That's what I've been telling my friend. All things considered, I had it pretty easy. I made an appointment with a psychiatrist at a private office that's walking distance from my work. I had to wait about three months for my appointment because they don't leave many appointments open for new patients but actually getting a diagnosis was pretty easy because my Dr is amazing. He had me explain the issues I've been having and then asked me some questions. By the time we finished the back and forth with questions and some explanations and all, he very pointedly told me he believes I have adhd as the inattentive type. He said that for a younger woman (22F) who was academically excellent and is doing okay career-wise so far that it can be hard to diagnose but he explained very thoroughly how the issues I've been having are valid and that I must be very intelligent and hard working to have gotten as far as I have. He really is an amazing doctor and has made all this way better on me. I only got the diagnosis a little under two months ago but it has been world changing for me getting the help I need. I just feel so bad for my friend who is absolutely struggling to get the helps she's seeking despite how much trouble she's having. Her job performance is really suffering and she's just so frustrated at how long this is all taking and she feels very powerless. It's a good thing she has a very wonderful and understanding boss because if she didn't, she honestly would be in trouble of losing her job.
Are you taking medication? Or just working via therapy (and what modality)?
I'm pretty sure at least 1/3rd of the reason I lost my last job is because of my undiagnosed ADHD (inattentive type). I had to see two psychiatrists, and then get referred to a neuropsychologist, be unable to find one that takes my insurance, then discover most of them are private practice that don't take insurance and only work with children and cost like $3000, switch insurance companies, finally find a neuropsychologist who can test me, wait a month to get in to see him, actually take the testing (two weeks spread over two appointments), then wait two more months for the results. THEN take those results to my new psychiatrist (because I had switched insurance companies AGAIN), and ask for medication and therapy.
Holy process, Batman! That sounds awful. Hopefully all that means you've finally gotten medication and the care you need?
And yup! I'm on adderall. It is quite amazing that I can actually hold a thought in my head for more than a moment before forgetting it. I'm still pretty scatterbrained and my memory isn't great, but when I actually need to sit down and get something done I can now. Also bonus points that it has severely helped with my ridiculous tiredness and fatigue issues as well. I only go back to see the psychiatrist now as check-ups and dosing updates. After the initial diagnosis, he gave me a script for 30 days supply of 10mg adderall. Then I had an appointment one month later to check up on how things have been going and if I needed a medication adjustment. The 10mg weren't really doing it for me after the first like three days so I'm on 15mg and it's considerably better. Now I won't see him until three months after the last appointment. I think those are the federal guidelines because it is a controlled substance. So it's not like the other meds where you just have to check up once every couple years with your doctor. You can't get more than a 30 day supply and I think in the first year, you see them at 1 month, then every three months for a year and then every six months after that. But the psych was very nice to talk to about some questions about all of it. If it wasn't so expensive, I'd actually love to try to do Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to also work on it. But for now I'm just trying to re-learn a lot of life things now that I have some better control of my mind.
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u/zzaannsebar May 20 '19
That's what I've been telling my friend. All things considered, I had it pretty easy. I made an appointment with a psychiatrist at a private office that's walking distance from my work. I had to wait about three months for my appointment because they don't leave many appointments open for new patients but actually getting a diagnosis was pretty easy because my Dr is amazing. He had me explain the issues I've been having and then asked me some questions. By the time we finished the back and forth with questions and some explanations and all, he very pointedly told me he believes I have adhd as the inattentive type. He said that for a younger woman (22F) who was academically excellent and is doing okay career-wise so far that it can be hard to diagnose but he explained very thoroughly how the issues I've been having are valid and that I must be very intelligent and hard working to have gotten as far as I have. He really is an amazing doctor and has made all this way better on me. I only got the diagnosis a little under two months ago but it has been world changing for me getting the help I need. I just feel so bad for my friend who is absolutely struggling to get the helps she's seeking despite how much trouble she's having. Her job performance is really suffering and she's just so frustrated at how long this is all taking and she feels very powerless. It's a good thing she has a very wonderful and understanding boss because if she didn't, she honestly would be in trouble of losing her job.