4 ms·

What happens when diagnosis? Seeking help (add your own scare quotes) will get you amphetamines with an expensive monthly 5 minute refill appointment.

Klathmon 9y ago
There are options other than amphetamines, and many of them are tried first because they are cheaper and have less side effects. Not to mention that therapy and just knowing about the problem can help too.
- andai 9y ago
  You mean other stimulants? LSD works quite well, but is problematic for other reasons (social stigma, prison rape, etc).
  - Klathmon 9y ago
    No, I mean non-stimulant options like Strattera and Clonidine, and a few others that I don't know off the top of my head. Also there has been some studies that show some antidepressants can have positive effects on people with ADHD. And like I said, there is also therapy and lifestyle changes that can have a huge impact as well. I'd say that the benefits of my therapy and the medication are about even in terms of effectiveness of managing my ADHD.
    - zarkov99 9y ago
      Can you write a little about your therapy? How does it work?
      - Klathmon 9y ago
        It is a bit weird calling it therapy, it feels more like a "one-on-one class on how to deal with ADHD". They gave me a lot of tools to help with it, as well as provided a good base "structure" which was important when I was first starting (which was over a decade ago now!) Tools like how I greatly benefit from a very strict schedule that needs many things packed tightly together at some points, but very big gaps in others, and I need to follow it to the t. Tools like knowing that exercise and eating right help quite a lot, tools like how to structure my days and put external reminders or blocks up that can keep me on track. Tools like being able to figure out that I work well in COMPLETE silence, or a very chaotic atmosphere, but not much in between. And information about things like "hyperfocus" which is an ironic symptom of ADHD for many people, and ways that I can kind of "trigger" it sometimes and use it to my advantage (while making sure I set alarms to make sure I don't keep working until 9PM because I forgot what time it was and the last time I looked at a clock was 3 in the afternoon...) They are basically just people that have dealt with ADHD before, and can help me find what works best for myself. Also, just talking to someone about how something you tried (either medication or lifestyle change) worked can be really eye opening. You never really think on your own about how something you tried in your life really affected it, and just verbalizing that helped dial in medication amounts and show the effectiveness of lifestyle changes.
        zarkov99 9y ago
        Thanks a lot. Any references you can share?
        Klathmon 9y ago
        Not really sorry. I'd recommend if you are looking to search for a therapist in your area that has experience dealing with adults with ADHD (or children if you are looking for someone else, or I guess are a child yourself... you never know online!) The important thing is to go to the appointments, which was tough at first, but after a bit the appointments were the "anchor" that I started learning how to schedule my life around, and then I was eventually able to schedule the appointments around my life.
Broken_Hippo 9y ago
This isn't a problem with diagnosis, though. It is more an issue of overworked doctors, not enough reliance on nurse practitioners for more "basic" diagnosis. Heck, even requiring a monthly 5 minute refill appointment is problematic in itself, considering this is a person with a chronic disorder wanting maintenance medications. Of course, newly diagnosed folks probably should have it the first few months to check in and talk about side effects... but there is no real reason this can't be done over the phone, through SMS, e-mail, or using something else fairly private and/or secure. Fixing systematic problems will improve things. Besides, I don't have an issue with medical doctors prescribing such things if it is generally recognized as the commonly most effective treatment for a disorder. Give the doctors the time (through the systematic fixes), and there is time to discuss treatment options. Actually fix both physical and mental health care so folks can afford it while fixing systematic issues means folks can actually get coping mechanisms and other such training from a psycologist or psychiatrist as well, which might be especially attractive to folks that shy away from medicines or certain types of medicines.
DanBC 9y ago
This article is about the UK. Prescriptions are free to most peple in each of the 4 NHS systems. Here's what people can expect from diagnosis and treatment. Whether this is what's provided is another question. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg72 https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg72 The recommendations are short and clear: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg72/chapter/Recommendations https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg72/chapter/Recommendation...

Klathmon 9y ago

There are options other than amphetamines, and many of them are tried first because they are cheaper and have less side effects. Not to mention that therapy and just knowing about the problem can help too.

andai 9y ago
You mean other stimulants? LSD works quite well, but is problematic for other reasons (social stigma, prison rape, etc).
- Klathmon 9y ago
  No, I mean non-stimulant options like Strattera and Clonidine, and a few others that I don't know off the top of my head. Also there has been some studies that show some antidepressants can have positive effects on people with ADHD. And like I said, there is also therapy and lifestyle changes that can have a huge impact as well. I'd say that the benefits of my therapy and the medication are about even in terms of effectiveness of managing my ADHD.
  - zarkov99 9y ago
    Can you write a little about your therapy? How does it work?
    - Klathmon 9y ago
      It is a bit weird calling it therapy, it feels more like a "one-on-one class on how to deal with ADHD". They gave me a lot of tools to help with it, as well as provided a good base "structure" which was important when I was first starting (which was over a decade ago now!) Tools like how I greatly benefit from a very strict schedule that needs many things packed tightly together at some points, but very big gaps in others, and I need to follow it to the t. Tools like knowing that exercise and eating right help quite a lot, tools like how to structure my days and put external reminders or blocks up that can keep me on track. Tools like being able to figure out that I work well in COMPLETE silence, or a very chaotic atmosphere, but not much in between. And information about things like "hyperfocus" which is an ironic symptom of ADHD for many people, and ways that I can kind of "trigger" it sometimes and use it to my advantage (while making sure I set alarms to make sure I don't keep working until 9PM because I forgot what time it was and the last time I looked at a clock was 3 in the afternoon...) They are basically just people that have dealt with ADHD before, and can help me find what works best for myself. Also, just talking to someone about how something you tried (either medication or lifestyle change) worked can be really eye opening. You never really think on your own about how something you tried in your life really affected it, and just verbalizing that helped dial in medication amounts and show the effectiveness of lifestyle changes.
      - zarkov99 9y ago
        Thanks a lot. Any references you can share?
        Klathmon 9y ago
        Not really sorry. I'd recommend if you are looking to search for a therapist in your area that has experience dealing with adults with ADHD (or children if you are looking for someone else, or I guess are a child yourself... you never know online!) The important thing is to go to the appointments, which was tough at first, but after a bit the appointments were the "anchor" that I started learning how to schedule my life around, and then I was eventually able to schedule the appointments around my life.

Broken_Hippo 9y ago

This isn't a problem with diagnosis, though. It is more an issue of overworked doctors, not enough reliance on nurse practitioners for more "basic" diagnosis. Heck, even requiring a monthly 5 minute refill appointment is problematic in itself, considering this is a person with a chronic disorder wanting maintenance medications. Of course, newly diagnosed folks probably should have it the first few months to check in and talk about side effects... but there is no real reason this can't be done over the phone, through SMS, e-mail, or using something else fairly private and/or secure. Fixing systematic problems will improve things. Besides, I don't have an issue with medical doctors prescribing such things if it is generally recognized as the commonly most effective treatment for a disorder. Give the doctors the time (through the systematic fixes), and there is time to discuss treatment options. Actually fix both physical and mental health care so folks can afford it while fixing systematic issues means folks can actually get coping mechanisms and other such training from a psycologist or psychiatrist as well, which might be especially attractive to folks that shy away from medicines or certain types of medicines.

DanBC 9y ago

This article is about the UK. Prescriptions are free to most peple in each of the 4 NHS systems. Here's what people can expect from diagnosis and treatment. Whether this is what's provided is another question. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg72 https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg72 The recommendations are short and clear: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg72/chapter/Recommendations https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg72/chapter/Recommendation...