You must log in or register to comment.
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.
Unless it’s actually detected with some sort of brain scanner, it’s all questions / answers.
For example, I don’t want to get an official diagnosis, because I don’t want it in my medical records, becaus it might impede things, such as getting a driving licence.
Many doctors where I’m from, tried trearing ADHD with antidepressants. Which is like the exact opposite of what’s needed.
Yes, I’m from a weird place.
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!”
She comes up a lot on my Threads feed even though I don’t follow her and some of her takes are… uh, iffy. I understand that some doctors actually want to help people, but there are far too many out there that seem like they’re more interested in becoming some sort of famous guru. I wish more people took their advice with a grain of salt.
Not enough upvotes
I understand why people might not want to do it, but personally getting diagnosed and starting treatment has been life changing.
Yeah you don’t need a doctor to tell you your arm is broken, but raw dogging a broken arm is hardly ideal.
This post is literally about how hard it is to get a formal diagnosis. Nobody said they don’t want to do it.
I’m trying for years now and can’t get anyone to test me. Treatment is only covered after I have an official diagnosis. And this is in a country with socialised healthcare.
Not everyone is as fortunate as you and can get a proper diagnosis and treatment.
Yeah I don’t need a doctor to tell me my arm is broken, but at least I can get a doctors appointment for that.This post is literally about how hard it is to get a formal diagnosis. Nobody said they don’t want to do it.
This post is about a doctor who makes money from her personal brand, website, books and speaking tours, telling people that getting a formal diagnosis is so hard that why should you bother. And now that you’re emotionally validated, why not visit her blog, store or youtube channel and subscribe?
I genuinely don’t know if her material is good or not, I tend to lean towards it being pabulum and watered-down schlock like literally any speaking-tour psychologist without even reading it. But lets not make any mistake about what’s being peddled here and why.
I don’t really appreciate discouraging people from getting professional care and diagnosis just because you have convinced yourself that your impersonal motivational messages are as good as personalized and in-depth care that a professional can offer.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. But I wanted to share that in my personal experience it has absolutely been worth the effort
yeah, the last time I tried to get a diagnosis it was a 6 month wait just to meet the doctor for it. And I had to make a phone call too which I avoid at all costs even if it’s detrimental because the anxiety gets to me so bad haha
$5k?! A doctor’s visit is $250 for me (insurance doesn’t cover anything until I never reach the deductible). Also there were only like 2 tests totalling 20-ish questions. The hardest part was making an appointment, which I never would have done if I wasn’t also making appointments for other pressing health issues.
Self-diagnosis doesn’t help me get meds.
Nobody is suggesting otherwise or defending the medical system here.
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.
The doctor I see for adhd set themselves up as a PCP for insurance purposes, so each visit is just a copay. You can find co-pays from free to $20 on the ACA Marketplace (Obamacare). Just find an insurance salesperson to help you, they are paid by the insurance companies so you don’t pay for their help!
Testing cost me a little more and it wasn’t as laborious as this makes it sound. One test was video-recorded while you clicked the mouse whenever something happened on the screen and the other was some questions about your history.
Or live in a country with universal health care and stop being a second world country.
If you read the comments, it seems to be precisely the people in countries with universal healthcare who are having trouble. Getting diagnosed in the US is relatively easy. For me it was a single visit to a psychiatrist, $300 out of pocket because I have not hit my deductible yet. Have been on stimulants and doing well ever since.
So add moving to another country to the list, lol
Americans don’t need to do that, they just have to actually fight to get proper health care to elevate themselves to first world status.
Ahh ok i see now. Please give me more specific instructions–yours are a tad vague
Lol. Best country in the world right? Good luck with that.
I self diagnosed fifteen years ago but in the last two years I’ve been getting real help for it. I regret not doing so when I first came the conclusion I have ADHD. I can’t take stimulants and the first time I was given a non stimulant ADHD drug I had a severe reaction. This caused me to avoid getting real treatment and that was a huge mistake.
What kind of help have you been getting since you can’t take stimulants?
Is it me that finds it weird signing off her own tweets with her name, when her username is literally right there?
It’s just a shame the (presumably US-based) healthcare system is a clusterfuck, because that bit of expensive paper with a diagnosis on it would likely open up a whole host of avenues for exploration of the condition.
In germany its free but you just dont get a place anywhere. Diagnosis maybe after a year, therapy never.
And you get a blood test to see you dont use Cannabis etc, because 1+1=2
Both have “a risk for phsychosis or shizophrenia”, so combining will obviously lead to crazy dangers. Thats the state of science they are at.
It’s just a shame the (presumably US-based) healthcare system is a clusterfuck,
Laughs in disembowelled NHS…
When the government controlling the public health service doesn’t give a shit about the actual public, especially those who it sees as “burdens”, you get more or less the same shit as if it didn’t exist at all.
I was on a waiting list for 2 years to get an autism diagnosis, and the only way around this is to go private and pay an absolute fortune (this is of course by design - deprive the NHS of its specialists in favour of for profit private clinics).
