete it myself. Then I had cleared off the dry erase board to write in notes for November but got distracted and left it blank. My other sister came over the next day and filled it all in for me, thanking me that I had it ready for her (lol). And today, I had taken out the trash but forgot to put in a new liner and my sister ended up finishing it for me again! 😂
Fellow late diagnosis woman here. I so related when you were talking about the “feelings” of anxiety. I used to use the word “anxious” to describe things I was looking FORWARD to - like “I’m so anxious to get to my friend’s house and hang out”. And I realized over the years that people thought I was saying I was scared or nervous about it… but I just meant like I CANT WAIT. My mom always used the word that way, too. Well now I’m 33 and diagnosed ADHD (and six weeks into meds my life is already SO improved) and realizing my mom likely has ADHD too 😅
OO! I have been learning in therapy about identifying my feelings and I noticed that excitement and anxiety feel extremely similar physically, but excitement is like a happy panic instead of just a panic?
For anyone reading this: I recommend the book Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You by Jenara Nerenberg. Brilliant exploration and reframe of neurodivergence - especially in people socialised as women.
Hearing your story is like looking in a mirror - both the childhood experience and now, at 26, coming to understand myself and identifying the coping mechanisms/socialising factors that essentially hid my ADHD up until now.
I have not yet sought clinical diagnosis - I'm currently focussing on utilising ADHD-friendly strategies to see where they get me. But then I often find it uncomfortable using the phrase "ADHD" to explain myself and behaviours to peers without it being "verified". It seems absurd to me that my lived experience can't be valid unless validated by someone else. I'm currently studying to be a clinical psychologist and it is frustratingly apparent that the institution of psychology (and the DSM) have yet to really grasp how truly divergent neurodivergency can be.
Thank you for sharing this, Rowan!
@@murderoftrees It is all of the above, I would think.
I also have not sought diagnosis for the reason stated AND because even if I did, I wouldn't be able to access the same things that if I were under 18, that I could, without huge cost. Thanks for the book recommendation. I also am trying strategies that are not something I have to spend a bunch of dollars on, and without hopefully getting meds. I find food choices help, some. But my biggest thing that challenges me, is I am kind of pissed that I should even have to fit into a system that is so narrow.
Diagnosis is important because a lot of ADHD symptoms can seem really relatable to non-ADHD folks if they don’t understand the severity and how chronic they actually are. I’ve met a lot folks who have flippantly said things like “I’m tired and I can’t concentrate; I’m so ADHD today.” Someone who doesn’t have ADHD presenting themselves as if they do can contribute to the already numerous misunderstandings that a lot of people have about ADHD.
I’m not trying to comment on whether or not you have it and a certain amount of “self diagnosis” is important because it’s those suspicions that led me to seek diagnosis. It’s also important, though, to seek the opinion if a professional, if you have the resources, because ADHD shares symptoms with other conditions and getting the correct diagnosis will help you receive better care.
I’m glad you’ve found strategies to try out! I hope they’re helping you. I usually struggle to implement new strategies because I’m just so used to doing things a certain way that I can’t remember there being any other way.
YES YES YES
(and thanks for the rec, definitely gonna check that out!)
As someone self-diagnosed as autistic, I see you. You and your diagnosis are valid to me.
Thank you. I have really been thinking about if I might have inattentive ADHD lately (and done a lot of research). However, although I can recognize myself in quite a lot of the symptoms, I am still unsure because of how structured and organized I am when it comes to certain tasks. The points you made about non-ADHD behaviours really being coping mechanisms sometimes, made me rethink things a bit. For example, I have a daily schedule that I follow, but that's only because I know that I become an anxious mess otherwise.
Great memes btw.
Ooof. The "spreadsheet person" anecdote really resonated with me because I used to be that until I changed careers and saw that when I wasn't chained to a desk anymore, I don't make any more spreadsheets. Turns out all those meticulous spreadsheets I made were just a way for me to procrastinate while still giving me the feeling of being productive.
Feeling personally attacked by this relatable content 😂
I relate to this.
