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Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

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Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#101

Post by michealr »

Like others I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, 31, 10 months ago and I have been taking medication since then. I am also in EU.

Nothing major to add, since there are some good comments from other commentators. Retrospectively I have realised ADHD has been perhaps an advantage in some areas. But additionally an absolute self sabatoge generating machine for the seemingly simplest of things.

Currently near the end my contract, being thinking more about the future. Full stack dev too. If you ever just want to chat and share stories of ridiculous periods procrastination, self doubt and future plans I'm always willing to chat.

I know speaking things out loud for me has lifted the veil of self doubt that can descend upon one after a bout of ill directed attention.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#102

Post by tailspin2019 »

pliptvo wrote: post #47

I literally just off the phone to my GP trying to get a referral for an adult ADHD diagnosis. She basically said, there's a massive backlog and underfunding of the service, and instead of her referring me to the adult ADHD and autism psychology services directly I should approach a more generic NHS Adult Mental Health service and try to get them to refer me for a diagnosis, or write a letter asking her to. Just seems…

> She also said that the NHS wouldn't recognise a private diagnosis as they have a financial incentive to lean towards positive diagnoses, and so the NHS wouldn't foot the bill for eg any ADHD meds that would ensue from it.

I'm in the UK and this is not my experience so far.

You do need to be careful about private diagnosis and the handoff to NHS for treatment - it's true that it's not guaranteed that a private diagnosis will be accepted by the NHS to pick up treatment, but in my experience it's not the case that they will totally refuse to recognise a private diagnosis as you've been told. That may just be the position of the individual you spoke to, rather than a reflection of what you'd find across the board in the UK.

If you go the private route, it will likely help if the private practitioner is also a registered/practicing NHS doctor. If you're considering this, it may be worth speaking to the practitioner about the process for handover of care to the NHS - which they should be able to clarify for you before you spend any money with them!

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#103

Post by adhd_thraway »

jounker wrote: post #77
adhd_thraway wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure - I'm used to problems on my contract but usually when something went wrong I knew I could count on my agency to step in. Conflict resolution, 3rd person perspective needs analysis, project re-assessment and stuff like that (even to the point of body swap if needed). But as we grew unfortunately it become more of a "don't worry, we have insurance and lawyers". Project was heavily understaffed and neither me or c…

That sounds closer to “abandoned” or “neglected”.

I'm sorry, you scratched the itch, and I'm anonymous so I'll allow to indulge myself :)

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desolate

TBH I had to check it though.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#104

Post by petercooper »

staticelf wrote: post #17

Quoted post unavailable.

I have been diagnosed (surprisingly, too, as I was being investigated for something else) and while I know ADHD "exists", I will concede it's probably an overly broad compromise of a diagnosis for now. But then other well known conditions are too: IBS, fibromyalgia, CFS, for starters.

All these conditions represent something real going on, even if the currently used terms aren't precise. Much as celiac disease was considered a general bowel complaint by pre-1850s doctors before being eventually discovered, I think with ADHD we'll see more discrete conditions being discovered and understood too (e.g. a specific sub-condition that reduces the transport of dopamine in the brain, say). But, for now, ADHD is the term we've got to work with.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#105

Post by mijoharas »

dgellow wrote: post #88
mijoharas wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ADHD brains are physically incapable of doing these things without assistance on a neurological/biochemical level. I realise the point that you're making is that ADHD is a biological condition, and it's likely you're using your wording for emphasis, but I think "physically incapable" is a bit strong. Both my sister and I have ADHD, I don't take methylphenidate (ritalin) while she does. I'm still capable of being on…

> One thing I'd like to point out, that is utterly unrelated to anything you're saying, is that people with ADHD can be hugely productive on things that they find interesting. Just sharing some personal thoughts: my main issue is not to be productive, but the lack of control over what I can be productive at. It's the most frustrating feeling ever. You get a new cool idea and can spend 2 weeks being the most productiv…

I definitely relate to that as well. One thing to note is that that particular aspect is one that I think the meds can help a fair bit with I think.

Obviously I don't know whether you're already on them or not, but if not, maybe try them?

(Obvious caveats of me having no idea about your own situation apply).

