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Man. I hate to shill, but…
I faced many of those same issues, and after a year and a half of failing to set up testing, my doctor told me to go to adhdonline.com - they offer online testing for $180, and give you results back in like a week. She’d already given me an ADHD testing referral, and she suggested that my insurer would probably reimburse me for the cost, but I have ADHD, so I never bothered with it.
It took me about 4 hours to do the test (but I did it while I was sitting through a day-long virtual meeting where I had to be present, but not ‘present’. So like, it probably won’t take focused people that long.)
And - yeah. Morally, it sucks. It’s feeding into the commodification of someone’s job and is morally kind of like using Uber or AirBNB. It’s convenient and maybe cheaper. Maybe it upsets a system that could use a little upsetting, but will likely upset it too much and have unforeseen impacts.
But it worked for me.The problem with online services like that is many of them dont properly test people. So when they inevitably get shut down suddenly you don’t have a reliable source of medication and you have to go through the whole process again just to prove it. Like with what happened to Done recently.
That’s completely fair. I was unfamiliar with Done until I searched for them just a few moments ago.
The service I used offers diagnosis for a one-time fee, and does not dabble with prescriptions at all. The diagnosis came from a practicing psychiatrist that is licensed in my state. Those factors, plus the doctor’s recommendation are what made me comfortable enough to go with it, but I normally don’t love going with online options for stuff like this. I just was tired of the runaround.
The diagnosis - which did not include treatment recommendations - was transmitted to my GP from the psych. And my GP worked with me on treatment options.
I assume if the website got shut down, it would be inconsequential to my diagnosis unless the psychiatrist was found to have fraudulently issued diagnosis’. (Which is always a possibility.)But that is a very good cautionary tale. Done didn’t just say they would diagnose ADHD in 30 minutes or less, but they utilized a subscription model and issued Adderall on an auto-renewing basis.
That whole thing seems pretty sketchy to me. It appears they were trying to tie your health care to their subscription model. They can go kick rocks.
Self-diagnosis doesn’t help me get meds.
Self-diagnosis doesn’t help with relationships IMHO either and I mean that both from a personal and professional perspective.
Why you might ask?
YMMV but for me, I am an open book. Having the diagnosis meant I could talk to bosses when trying a new med, or explain to them when struggling. Knowing the diagnosis means you immediately diffuse an aspect of a challenge. For me, that has been immensely valuable.
Edit - wanted to add a common counterpoint is don’t let work know because you can’t predict people who will use your honesty against you. I will argue assholes are assholes and you can’t live your life at the possibility someone will be a dick. Most people are good people. Trust on that.
Nobody is suggesting otherwise or defending the medical system here.
Nah, I can’t even do that because every place in my area will straight up say that they will never diagnose an adult with adhd.
Then use one of the many telemedicine doctors that actually align with modern science. How weird of them.
Oh good, another doctor who thinks her own book, website, blog and youtube channel are an adequate substitute for professional, personalized care and diagnosis.
“It’s really hard to get a diagnosis, so why even bother trying? Just like the video and hit the bell for notifications!”
On one hand, sure just a meme. On the other, it may not be ADHD that’s causing these symptoms and getting a professional diagnosis will help with treatment regardless of what’s going on.
I literally got my diagnosis in one day at my PCP as he went through the DSM 5 criteria and asked some questions about my childhood. It took 30 min and he was not a pill pusher. He does not ever prescribe stimulants. I tried his nonstimulant medication recommendations after feeling the need to have some intervention and they were terrible. When I asked to try a different treatment, he referred me to an in network psychiatrist and things were smooth sailing. The same was true for my two brothers who were also diagnosed as adults and one was diagnosed in another state also at his PCP.
All that being said, I think people make the jump to a psychiatrist too early when they can seek screening at a PCP first. I had to answer a few more questions for onboarding at my psychiatrist, but I never ran into any issues. I also did not have to pay for an ADHD screening because I had already been diagnosed at my PCP.
I’m in Canada, so things here are a bit different. On top of that, things differ greatly between physicians.
I went into my primary care physician, and I inquired about ADHD, because I’d done some learning, and thought I had it, but didn’t want to self diagnose. I thought he’d give me a referral to a psychiatrist for diagnosis, instead he gave me a survey, which was maybe 20 questions at most, took maybe a minute to fill out. After, he looked over my answers, said something to the effect of “this seems consistent with mild ADHD, do you feel it is affecting your life?” Very yes. Then he prescribed me a relatively low dose of ADHD meds, and as soon as I got that prescription filled, my life changed for the better.
I’ve been on it ever since and much happier for it. Took like 3 minutes at my primary care physician.
Meanwhile, my brother went to his primary, who referred him to a psychiatrist, who did weeks of discussions and examinations before any prescription was provided for him. He also has ADHD.
Different physicians, different people, different experiences.
it’s even funnier when you might have any given variety of mental disorders.
Could be ADHD, could be autism, hell might be both or neither! Could be SzPD, could be a variant of that, could be any other generic personality disorder. Hell maybe i’m just shitposting and i’m perfectly normal!
So now that balloons to the period of about 5 years, 20 tests, and many thousands of dollars, both spent and lost.
OH and how could i forget. It does precisely, almost nothing. Because disability is super fucked. And any other services that do exist are probably also a nightmare, so what’s even the fucking point of having them!
Also I think that you need psychiatric support if you really have ADHD, people think that have a untreated ADHD it’s like having a super power.
i feel like it’s situational. I’ve talked to a lot of people that do have ADHD, and are quite fond of their medication as it makes them extremely functional, but part of me is irked by the fact that it might be a secondary effect due to association. (i suspect they want to be a part of society, and as a result the medication making them capable of doing it quickly becomes a part of themselves) If this is the case, there is an argument to be made for the fact that our society simply isn’t built to deal with the people it contains.
Part of me wonders whether ADHD was an evolutionary adaptation due to the presumed utility of it in ancient society.
I may have ADHD, and if so, i find it to be an extreme hindrance to doing normal people things, like at all. However, outside of that im perfectly fine and i would argue probably benefited by it, because it often keeps my brain busy thinking about things and doing stuff, which is good for your mental health (physically) there’s a reason a lot of my time in my life has been spent covering various different interests and hobbies, and i think this, whatever it is, is part of it. Doing one thing is just really boring, and i can’t be bothered. And if proper treatment (medication in this case) removes that, i would rather not be medicated to be honest.