What an amazing lovely and genuine person you are. These words are like an actual copy of my life. You have prompted me to try and get a diagnosis. After years of being treated for depression and some thing STILL isn't right in my brain . This has been going on for years since I was in school 25 years ago up until now and I'm 42. We owe it to ourselves to get recognised and the right treatment xx thank you ..you wonderful soul xxxx ❤
As someone with ADHD felt completely seen when you talked about not doing things until the last minute, seeing as I was watching this video instead of doing my hand-ins knowing I ought to do them to prevent stress tonight. The info provided really is something I wish had known 20 years ago, as your experience very much mirrors mine, and could have contributed to me not being so mad at myself all the time for not having the ability to just do basic stuff, despite internally yelling at myself to just get up and do them. I hope your video will help more people feel better about their own minds
@Alias Fakename When I attempt to get my life in order, I start off like this; partially doing an assignment, and then telling myself an over-exaggeration of what I've completed in said assignment, to then end up running out of time through procrastination that "I've already done most of it, so it won't take much time to finish anyway." Claiming this results from ADHD feels like I'm not doing justice to those medically suffering, so right now, my problems have stemmed from my recent diagnosis of severe iron deficiency anaemia, resulting in a lack of energy and ability to perform tasks that are energy-consuming intensive.
I think you may have just changed my life for the better
I relate to this whole video a lot. I got diagnosed with autism at 28 years old and it was quite a process to get it done. Turns out I'm a pretty typical autistic person, if you consider AFAB representations of autism. I think that's also why adult diagnoses are going up, a lot of AFAB people are realizing that maybe it's not "just" depression and/or anxiety, but ADHD or autism!
I got diagnosed literally today.
And it was for exactly this "feeling anxious without anxious thoughts"!
You're the first person I've seen to acknowledge covering ADHD with coping mechanisms. I was diagnosed about 6 months ago at 35 after pushing through the "yeah that's really over-diagnosed at the moment" barrier; I'm now on a fairly high dose of Concerta. Early on in researching I kept seeing mentions of always losing/forgetting important things, being late etc and that's not me at all. I realised my anxiety disorder has been acting as a coping mechanism: I'm terrified of being locked out of my house so always check I have my keys, and know I'm in danger of forgetting appts etc so use lists, calendars etc. While my anxiety is an issue I'm working on I'm forced to admit some of its manifestations actually help me keep my life together.
Same! But I couldn’t get my adhd diagnosis because of my anxiety…
I can relate to this. I'm also never late and everything because I had a strict dad. He always got very angry at me if I forgot to do my homework. So I rely on my anxiety to perform better and act "normal". Turns out, as I get older my anxiety got even worse because I keep using it too much. Now I'm struggling with depression because of it 😔💔
When i started not to get tensed and let anxiety drove me .that's when i literally started failing behind .. procastinating too much until the deadline appears and now my anxiety forces me to do the work ( i always worked best under pressure ) i was always an A+ student and people told me i might have toooo much anxiety for everything which actually made sure that i did my work on time yet often times i still Procastinated but not to the point iam doing it right now ..also starting hard task ( boring) is so tough i can't get myself to do them
I have a lot of coping mechanisms too - currently in the middle of the assesment thing to get diagnosed - that I just now realised have been covering up a lot of probable adhd symptoms, but in my case I don't think they're tied to anxiety but rather frustration and the desire to avoid situations where I feel frustrated. For exampel if I can't find something I get extremely frustrated/angry, so I tend to have designated spots for all the important stuff (such as keys, phone etc) in every room or even pockets because I will not know where they are otherwise.
LOL, "Sir, my anxiety could never." So relatable! ❤️👍
Anxiety being that "driven" feeling that is so often described is so interesting.
I totally hear you on the confirmation bias thing. The trouble is when you hear things like “you can’t have ADHD because you got good grades in primary school” and you realise you’re in a mad, mad world…
The intersection of ADHD and other mental illnesses I've heard is really common and I'm currently trying to get diagnosed with a couple of different things and the medical sexism is the worst!
