This post covers a range of connected issues, and I wasn't sure whether to put it in ffr, health or somewhere else. So its here. Here is the basic situation: I am trying to access someone who can diagnose me with ADD and prescribe meds for it. All my life, I've struggled with school in some ways. More recently, this has become much more obvious: when I was sixteen, I took my GCSEs, and found for the first time, I actually had to study, due to the large amount of work they covered. And I discovered that I could.not.study. No matter how hard I tried. And so while I'm definitely capable at school, I just can't seem to cope. (GCSEs are an exam taken by all 16 year olds in the uk. They're externally assessed.) So, I got my GCSEs, which were not as good as expected since I couldn't study. I moved on to college. And dropped out. And started again the next year. And dropped out. And its not that I didn't understand the work. Deciding college wasn't for me, I decided to explore some other options. Having explored, I've decided there is absolutely no future and no point in life if I don't go to college. So in september, I'm starting again. Last chance. Don't want to fuck it up. Must sort out life. I've had that sort of problem all my life, but living in spain for much of my childhood, and having school overshadowed with other problems, and parents who dislike modern medicine, I never got diagnosed. I was talking about this with a friend of mine not long ago, and he suggested I might have ADD. I've never been much for hyperactivity, but I understand thats not necessary. He suggested I ask my doctor about it, so today, I did that. She told me, despite my research, that the NHS didn't diagnose adults. She agreed to write a referral, but I get the impression its going to go a big pile of nowhere. Despite anticipating negative responses, I decided to tell my parents. I can't access private treatment myself, since I don't have the funds. If I can go anywhere from here, it will be with their help. So, I told them. And my mother suggested alternative medicine. I just can't stand this anymore. Unless I get some kind of help, from modern fucking medicine, I am going to drop out of college again, fuck up my life, and I'm just fucking pathetic. And the only people who can help me are mocking me. I have tried absolutely every thing available to me to get things right, and it hasn't worked. My mother offering me some BS therapy she thinks can replace a psychiatrist is not going to help. And neither are a few tips on how to concentrate. What the fuck am I supposed to do? I've failed at fucking everything in my life. Oh, and I suppose I should mention this isn't the first time this has happened. My parents take control, trying to do what is best and making things worse. Then they don't even recognise they have any fault in the matter at all, and blame me, and do it again next time. ---------- Post added 15th Aug 2013 at 12:50 PM ---------- Anyone capable of pointing me towards the right kind of professional to help me in the case I can get my parents to help me, your help would be greatly appreciated. I've been trying to find someone, and I'm getting nowhere. To put it simply, I'm looking for a private service that can diagnose ADD/ADHD in the UK (Birmingham, if that helps)
I was diagnosed at the age of 47, through a large battery of tests. No hyperactivity, just frank attention deficit. It's real and I've struggled with it all my life. It's an expensive test but necessary in order to rule out other issues. There are meds (such as Ritalin slow-release) but you must have the proper diagnosis. Of your parents, I know of what you speak. I know a Ph.D. in science who is reluctant to have her two daughters vaccinated... Recently there was an article I read that did a very thorough analysis of the results of prescriptions being given to children and whether these correlated with success at school and life. Unfortunately they found no evidence that it helped. My feeling about this is that if you don't have the proper diagnosis, and are given the pills anyway, well then, of course there is no effect! Ritalin and its ilk are probably over-prescribed. You need to find a way to get that diagnosis, and the best way I can think of is to find out if your college offers a service for student disabilities. They would most likely have the information you need.
Not sure if you're aware of this, but we trans*people have a higher rate of ADD/ADHD than cisgender people. It's weird, but I do suffer from it too. Now, I completely get the difficulty you have studying. I've struggled with studying as well and haven't had any official treatment for it (in fact, I only just discovered there WAS treatment), HOWEVER, today I got my A level results and have got accepted into my top university. True, my results weren't amazing or anything, but there are some useful techniques for aiding in combating it. I find pacing helps a lot. If you walk around and read things at the same time, it can help tighten your focus. Also, saying things aloud does so too. I combined these two and it helped my learning a decent bit. It's also better to work in segments of around 10 minutes and have short breaks in between. These decreases the chance of your attention drifting so much and helps condense it into more manageable chunks. I know this doesn't help you get official diagnosis and medication, but these do help me cope with it, even still, so I hope it can be useful for you.
NHS "not diagnosing adults" sounds very surprising to me. Tracking down a private specialist ... not my area of expertise but your GP might be able to recommend some names outside of the NHS, or the NHS people you are being referred to might also. (Presumably the referral is to NHS department and that can take time) Your folks should take this seriously and help get you on track before you start your studies... Good luck with that BTW!!
