Ask HN: How did an adult ADHD diagnosis help you?

I had a neuropsych evaluation (the neurological test) in my early 20's. It confirmed my diagnosis of ADHD and dyscalculia.

If you don't believe you're negatively impacted with ADHD type symptoms, it probably won't help you. It did help me manage the 'cycle of anxiety' brought on by ADHD-induced lack of focus and procrastination.

Stimulant medications do help, I'm on Concerta which is an extended release methylphenidate (Ritalin). It is not magic. I see a therapist to help with accountability and manage the chronic anxiety as well as develop systems to help me block my time and limit distractions.

I'm a successful 33 year old adult in a career ideally suited to the way my brain works, so I was VERY skeptical about whether it would make any difference to my life to get diagnosed or go on meds. Now that I have, I can confidently say that it was a total game-changer and I wish my parents had gotten this done for me when I was a kid. It would've made so many things so much easier.

I currently only use my meds (specifinally, Vyvanse) once per week, because I don't love the side effects and I can manage fine without most of the time. On that one day per week, I do everything that my brain chemistry usually makes difficult, which is mostly paperwork and cleaning.

The difference it's made is HUGE. I went through a whole grieving process when I realized how much easier I could've had it all along. I can sit down, spend four hours doing my taxes, and then be done (and then realize the bathroom needs cleaning, and also do that), instead of sitting down, getting a snack, doing ten minutes of taxes, cuddling with the cat, starting a conversation, going on hacker news, doing ten minutes of taxes, going on hacker news, and finally finishing the taxes ten hours later at a quarter to midnight.

It's also made a huge difference to accept that some things are simply symptoms, and not signs that I'm a disorganized failure who'd too stupid to manage daily life. It's also helped to live with people who know and accept this about me, and who know that although I'm very good at managing my symptoms, sometimes things go wrong.

Yes, sometimes everyone is mildly inconvenienced because we were about to leave and now I have to go on a ten-minute WHERE IS MY WALLET tear through the house. It's fine! Sometimes, we're mildly inconvenienced because my girlfriend's insulin pumped is clogged and she needs to spend ten mins fussing with the catheter. These are things that happen when you have a chronic health condition, and no reason for anyone to get upset or berate anyone else. Accepting that has made me a much happier person.

I was diagnosed once as a kid, and again as a teenager. I was prescribed medication just as fast as I was diagnosed. In either case it hasn't helped, as it concerns my focus. In fact I quite often felt worse when I relied on these later on. What it helped was to ascertain that I do not in fact have ADHD, and to learn that the diagnosis process is a complete joke.

My issue was primarily of chronic fatigue from inadequate sleep through my teen years, informed in part by high levels of anxiety and stress at home. Conversely as a kid, diagnosis came recommended by a teacher (!) because I was "daydreaming in class" - that's it. Details of my fatigue were made aware to the psychiatrist I was sent to at the time, but perhaps because I was scheduled for focus/attention issues, it was completely ignored.

I eventually regained my focus in adulthood, after pain and trepidation, with a multi-pronged approach that included reinvigorating sleep, reducing my anxiety levels, and diet / regular exercise.

Make no mistake: this is not to proselytize that "ADHD doesn't exist". But I would put it to you that since there is a perverse incentive to diagnose it, it's diagnosed as though everything is a nail in North America. There should be more credence given to the possibility that focus issues can be symptomatic of other problems.

I also find it dubious that children can so easily be diagnosed by virtue that a long day of boring lectures and sitting still is difficult to pay attention to. This is almost ubiquitous among children, though yes, it will exacerbate things more among kids who have more of a difficulty with focus. This brings to mind the story of Gillian Lynne, choreographer for Cats, who was brought to the doctor for her fidgeting - he suggested she go to dance school where she excelled. Why is it unthinkable that certain children be allowed to flourish in more appropriate environments? Because they're an inconvenience to adults - that's all. It's not less virtuous to be a person drawn to more physical engagement with the world.

Also see: A Disease Called Childhood: Why ADHD became an American Epidemic, by Marilyn Wedge, Ph.D.

The grieving process was intense for the first few months. It was somewhat amazing to notice the "stages" as they happened. Anger, towards my parents and my teachers and my psychiatrist, was the hardest to deal with.

But acceptance came, and it's the best I've felt in years.

Glad to see others in this thread like yourself with such similar experiences.

I have recently been diagnosed while being in a very similar situation as you. I have had and still have a successful career, I'm in a stable relationship, have good savings and a great life.

I've been seen as gifted as a child so fit within the so-called twice exceptional criteria...

I don't regret getting diagnosed and having confirmation of it (I ran relatively extensive tests to confirm this which took 8 hours in total and cost me quite a bit).

In my case, it's been helpful because I'm moving more and more towards management and ADHD is sometimes detrimental to some of my new responsibilities. Knowing that I have ADHD and reading about resources to manage it has certainly been helpful.

I was prescribed Concerta which is helpful on some days when I need to work on things that are extremely boring and that I'd normally have a hard time doing. However, I take it less than 4 times a month, so extremely rarely. I have however noticed that I cannot take it on days when I am sleep deprived as it would cause me to become extremely sleepy.