Me: "Maybe I have it, maybe it's just anxiety and trauma responses"
Also me: *keeps zoning out and getting distracted reading the comments and scrolling recommended videos*
I'm 40 and just got diagnosed on my 4th try after trying since 2008 (had to go out of town and pay partly out of pocket for an ADHD specialist coz there's nobody specialized in my city... the 2 insurance-covered non-specialist psychiatrists I got referred to in town (as well as the hella pricey psychoeducational assessment I got when I flunked out of college the second time) were useless because I'm a polite, intelligent woman with anxiety -_-;;;)
I also just got told by a psychiatrist that I don't in fact have adhd but it's all my anxiety. It's not lol. It's so frustrating to see so many people being told this nonsense
I accidentally got diagnosed with ADHD-inattentive while in high school lol. My parents put me in therapy and had me psychologically tested bc they thought I had anxiety (I didn't, just ADHD and a dose of being closeted lol). I definitely wouldn't have known for many years unless I got diagnosed by accident :]
I have to say my wife and I had the privilege of being diagnosed young, however the only downside was that our parents had no idea what to do. I was diagnosed with Autism and my wife was diagnosed with ADHD and Anxiety. My parents did research but they went to Autism Speaks(A well known Autism hate group ran by non-autistic people that have a long history with abuse towards Autistic people) to do it and I ended up going to ABA Therapy(no horror stories from me just them teaching me how to "mask my symptoms"). I just had to do My own research into groups ran by Autistic people(like A.S.A.N.), and reach out to other autistic people online. My wife's mom didn't any form of research. She just treated her as if she wasn't diagnosed and didn't take it into consideration at all, which was passed on to her ignorant teachers as well. She would always get into to trouble, being told by different people that she was to hyper and by others that she was lazy and unfocused. When I went to tell my wife(then girlfriend) that I was Autistic, I was fully expecting for me to have to explain to her what Autism was while at the same time trying to unravel any assumptions or stigmas that she had already developed. Instead I found out that not only did she do her own research into ADHD due to her mom's lack of initiative, she also had large folders on Autism, ADD, Anxiety, Tourettes, PTSD, etc. I am very blessed to have such a commited and well informed wife and I can't wait for us to be parents.
Hey, so sorry I'm commenting on such an old video. Im also 29, I was put on the waiting list for ADHD 13 months ago and finally have an appointment to be assessed next month. So nervous but this will really help. Thank you x
i was diagnosed as a kid, but i only really learned about it as an adult when i stumbled across some information that explained a lot. i never knew growing up how much of my life choices and personality probably came from my adhd. my school had resources to help students with adhd but i wasn't allowed access to them because i wasn't taking medication.
We shouldn’t have to take medication to be supported :(
I’m in a similar situation. Now, at 24, I’m realizing how much of my action and thought patterns can be attributed to ADHD.
@@thecolorjune not to mention medicine doesn't work the same way for people even if they have the same diagnoses. that and the shady capitalistic nature of the medicine and psych industry. jeez.
@@orangeworm It’s a real double bind because there’s also a movement against medicine and as a person the medicine does wonders for I’m wary of crunchy grifter people and pseudo scientists getting a leg into the conversation because they hinder people from getting access to the help they need as well. I wish there was room for both methods and really it comes down to a personnel shortage and time shortage to let both methods exist.
@@FreyaEinde yeah it's definitely a complex issue. but as a child, my parents decided they wouldn't give me medication. that disqualified me from getting any other help, and that doesn't feel right to me. i struggled the rest of my way through school and didn't really learn anything about my diagnosis or get any advice on how to manage it until my twenties.
That idea of starting the tasks and letting someone else finish them is such a good idea and I think would help me feel less guilty about leaving things ‘half done’ and then having to stop, thank you for sharing it!
Don't forget all the doctors telling women that they must be pregnant, and explaining all symptoms with iron and/or vitamin D deficiency! Thank you for sharing your experience. It may not be completely the same in other countries, but at least I got a sense of how things proceed and what to expect. By the way, the memes at the end were playing way too fast to read and process.