Want therapy? Wait at least 8 months. Honest about being suicidal? No need to wait that long, here are some cops to come and take you away…
My point is the op is correct no matter where you are in the world, and people who insist that self diagnosis isn’t valid seriously need to check their privilege.
I partly agree with you, but not completely. There are benefits to claiming you are ADHD, like in the UK being covered as a disability, thus employers are required to make reasonable adjustments for work comfort e.g. Noise cancelling headphones.
People without ADHD that claim to be can shew the expectations of what ADHD people go through in the wrong direction.
That said: I ended up waiting like 3 years for my diagnosis (and I had to chase those bastards every single time for a response), so if my employer didn’t trust me and wasn’t understanding of my struggles I would have been sacked by now.
That said; needing to pay £1,000s to get essential mental health care is outrageous. I’d take a reasonable self-assessment any day over expecting people to pay that.
But I wish people would stop voting for the government party that trying to convince them that immigrants are stealing jobs and they should underfund health care to keep the economy safe.
That said: I ended up waiting like 3 years for my diagnosis (and I had to chase those bastards every single time for a response),
That sounds this close ->||<- to being some Catch 22 nonsense where they use your success in managing to follow up as an excuse to claim you’re not ADHD.
I hate that about disability assessments run by those Capita bastards. The whole “well you got here okay so you can’t struggle with mobility”.
No you fucking arsewomble, it’s just threatening the means to purchase the basics and essentials is worth the physical agony it causes going to your human zoo and jumping through your arbitrary hoops, you daft walking talking fannyflap.
I hate making it personal but I can’t see how anyone would voluntarily stick at a job like that.
People without ADHD that claim to be can shew the expectations of what ADHD people go through in the wrong direction.
This is a fiction used to deprive all of us of services and accommodation (by making it ever harder to pass the gatekeeping).
Neurodiverse people are generally treated like crap in the work place and generally in society, the idea that people are making it up to gain some imaginary perks truly is ridiculous to anyone who has ever tried getting any support. You having a decent boss is one of those privileges I mentioned that you should check, because as you go on to say, if that wasn’t the case, and it isn’t for many, you’d be sacked, as many are, if they ever get employed in the first place.
As for voting, you basically describing both parties at this point, and that’s because the whole system is a sham, as is the idea that voting actually gives us any say or control. It’s only by looking outside of the bucket they have us in that we will find the way to freedom.
I lucked out - was on the wait list just before covid, and seemingly covid stopped the tests and worked through the waitlist instead.
I was diagnosed and prescribed after waiting 1.5 years. Now it seems people are expected to wait over double that.
No wonder there has been a boom in private healthcare diagnosis
My 2 year wait was over a decade ago, so looong before covid. The fact that things are worse now isn’t really surprising considering the service is now basically a hollowed out carcass with several hundred private firms picking it apart…
I don’t use Twitter, but if people read tweets the way I do, I never even look at the username unless I’m trying to figure out if it’s the same person replying to another.
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.
Are people having that many hurdles for official diagnosis? Genuinely asking. Mine was with my primary care doc, $100 out of pocket for the visit, and whatever the meds cost. There was one questionnaire and total took about 30min from start of visit to prescription. That said, first meds aren’t helping at all so I’ll need to go back and see what other options there are, if any.
Folks, really seriously genuinely, talk to your regular ass doctor about a diagnosis if you’re looking to get assessed. Mine just gave me the assessment for no charge because I was already there for something else.
He even said if I wasn’t happy with the results he would write me a referral to whoever and just send it to my insurance like a specialist referral, so they’d at least HELP even if it’s out of network.
After waiting several weeks for my appointment my “regular ass doctor” told me I couldn’t have adhd because I could look him in the eyes and hold a conversation. So, thanks, I’m cured?
I mean, it’s no panacea, but still worth checking before jumping straight to a potentially pricey specialist. Unfortunately some doctors are still dipshits.
I’m sorry you got invalidated by a medical professional, it’s dishearteningly an all too common experience for neurodivergent folk. I hope it didn’t turn you off the idea of treatment too bad. There are good doctors out there, who care and will listen and won’t just talk down to you.
Possibly state-by-state, practice specific, or insurance company policies.
My doctor told me that in my state a psychiatrist has to test and diagnose. The testing was covered by my insurance (if you have a referral), but the wait list is a problem.
Wow. I had no idea that was a thing. I’m glad I asked then. Opens my mind to how hard it can be for other folks. That’s really awful.
It took me over a year to get a diagnosis from my initial inquiry with my doctor. She gave me a referral (otherwise it would not be covered by insurance), and a list of practices that did ADHD testing (not every psychiatrist does it), and I stumbled on picking a place for a few months. When I picked a place, their wait list was 3 months and I never pursued testing.
The testing process in my area takes a few hours - my wife’s took 3 on a video chat, and it took about 3 months for them to send their report to her doctor.
