I took two roughly a year ago. The first one was in a run down office. I came to fill out forms and do a written assessment. Then I came back and did a test with an aged beige box computer, very simple but I know I did poorly. Then I had an assessment of math, verbal, etc with a live person. I was called back a week later and answered more questions. I was told I couldn’t have ADD because my job was too demanding for a person with ADD to handle. My coworker was in the car and I did the whole thing on speakerphone because he is a good friend and I’m serious about being open and honest when it comes to mental health. I thought it was ridiculous and my friend agreed.
Then I looked online and found a service (you can DM me if you want the name) that could do an online assessment if you have a laptop or desktop with a camera. I filled out all my forms online and submitted them before initial assessment video call. It was clear that the psychiatrist had read what I wrote. I then took a test on my laptop, very simple still but made me realize how out of date the test on my first attempt was.
I had another video appointment a week later. My psychiatrist actually has ADHD herself. She said the computer test graded me at top 7% severity. I told her about my other mental illness issues and, this is very important, I told her how so much of my childhood would make sense if I had ADD. It is important to talk about childhood symptoms, because ADD is a lifelong neurodivergence, not an illness.
She diagnosed me with ADD. We tried Vyvanse, it’s slow release so I thought it would be better. It put me to sleep. I now take Adderall so I can fit into a box and be a normal productive member of society for about 10 or 12 hours. I still have serious executive dysfunction without an immediate deadline looming or some other exterior pressure. It’s better than it was though, that’s for sure.
I took two roughly a year ago. The first one was in a run down office. I came to fill out forms and do a written assessment. Then I came back and did a test with an aged beige box computer, very simple but I know I did poorly. Then I had an assessment of math, verbal, etc with a live person. I was called back a week later and answered more questions. I was told I couldn’t have ADD because my job was too demanding for a person with ADD to handle. My coworker was in the car and I did the whole thing on speakerphone because he is a good friend and I’m serious about being open and honest when it comes to mental health. I thought it was ridiculous and my friend agreed.
Then I looked online and found a service (you can DM me if you want the name) that could do an online assessment if you have a laptop or desktop with a camera. I filled out all my forms online and submitted them before initial assessment video call. It was clear that the psychiatrist had read what I wrote. I then took a test on my laptop, very simple still but made me realize how out of date the test on my first attempt was.
I had another video appointment a week later. My psychiatrist actually has ADHD herself. She said the computer test graded me at top 7% severity. I told her about my other mental illness issues and, this is very important, I told her how so much of my childhood would make sense if I had ADD. It is important to talk about childhood symptoms, because ADD is a lifelong neurodivergence, not an illness.
She diagnosed me with ADD. We tried Vyvanse, it’s slow release so I thought it would be better. It put me to sleep. I now take Adderall so I can fit into a box and be a normal productive member of society for about 10 or 12 hours. I still have serious executive dysfunction without an immediate deadline looming or some other exterior pressure. It’s better than it was though, that’s for sure.
This was my experience in WV, USA
Good Luck