Oh man that "you talk a lot" really got me. I got a lot of "We're RIGHT HERE" because I am also loud. I recently got diagnosed at 35 and it is so nice to know I am not alone and to hear shared experiences. It makes me feel like I'm not crazy. Thanks for sharing. You really do get looked down on for things that are very difficult for your brain to control. I was also a good student and highly organized so no one noticed. Even now when I told my mom, she did believe me because we have a good relationship, but she didn't think I could possibly have it. I've always been super responsible and taken charge of my own life. I guess figuring out I have ADHD and getting a diagnosis and meds is no different because I did that myself too. Mine looks so different than my dad, husband, son, brother, uncle. It's more internalized. but today, I didn't take my meds and I just felt so tired. Like everything I do is hard, and I'm remembering I just used to feel this way ALL the time.
Honestly the most useful thing I've found is the tips from "How to ADHD" and my bullet journaling (which is something I've been doing for years as a bit of a coping mechanism). I don't have a formal diagnosis but my theraphist (who's kid has it presenting similarly) and I agree that this is something I most likely do have. I don't really want to medicate so we are working with other ways to manage it (I also recognize that I don't have that many issues because I've kind of intuitevely built in coping mechanisms that are not unhealthy).
The DIVA form is so comprehensive and asks questions in a way that prompts you to think of real examples.
Oh god, I just talked to my psicologist last week about the possibility of having ADHD and finding a psychiatrist, and we talked about how I just have anxiety and I've been trying to forget the whole thing and now there's this video lol
I've been telling myself for YEARS that I just have panic disorder (which is diagnosed) and that I just get "ADHD like symptoms" when my anxiety flares.
OOPS
This is the only adhd video that really resonated with me as my experience. I had seen a lot of other videos of people who talked about adhd and they were always in trouble at school or they got bullied... but that wasnt my experience. Your experience is almost exactly my experience, almost word for word. Except the fact that im 18 and not 29 when im trying to figure this out :) thanks for the video.
23:27 my doctor also has adhd which made the diagnosis very easy for her despite me thinking my issues were caused by anxiety. we need more ppl with adhd as doctors and therapists!!
Thank you for bringing up hyperhidrosis, you’re the first person I have ever seen that discussed in the context of ADHD and it’s one of the most annoying symptoms/co-morbid issues!
Fun Fact: I would leave my homework until the morning it was due, usually whipping it off as the teacher was taking attendance or whatever. 😂
Being wicked smart & female really makes getting an ADHD-I diagnosis difficult; I didn't have much trouble with school, because the work was ridiculously easy for me. I never studied for tests & generally got A's by just halfheartedly listening to the teacher while I read a book in class. Homework was always the area I'd get poor marks in (though I could usually pull off a C-), because -like you- it just didn't exist. (My mom would be baffled at how I could walk past the sink full of dishes MULTIPLE TIMES & 'not see it', but I didn't; like homework, it just didn't exist. She said since it was my single chore, I needed to learn to see it! 😆). They decided to put me in 'advanced' programs, where I also excelled, so then they shipped me over to the fancy prestigious college (university) prep school, where I promptly imploded. I had no clue how to ACTUALLY study, or take proper notes, & homework actually, like, mattered here. Oops.
When I was 11, my younger brother was diagnosed with ADHD, & in reading up on how to help him, my mom realized she likely had ADHD-I & got herself diagnosed. Why no one thought to get *ME* diagnosed, I'll never know. I guess they thought the depression & anxiety were more pressing issues to be dealt with...perhaps 30 years ago they didn't fully grasp that those could be due to untreated ADHD . 😕) After a tumultous time in my teens & 20s with ED, the aforementioned depression & anxiety, chronic pain (hi, endometriosis!) and a touch of a addiction thrown in just to spice up the brew, I finally got things adjusted somewhat by my early 30s. I have an ADHD dx now, but times being what they are, I have to be rediagnosed by a neuropsychiatrist in order to get meds. Until then, I'm making due with what is legally available to me, but...things are still rather chaotic.