Cut to a year later, my old doctor had retired, and I had a new one. She gave me a new referral for testing, but cautioned me that the wait list for most places was now 6 months. Checking around with other folks in my area confirmed this. But while at that appointment, she recommended an online company, who - after a few weeks of weighing options, I did pursue, and tested/evaluated me (no video chat, just an online survey - about half was written responses - that took about 4 hours to complete), and got results back in a week. It was $180, and may have been eligible for a reimbursement from insurance, but I have ADHD, so I never bothered.And like - I guess I appreciate it. It does seem like whoever made those policies made them so that the diagnosis won’t be given lightly, but it creates issues. I sorta feel that I cheated, but my test was actually reviewed by a psychiatrist, and when I told friends of my diagnosis, the most common response was ‘Duh. You didn’t know?’ - so even though the online approach is sorta ‘cheating,’ I know that it’s definitely a warranted diagnosis in my case.
Yeah, that’s terrible. I do agree there needs to be some checks and my doc might be an annomaly in regards to dishing out pills for everything. But while the course so far hasn’t helped me, I’m grateful I don’t have to go through so much just to start. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that.
Okay but it isn’t always that difficult, I talked to my PCP, who made an appointment for me with the right type of dr person and then I went to that one and did whatever at that appointment
That’s nice and you’re very lucky. My PCP told me to schedule an appt with their drugs and mental health department (3 month minimum wait) and that he’d not renew the prescription I’d come to him with.
Then my next Dr was telehealth and kept warning me I needed to see her in person, but never had an appointment open.
Then my next Dr was 45 minutes late to every appointment.
Then my next Dr tried to get me to do IT troubleshooting on my end when he hadn’t joined the fucking Zoom call.
My GP just wrote me a script back in 2008 and I’ve been on Adderall ever since.
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 $180, and give you results back in like a week. She’s 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.
Considering how much medication can help, uh, yeah, do those things. Its a trivial inconvenience compared to living unmedicated.
Also 5k is a lot, maybe if you’re uninsured? Hell, getting an uninsured MRI is cheaper than that. And health insurance is kind of a must for living with a disability.
Don’t like sentiments like this. I feel like it prevents people from getting the help they need.
The author is not saying don’t get self-diagnosed. They’re criticizing the healthcare system.
Self-diagnosis is not valid. By definition. Not even a psychiatrist can diagnose themselves. What you’re talking about is either 1) advocating for your own diagnosis or 2) self-treatment.
Both of these things are valid.
Advocate for yourself for a diagnosis from a health professional if it will unlock new treatment options. But also just look into how others with similar problems have successfully managed their problems. Consider how you could implement similar things. That’s what’s at the heart of therapy for ADHD anyway.
But diagnosis itself is only useful as a tool for describing symptoms and informing treatment. If a collection of symptoms speaks to your experience, then the only point in putting a diagnostic label on it is to say “Maybe these things that helped others with similar symptoms will also help you.” But in order to do that effectively, there also needs to be a differential diagnosis to ascertain what it is not. This is why healthcare providers need to be involved in the process. Two different things can look very similar but have very different etiologies and different treatments.
Social media needs to quit putting so much emphasis on diagnosis and more emphasis on treatment. This post should be removed for medical misinfo, but I hope people at least read the comments to see why this person seems to be such a snakeoil influencer.
Based reaction
For a purely semantic sake, you’re probably right. But for a colloquial sake, the term “valid” here, doesn’t mean “legally valid” or “medically valid”, but instead means “emotionally valid.” For some people, confirmation is therapeutic enough to help. Also “diagnosis” doesn’t exclusively mean “medical diagnosis”. There are many definitions to the word, and in a medical sense, it usually means what you’re describing. But “I think I have ADHD” is a diagnosis. Not a medically valid one, but something that might help me get through the day sometimes. And if that’s all I need, then it’s emotionally valid.
Being told “your self diagnosis is not valid” to some people is the same as being told “There’s nothing wrong with you.” (Because most people aren’t working on a strict legal medical definition of “diagnosis”) Emotionally validating your assessment that something is wrong can very well be what drives people to advocate for a medically valid diagnosis.
Also, saying “You don’t have ADHD unless it’s diagnosed ADHD” is wrong regardless of stance on self diagnosis. If my arm is broken, it is in fact broken, even if it hasn’t been diagnosed. Undiagnosed issues are still issues. Too many anti-self diagnosis claims come across as saying that if you don’t have a diagnosis it doesn’t exist. At most you can claim “You don’t know for sure you have ADHD unless it’s medically diagnosed”
As with all things, a self evaluation is a useful “what do I do next” step.
I agree with most of what you’re saying, but the way you’re presenting it is almost confrontational.
True, self-diagnostic in a strict sense isn’t a thing, but as you point out after, a collection of symptoms can speak to one’s experience. Finding this insight, in my case, was an eye opening moment because so many things in my past and in my day to day suddenly started to make sense.
Coming to terms with this realization is especially useful for people who have strong negative views on mental health issues, and driving people to “self-diagnostic”, as in recognizing that they may be neuro divergent, is a worthy effort.
It doesn’t replace actual professional help and diagnosis, but it’s a first step that needs to be encouraged.
Self diagnosis is fine. There’s coping mechanisms one can use without an medical diagnosis. If they see not enough one can try for an official diagnosis.
