3 ms·

(US specific advice) I felt like my GP was really only good for getting the ball rolling: I asked her to refer me to a psychologist for testing and she did. T

(US specific advice) I felt like my GP was really only good for getting the ball rolling: I asked her to refer me to a psychologist for testing and she did. To be honest, I think you could skip the GP step and just meet with any clinical psychologist to discuss with that person your concerns about ADHD. Their office should be able to tell you if they can do ADHD testing before you go in. Some psychiatrists may test as well. The difficulty, of course, is that psychologists are often out of pocket or are paid at a reduced rate by insurance. After the testing is done many GPs are willing to do med management, though it's a pain, since the Federal government requires prescriptions to be for no more than 30 days and you can't refill it more than three days ahead of time. Personally I have my neurologist manage it, but I have epilepsy and it makes sense to me to go to her for all of my brain medications.

CubsFan1060 6y ago
Here's where my misconceptions may start: it seem to me like meds are the only real treatment. This could be wrong. IIRC, psychiatrists don't have that tool in their toolbox, so would a psychologist or neurologist be better? And to be clear, I'm not just looking to get meds. But I'd like to avoid pinging in between different doctors. So if I can go to one that has all available tools at their disposal, that would seem the most straightforward.
- Tarq0n 6y ago
  On the contrary, a psychiatrists primary role is to prescribe psychoactive medication.
- heyparkerj 6y ago
  > it seem to me like meds are the only real treatment. This could be wrong. I'll comment on this, as a neurologically tested ADHD 30 year old with 2 decades of on/off medication experience. "Treatment" is a spectrum, unsurprisingly, and a bit of a misnomer. While I'm not completely on board with the "ADHD is actually a superpower" train of thought, I do believe that there are some interesting tradeoffs that having it can benefit in some ways - obviously that's different for every person. If you start throwing away the concept of being binary "treated" or not, you can start thinking in terms of "what is working for me right now". Sometimes being medicated is a life changing benefit, and other times in my life I'm waaay better off without medication. It's important to distinct the two, because what medication can get you is a better understanding of the daily patterns that work best for you, and it is (in my opinion) the best way to start building that understanding. Sometimes medication is the only way for me to reach a certain place I want to be, and no medication can do the same, but I firmly believe that the habits I build during medicated periods of time help me make the most out of my non medicated periods. For what it's worth, when I talk about on/off periods -- I was medicated in middle school through high school, took my first two college years off, got back on the next two, final year of college was no medication, got back on for 2ish years when I entered the workforce, then took the next 4 years off. I'm back on it now. I don't really consider week or weekend breaks an off period.
- etrevino 6y ago
  So, a psychiatrist is an MD and, as such, can prescribe medicines. The psychologist is-- to all intents and purposes-- a therapist. (I'm painting with super broad brushes here, there are psychiatrists that operate as therapists first and medicine prescribers second, etc.) I suggested a clinical psychologist because they're usually the ones who have the training to act as a therapist while also understanding how the brain works. They're often the people trained to assess someone for ADHD. No matter what, any good doctor will want to have you assessed by a psychologist or a psychiatrist. You may want to ask your GP if he or she is willing to prescribe the medicine provided a psychologist/psychiatrist diagnoses you. That's usually the easiest thing to do.

CubsFan1060 6y ago

Here's where my misconceptions may start: it seem to me like meds are the only real treatment. This could be wrong. IIRC, psychiatrists don't have that tool in their toolbox, so would a psychologist or neurologist be better? And to be clear, I'm not just looking to get meds. But I'd like to avoid pinging in between different doctors. So if I can go to one that has all available tools at their disposal, that would seem the most straightforward.

Tarq0n 6y ago
On the contrary, a psychiatrists primary role is to prescribe psychoactive medication.
heyparkerj 6y ago
> it seem to me like meds are the only real treatment. This could be wrong. I'll comment on this, as a neurologically tested ADHD 30 year old with 2 decades of on/off medication experience. "Treatment" is a spectrum, unsurprisingly, and a bit of a misnomer. While I'm not completely on board with the "ADHD is actually a superpower" train of thought, I do believe that there are some interesting tradeoffs that having it can benefit in some ways - obviously that's different for every person. If you start throwing away the concept of being binary "treated" or not, you can start thinking in terms of "what is working for me right now". Sometimes being medicated is a life changing benefit, and other times in my life I'm waaay better off without medication. It's important to distinct the two, because what medication can get you is a better understanding of the daily patterns that work best for you, and it is (in my opinion) the best way to start building that understanding. Sometimes medication is the only way for me to reach a certain place I want to be, and no medication can do the same, but I firmly believe that the habits I build during medicated periods of time help me make the most out of my non medicated periods. For what it's worth, when I talk about on/off periods -- I was medicated in middle school through high school, took my first two college years off, got back on the next two, final year of college was no medication, got back on for 2ish years when I entered the workforce, then took the next 4 years off. I'm back on it now. I don't really consider week or weekend breaks an off period.
etrevino 6y ago
So, a psychiatrist is an MD and, as such, can prescribe medicines. The psychologist is-- to all intents and purposes-- a therapist. (I'm painting with super broad brushes here, there are psychiatrists that operate as therapists first and medicine prescribers second, etc.) I suggested a clinical psychologist because they're usually the ones who have the training to act as a therapist while also understanding how the brain works. They're often the people trained to assess someone for ADHD. No matter what, any good doctor will want to have you assessed by a psychologist or a psychiatrist. You may want to ask your GP if he or she is willing to prescribe the medicine provided a psychologist/psychiatrist diagnoses you. That's usually the easiest thing to do.