Does all of this ring true for anybody else without diagnosed ADHD? Because this is exactly how I feel constantly but I also hate to self-diagnose based on internet discussion.

I feel like ADHD is one of those things where everybody relates to it a bit, so it's hard to know if I should look into getting a diagnosis.

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, a lot of brain things are like that. The way I look at it is, everyone sees a little of it, but some people see a lot of it. If you see a lot, it's not self diagnosis to say "I have a lot of symptoms in common with people who have this, so I asked a professional".

You also don't need a diagnosis to practice some of the coping strategies that people have that are non-medication. If they turn out to be helpful, that's maybe a another reason to ask a professional.

Self diagnosis is a bad idea, but it's also a bad idea to ignore marked similarities you see between yourself and others. And stuff like "always put your keys and wallet in a specific basket" is only the cost of the basket.

[–] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 3 points 9 months ago

Reading this post and peoples comments got me thinking about neuroplasticity. There's lots in life that nudges us towards neurodivergence - I'm fairly confident I'm diagnosable just from working in IT for decades. Back when I started and was more customer-facing, I was far better with people and could easily break down what's happening for laypeople.

Now that I've zoomed out and gotten far deeper technologically, I feel like I've adapted into the ASD / ADHD realm

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Same. I'm even a bit afraid of talking to a doctor about it because I feel like such a farse. I totally feel like I have ADHD but I'm also highly functioning. But when I think about how I'm functioning, it's basically a series of ways I trick my brain dominoes into falling into place. At work I carefully manage all my notifications - I must avoid being distracted by them, but must put systems into place to remind me of every task.

[+] Juice@midwest.social 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

[removed by mod]

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Is there a real assessment one can take online that isn't basically equivalent to a buzzfeed quizz?

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

No. There are tests for the types of functional behavior differences that comprise ADHD, but they can't really be administered outside of a moderately controlled setting.

Stuff like saying a list of words and seeing how many you can recall in a fixed time can't really be done reliably in a quiz.

There are tools that can say "based on what you answered, there's a high/low probability you'd benefit from further consultation". They're basically "how often do you interrupt?", "how often do you zone out?".
Basically a structured way of "what I'm hearing you say is ...". "Based on how you describe yourself as ADHD as hell, you might benefit from asking someone about that".

Self assessments can be wrong about what they suggest you ask about. If you have a concern or behaviors that you do that upset you or cause problems, then that's worth addressing and following until you get help, but it might not be what you thought. Or the doctor might have been mistaken, since they're also fallible, but hopefully the more objective tests can lend objectively to their conclusions.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Yo, same... Add on a history of past drug abuse (several years clean), and I can't imagine any doctor not immediately assuming I'm drug seeking and just trying to get some Adderall.

I'm not sure if I have ADHD per-se, but I'm certainly neurodivergent and the venn diagrams of ADHD and my flavor of neurodivergence overlap quite a bit.

[–] Carbonizer@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I relate, but haven't been diagnosed with ADHD. Got a doctor's appointment tomorrow to get a referral to a psychologist for a psych evaluation, however, so I'll let you know!