I suspect that I have ADHD
Submitted by Tim on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 21:42
and it is making my life difficult to manage. I am hopefully starting a new job next week. Once I find out what insurance I have and which ADD related treatment and diagnosis are covered I am ready to begin getting help.
Where do I begin? And what do I do until I can diagnosed and treated?
I feel like I have wasted my life until now and it is sometimes difficult to maintain perspective. I first started thinking I am ADD just a few months ago. Since then I have had hope that once I am insured I can get help. Until then it seems like I have nothing. I can't find any support group or people to talk with who can encourage and guide me through my daily life.
Where do I begin?
Comments
diagnosis and treatment
by RobertinBeirut - 07/20/2010 - 08:02
Hi Tim,
When you find out where to go, let me know! I have been convinced that I was ADD since October 11, 1987, which was the day I read an article in the New York Times Magazine by Frank Walkenberg called "Out of Darkness." It was about his own realization and eventual treatment. I carried the article around for years and years, and now, thanks to the magic of online searching, found it again. I just re-read it, although there were parts that resonated so strongly the first time, I still remember them. I was 42 then, and didn't manage to get myself to treatment. I'm 64 now. I think treatment (and to be perfectly honest, I mean medication) could change my life.
Where to go? Let me know when you find out.
Robert
Where to go...
by YYZ - 07/20/2010 - 09:22
I recommend starting with your Primary Care Doctor. Explain to him why you suspect having ADD, based on what you have read about the subject and how your symptoms match up. I had no idea I had ADD until I began having stress related Anxiety attacks, which I had never really suffered from before, so I called my doctor and asked to see him. We discussed what I was feeling and I took a couple of standard 10 Question tests. My Doc refered me to a Psychiatrist and the rest is history. Maybe pick-up a couple of books, like
"Driven to Distraction" or "You mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy"
Good luck and best wishes...