I’m in kind of a weird situation. I’m past my 40’s, and a close younger relative of mine got diagnosed with ADHD and I was talking with their psych and she said “uh it’s pretty clear you have this too., and you’ve been masking.”
So I was already seeing a psychiatrist, for anxiety, paying out of pocket because I didn’t want people in my profession or the health insurance company to know.
I told my own psych about the ADHD idea and she started prescribing stimulant meds to see if it helps.
It’s been amazing. My anxiety has practically melted away and just everything has gotten better for me.
Should I get diagnosed officially now?
On one hand I like the privacy.
On the other hand, my current psychiatrist might retire soon, and also if I have to change jobs, I think I’m required to list any pre-existing conditions.
I’d really like to hear other people’s experiences either way.
I had/have a childhood diagnosis, and wish I had some record of it (parents destroyed their copy of my medical records at some point, it wasn’t malicious so I’m not too mad at them, but its still gone and that sucks) because it supposedly helps with adult diagnosis. Which i would very much like to get my life together.
Now that I’m thinking about it any privacy aspects are a moot point because the childhood diagnosis would have been from a DoD doctor, so the US government already has that data if they actually go the route of “wellness camps”… so i really should have been pursuing diagnosis this past year regardless of my own paranoia.
Edit: none of that actually answered a question! Sorry lol
Official diagnosis means (generally) not having to through a song and dance routine any time you get a new doctor or move to a different place, explaining why you should be given a controlled substance to function like a “normal” human being.