I am already seeing the signs in my 8 year old daughter; it was especially noticeable to ME when she did 'remote learning' for school last year - like you, when she had a teacher supervising, she was able to do her work well & was wicked engaged in learning, but as soon as she was to do her self-directed work, her brain nope'd right outta there. 😄 Unfortunately, she only had about 2hrs of video class spread throughout the day. (But hey, at least now I know she'd probably do better with one of those online schools that requires you to be on camera & in chat the whole day if she ever needs remote learning again! lol) I'm trying to get her to understand the importance of creating some kind of structure for herself (like a specific routine of coat/shoes/bookbag/keys/etc when she gets home) because it's good for anyone, but it's VITALLY important if she ends up having ADHD-I like her momma & grandmomma. 😁 I am working on getting her to the right people so she can get a dx & perhaps some therapy to learn how to deal with much of the rest of the world not wanting things done in the way she does them best and -if needed- medication. I don't want her to suffer the way my mom & I did (especially hearing the dreaded 'she's not living up to her potential!') & I want her to learn techniques to function in whatever ways make her feel best.
If you made it here, thank you for reading my novel! (Them: "Tell me you have ADHD without telling me you have ADHD"
Me: Have you seen my TH-cam comment history...?)
Despite it is great that you can now help out your daughter!
read it all but can't concentrate enough to write out a whole answer lol, the school experience is almost 1:1 with me
@@melanieg.9092 Haha, I get it - I wrote it out in sections over a couple hours 😆 I have to really advocate for my kid tho, because her in school behaviour is great - it's everywhere else she struggles! Come to think of it, that's probably what made it hard for ME to get a dx too...
thank you for you comment it resonates strongly with me
I’m 34 I had no idea I was adhd until recently my five year old daughter has it. Now I’ve looked into it my whole life now makes sense! I’m not diagnosed yet but I know I have it. I’m in with my GP next week to get started on diagnosis
I'm glad your experience getting diagnosed was relatively ok. I went for an adult adhd diagnosis through the NHS about 3 years ago and got completely messed around. I was in a bad time trying to get a job when I started it, and was able to get an assessment just 6-9 months after I applied, but by then I'd just got a job, and the extra structure majorly got me straightened out (since then, I've had plenty of time to get wonky again, but oh well). The person told me that from everything they'd heard, I'd have been a shoe-in for a diagnosis had I seen them a month earlier, but that where I was at that point (which was basically my best moment) they didn't think they could do anything.
I'm still kinda pissed off about that. I'm perfectly happy describing myself as having an adhd diagnosis (on all but paper), but the inability to access medication is really frustrating. I've taken to using nicotine patches (stimulants are stimulants, and nicotine patches are one of the safest stimulants that's readily available seeing as I dislike coffee and most energy drinks) sometimes, but I feel like having something more targeted would definitely be an advantage
It's also weird hearing you suggest having the person with adhd start all the tasks, because of me starting the task is almost always the difficult bit, rather than getting distracted halfway through! It's also weird to me that you're only 2 years older than me, I'm used to people on youtube being either 5 or more years older than me!
Oookay - came here from Jessicas Video, because I somehow missed this one. Now just realized - as a newly diagnosed ADHDer at 33 - that most of my favourite content creators have it 😄 thanks for your openness!
I felt very strange getting my ADHD diagnosis. I could practically read the diagnosis criteria as the psychiatrist read them, and she seemed very "ticking-the-box"-heavy on her diagnosis approach. It's very clear that I have ADHD, but the less rigorous assessment makes me almost feel like the diagnosis wasn't real? Idk. Something the psychiatrist was definitely considering but didn't follow up on is the possibility of autism. At the time I was sure I had ADHD and not autism, but as time goes on and I become more in-touch with my neurodivergence I am beginning to think that I have both. I cannot be bothered getting another diagnosis though
I’m currently in the process of trying to get diagnosed, and I absolutely agree that the ‘ticking-the-box’ method for diagnosis feels very reductive and honestly probably one of the reasons that women are underdiagnosed. Every diagnostic checklist I’ve seen seems to present a very typical presentation of ADHD that is more common in men than women, and leaves out a lot of other symptoms that are just as much indicative of ADHD and just as disruptive to everyday functioning. Like yeah I get distracted and fidget a lot, but why is there no focus on problems like emotional dysregulation.
