- cross-posted to:
- neurodiversity
- cross-posted to:
- neurodiversity
As an AuDHD person, the college dropout story is relatable to me, except for the YouTube career success. I grew up in a madhouse during my traumatic childhood, and going to college free from my backwards, overprotective, overly strict parents was essentially like falling off a cliff. I was already burnt out during my last year of high school, and I was too excited with the freedom and ended up wasting time playing video games and skipping classes regularly because I had little energy to function as an adult. I still struggle with burnout to this day due to being an overworked IT contractor for years.
If you have a regular doctor I’d see them and ask for a referral to a psychiatrist specifically for an ADHD assessment.
I’d recommended seeking out a psychiatrist in your region who specialises in adult ADHD - online forums like R*ddit are often a good place to start. You might also have luck looking for a psychiatrist who works in your country that does online consultations.
Before you see your regular doctor, I’d recommend going through the ASRS screening test. You can skip all the info at the top or you can peruse it at your leisure - just scroll down to the questions part.
Note that the screening test is not great. Most of my answers on this one are “I have a system for that” or “This would be a problem for me, but I do this…” so try to focus on how you are at a baseline and not how well you compensate - for example I almost never have problems remembering appointments because I live and die by my electronic calendar. If I don’t have that on hand 24/7 then I’m an unmitigated disaster with this stuff. So with that in mind I have developed a very good way of adapting to this weak point of mine but the question isn’t “How good is your system?” or “How well do you compensate?” but it’s asking “How much do you struggle with this when you have to rely on just your natural ability?”, if that makes sense.
Record your results, ideally with your responses to each question, and take them with you when you see your doctor to request a referral. You might want to get the ASRS and print it off then answer each question that way.
Don’t worry about the whole hyperactive/inattentive/combined type ADHD aspect of the screening test results - that doesn’t really matter tbh.
I’ll try to respond to your next comment below soon.