Submitted by GirlGrillMaster on 05/21/2009.
After much research and many years of frustration, I believe my husband is ADHD. He has not been officially diagnosed. However, he has agreed to find counseling. After he finally agreed to see a psychiatrist, I did a little more research into his specific career (law enforcement) and have discovered an ADHD diagnosis is basically career suicide. Now what? What's the best way to go about seeking help without jeoporadizing his career? It's unrealistic to say, "What's more important--his career or his health" b/c even me, as miserable as I am, know that we need him to keep his job right now. What are the legal boundaries of a counselor/psychologist/psychiatrist? Has anyone tried a non-medication route?
It's been awhile...
Submitted by dazedandconfused on
I noticed that you posted this several months ago, so I don't know if you will see this or not. I'm pretty new here, and am just getting a handle on all of this ADD stuff since my husband was recently diagnosed.
My husband was in law enforcement. He was undiagnosed at the time. But looking back, we realize that his ADD was a large part of the reason that he excelled at law enforcement. His ADD made him incredibly detail oriented. His conviction rate for people he arrested was about 90% because his incident reports were air tight. Then throw in the adrenaline rush that he got when he was in a dangerous situation and it was the perfect job for him because he was constantly stimulated. But...the time management issue was his downfall. He was consistently late and was disciplined on numerous occasions. He managed to go about 9 months without being late, but a week before our wedding, he overslept (another apart of his ADD...it takes forever for him to get out of bed) and was running late for an extra shift that he had picked up. Instead of admitting that he was late and losing the chance to pick up extra shifts for awhile, he fibbed and said that he was on call. His supervisor found out and wrote him up for it. He was eventually let go.
He has been miserable because he can't do what he wants to do, so I think he has a learned a good lesson. Now that he has been diagnosed and is on medication, he is actively pursuing information on how to deal with the negative side effects of ADD. We hope that he will be able to get back on with a department in the next year or so. I don't think there is any worry about whether or not his ADD will effect his job performance...he has never mentioned that the ADD might keep him from being hired. In fact, he told me that he read somewhere that the CIA likes to employ ADD people because they are better able to handle high stress situations (having multiple things thrown at them, etc.)
As for the patient/psychologist relationship, I believe that if they are supeonaed (sp?) then they have to release information. So unless your husband does something to have himself brought up before a disciplinary review board, then you shouldn't have to worry. If he is already employed, he shouldn't have to report any meds he is taking either. If his job performance has not suffered, then he shouldn't have to worry too much. The only thing that ADD meds should do is help the person be able to motivate himself better. If he seeks counseling as well, he should be in good shape to continue his job.