@@arianab.8364 because the symptom checklists have more to do with how ADHD bothers the people around the person with ADHD, not the actual experience of living with a neurodivergent brain 🙃
@@serenad346 I hate that you are 100% correct
@@arianab.8364 A lot of the checklist the psychiatric NP used on me for an unofficial diagnosis (insurance wouldn't cover official testing so this was a work around to get medicated) had to do with being disruptive which I have anxiety which keeps me from getting up and walking around when I can't or finishing peoples sentences. Luckily I was still strong on enough symptoms that it was enough to justify medicating (I think most of this was for insurance purposes).
@@arianab.8364 ADHD also presents differently in women/girls than it does in boys.
Currently watching this while I should be packing to travel tomorrow morning so darn disorganized and procrastinating. My mind always believes I have more time.
You know, I keep having the on-again, off-again relationship of whether I might have either ADHD and/or autism, and then I remember all the times it took me way too long to do basic things back in school like getting all my stuff out for a lesson and taking forever to pack it all up for the next class (and the fear of being left behind in my classes if I missed a day because my brain would insist on trying to catch up in chronological order of all of our lessons instead of revisiting missed lessons later), being afraid I'd forget a textbook that I stored _everything_ I needed for that year into that bag to the point I could effectively break a bone or two if I dropped it on someone's foot (because the fear of forgetting what I needed was worth back pain and bad posture according to kid me's logic), how the teacher's aid would consistently hover over my shoulder every single time I had textiles class despite the fact I fully well understood how to assemble a garment on my own but was insisted that I needed the help (I suspect she knew something was off but didn't say anything), and just now having the _"oh no"_ moment of learning that Slow Processing Speed is a symptom of both ADHD and Autism and I've had clear signs of it for 2 decades now
also doesn't help I live with gene donors who consistently believe that anyone who doesn't show "severe" symptoms (read: extreme versions of stereotypes of neurodivergency) can't possibly be neurodivergent, basing my sibling's non-verbal autism mixed with the mental age of a toddler as their idea of autism, so now I can't actually go and verify if I have an issue with a licenced professional without getting mocked
Hearing about that pre-assessor honestly broke me out in a sweat. I have had adjacent experiences identical to that. Thank god for this video honestly because I have been putting off starting the gp route and it’s clear I need to go private! Thank you xx
I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was a kid and for a long time, I thought that was just a misdiagnosis of my sleep disorder. Now, in my mid 20s, with my sleep disorder more under control, I’m realizing that ADHD actually fits my experience very well. Everything from extreme fear of rejection, executive dysfunction, and my need to always be moving and doing something
Interesting, what sleep disorder do you have? I have narcolepsy and suspect I may also have adhd but my research has confused things a bit as it seems they can both cause similar symptoms. Now I don't know if my narcolepsy is causing adhd-like symptoms or if I actually have narcolepsy and adhd. So confused 😕
Been going through the ADHD diagnosis process and just stumbled on this vid. Your story is literally a mirrored version of my experience so far in the US. I was so frustrated with knowing I had essentially every symptom but the assessors my insurance accepted weren’t accepting anyone new. So I paid out of pocket because I couldn’t manage waiting. Glad to be reaffirmed I wasn’t losing my mind
I was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD earlier this year at 26 and I almost cried when you described your take on the pomodoro method. it helps me but often feels too rigid, so just going as long as I can feels like something that's actually achievable. thank you 💖
I related to so much in this video. I was diagnosed by my GP when two of my children met the criteria (at 51!), and I'm pretty certain the doctor had at least one child with it. And his wife is a therapist. This is a medical training issue, like "common childhood conditions to look for" and "hidden heritable adult conditions".
Thank you, Rowan, for talking about your experience; it truly helps others.
Oh my gosh, the anxiety thing! whenever my therapist asked me what's making me anxious, I could only place the constant anxiety feeling, and feel frustrated that I couldn't tell what's making me anxious or why I'm feeling this way. and it's definitely hyperactivity anxious!