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#106

Post by nvarsj »

pliptvo wrote: post #47

I literally just off the phone to my GP trying to get a referral for an adult ADHD diagnosis. She basically said, there's a massive backlog and underfunding of the service, and instead of her referring me to the adult ADHD and autism psychology services directly I should approach a more generic NHS Adult Mental Health service and try to get them to refer me for a diagnosis, or write a letter asking her to. Just seems…

In my experience, the NHS will only diagnose severe cases of ADHD in children. Everything else is a struggle, like most mental health services on the NHS unfortunately. I think the best option is to get a private diagnosis - I am considering this myself actually.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#107

Post by gyulai »

pseudalopex wrote: post #93
burntoutfire wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's quite interesting, but I believe that procrastination and burnout are rather obvious signs of ADHD and if you experience this you should verify this. My guess is that procrastination and burnout are signs that work in our society is just not a good fit for our mental needs (see also immense popularity of video games, which provide "fake work" that is closer to what we need). I suspect there were no procrastina…

ADHD brains are physically different. You can see it with MRI. I suspect ADHD hunter gatherers hated weaving.

I wonder how robust those findings actually are, especially for high-functioning persons in the ADHD spectrum where the symptoms are not clinically debilitating.

I'm thinking now of how f-MRI is notoriously difficult to get right in methodological terms [1] while at the same time providing an all-to-convenient path for psychologists wanting to add credibility to their claims by tying them into physiological manifestation. I know next to nothing about the field though, so who knows. ...just expressing baseline scepticism I guess.

[1] https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/fmri-gets-slap-in-the-...

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#108

Post by darkhorse13 »

jstrodd wrote: post #96
pdrbrtt wrote: post #78

Hello There! Former ADHD bro here. I was diagnosed with ADHD 10 months ago. At that time my life was a BIG BLOB of MESS and CHAOS. I started attending therapy sessions with a really good Therapist once a week since then. After 6 months, I had sense of every way ADHD was affecting my life, but couldn't figure out how to overcome the symptoms by myself. My therapist recommended a psychiatrist, which prescribed Vyvanse…

Reading your comment makes me so nervous. I could have written it myself when I was in college. Back then, ADHD meds transformed my life for the better, at least during the first couple years. It was great! A pill solved all of my problems. But then, very slowly, over the course of years, I developed a much worse set of problems. Now, ten years later, I'm struggling with an addiction that affects every aspect of my l…

I'm sorry about what happened to you, really sounds awful. Have you tried tapering your dose very slowly over a long time? Speaking from personal experience, that worked for me (thank God) with my med dependency.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#109

Post by adhd_thraway »

jstrodd wrote: post #96
pdrbrtt wrote: post #78

Hello There! Former ADHD bro here. I was diagnosed with ADHD 10 months ago. At that time my life was a BIG BLOB of MESS and CHAOS. I started attending therapy sessions with a really good Therapist once a week since then. After 6 months, I had sense of every way ADHD was affecting my life, but couldn't figure out how to overcome the symptoms by myself. My therapist recommended a psychiatrist, which prescribed Vyvanse…

Reading your comment makes me so nervous. I could have written it myself when I was in college. Back then, ADHD meds transformed my life for the better, at least during the first couple years. It was great! A pill solved all of my problems. But then, very slowly, over the course of years, I developed a much worse set of problems. Now, ten years later, I'm struggling with an addiction that affects every aspect of my l…

Please talk with your doctors about it, switch specialists if needed. If someone dismiss how you feel about yourself and your situation it's them who is wrong, not you.

One of the reasons ADHD has a bad reputation is because Adderall et al. were given out like candies at some point. I'm 100% aware of that. I wouldn't be surprised if someone would be forced into ADHD box only because parents/doctors/someone else think they should be. Kid is underperforming? Hit it with meds. Too noisy? Same. I wouldn't be surprised neurotypical person would get boost from meds.

I also don't believe ADHD can be managed with "here's a pill, go play" approach. It's a complex issue that requires complex solutions.

Re: Ask HN: Neurodiversity/ADHD Friendly Companies

#110

Post by adhd_thraway »

Thank you all for your contribution. I'm going to leave this throwaway. However if you'd have any question or just wanted to connect here's my anonymized e-mail. I can respond with it (just checked) but I'd rather remain anonymous for some time (like week or two).

Those who left their contact information and recommendation I'll be reaching out to soon. Once again thanks!

koncha_slizga_0b (at) icloud.com

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