I'm currently mustering up the courage to get diagnosed. My therapist and me are currently going in a loop: am I anxious because of my bad concentration or am I bad at concentrating because of my anxiety
oh man, my mum always asks me what's making me anxious when she sees me bouncing my leg and I could never tell her anything, most of the time it happens without me even knowing
Almost left because of the advertisement in the beginning, but I’m glad I stayed to hear you out. In any case, I’m sure the sponsorship is very useful for your making content. Thank you for sharing your experience! I’m finding this helpful.
Side note: you said your family had a very engagement style of conversation - in case you didn't know, because it's super interesting and you should look it up, Lingthusiasm has a podcast on conversation styles: Lingthusiasm Episode 39: How to rebalance a lopsided conversation. It's an actual linguistic/cultural thing, that in high involvement like your family it's rude to NOT interrupt, and the opposite is high considerate, where it's rude to not leave spaces for people to say their bit. Interesting, right! :D
also adhd is hereditary so maybe your parents ….
I am confused with ADHD currently at 33yrs.. I just watched your video completely (may be you being so cute it hold me to watch till the end) , all the information helped me a lot.. 💖
Omg congratulations!! You joined us in the late ADHD bloomer brigade! You can look forward to having constant revelations about all your past behaviours and never stopping talking about it, and being mildly disappointed when nobody else around you finds this as interesting as you do 😅😂
i got diagnosed a little over a year ago and since then i have come to realize that SO MANY THINGS WERE BEING EXPLAINED BY THIS DIAGNOSIS THAT I NEVER THOUGHT I HAD. my entire teenage years were spent masking and overcompensating for my “laziness” while under the pressure from my dad to succeed academically and that led to the inevitable burnout that led to depressive episodes and tons of anxiety throughout my life. turns out the things i’d been criticizing myself for were things that were out of my control. it’s still hard to learn how to unmask in a world where im seen as lazy and irresponsible, but im trying.
I got diagnosed at 31! Looking back, an ADHD diagnosis makes total sense.
Literally I just found your video and mid-way though, I got a call from Psychaitry UK saying that they had a cancellation for tomorrow. My initial appointment was booked for September 2022, super happy!!!
I'm really grateful to hear someone talking about the actual PROCESS of getting a diagnosis, for a long time I've been considering getting an assessment but it just seems so difficult and nebulous that I can't even bring myself to do anything about it. Although it's also strange because I was assessed for ADHD twice as a kid and I don't as much remember them asking me specific questions, they just made me do an IQ test and give some questionaires to my teachers? Maybe it's an American thing because I recently heard from a friend that they tried to get assessed and were also given an IQ test.
Rowan, I just came across this video again. I want to just comment and say thanks. I remember this video while I was in the process of getting an ADHD diagnosis and just this past week I got an Autism diagnosis. It's thanks to people like you sharing your experiences that I finally managed to figure out why I have been so "odd" all my life and it's nice to finally be on a path to getting my stuff together.
I think the most important thing that emerges from this video is that while looking up symptoms and comparing them to your own experiences is super useful as an orientation tool, self diagnosis should never be a substitute for the expertise and the help a professional can provide. I'm genuinely thankful you decided to share your medical journey Rowan, I'm absolutely positive it's going to help many people!! And I'm very happy you're doing better :D
Self diagnosis should be valid when there is no other option because discrimination still exist.
Discrimination and also just not everyone has the privilege to take things the private route. I think that takeaway is that there is a great need for supportive health professionals available to all.
@@eitmrnbiwbo this!
@@eitmrnbiwbo I see your point! What I mean is that self diagnosing without the guidance of a certified professional can lead to a cognitive bias and the tendency to see confirmation of their own theories where the trained eye may see indicators of something else, especially with (but not limited to) neurological conditions. The person trying to figure their own condition out may start considering self medication, which in my opinion is a truly dangerous thing and should not be underestimated. I realise that my own opinion may be very biased itself because in my country the national health service works pretty well and is accessible at very very low fees to the general population, so I completely agree with you that in the face of blatant discrimination self diagnosis is better that nothing!
@@merrim8260 I very much agree with you on this, and as I was saying in my reply to Stine Severinsen I realise that the situation is my country is a very privileged one. I think healthcare is of capital importance, and should be as accessible as possible to everyone.