Situational ADHD?

[Bread]

I have been jobhunting for just over a year now and will be the first to acknowledge it is bringing some of my little foibles to the fore. Over this period several people have asked if I have been diagnosed as (having?) ADHD. They cite among other things:
- my inability to be almost anywhere on time; I find it impossible to judge how long a minute is, and that I can't fit just one more thing in before I leave
- being easily distracted; suddenly seeing something which NEEDS doing
- spending too much time scrolling on my phone both last thing at night & first thing in the morning
- getting obsessional about DOING things; be that cleaning, sorting out local issues, reporting someone I saw texting while driving, etc.
- an over-amount of empathy which means I get embarrassingly distressed about things which are nothing to do with me (Grenfell Tower, animal/child abuse, horrible news stories)
- talking a lot; a tendency to overtalk (although I try my hardest not to do this and don't think I am *too* bad)
- general lethargy but suddenly getting major bursts of energy
- mind leaping from one thing to another; inability to focus on one thing
- overfocusing on work; staying up stupidly late to achieve something
- jumpiness particularly when my stupid smoke alarm goes off (which happens most days, as it's right by the kitchen)
- compulsive shopping/eating (have a history of bulimia and self-harm)

I don't know why I am posting here. I don't want to have ADHD. I never struggled in school (apart from maths) and have previously not really had any issues; for example I could easily spend hours writing a book/story in my teens so I don't have an attention problem. I have held down good jobs and always just thought of these as part of who i am but with all the labelling going on - could some medication help me?

I would like to:
- be more relaxed
- able to be on time
- have normal energy levels
- not be so anxious/upset all the time

I am loathe to seek a diagnosis as a way out, particularly as things might improve once I eventually get a job (because I've got to soon ... surely? Right?) but I am interested in other people's views and set a lot of store by Tattlers!

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[Kelly112330]

You sound exactly like me. I could’ve written this myself. I’m diagnosed combined adhd and have been for years. I masked heavily in secondary school but was labelled naughty because I couldn’t sit still, lost focus, daydreamed and so on I’ve had over 20 jobs in 16 years because I got bored very easily. I chase dopamine by spending money. I can’t take stimulant meds like lisdexamfetamine because of a heart condition. So I can’t help you on that front however I find that managing my time by setting alarms and sticking to a good routine helps a lot. My advice would be to take the ASRS test which you can find free online and present it at the gp who will refer you to a psychiatrist if you score highly or ask to go through something called right to choose. It’s a long process though unless you pay for a private diagnosis.. It’s also up to you and if you are healthy enough if you want to go through titration for meds or manage without.

 

[HotesTilaire]

It’s important to understand how ADHD presents in women.
Usually they have masked it all their lives. It’s “attention deficit/hyperactivity” so you can’t pay attention consistently and it’s your attention span which can be hyperactive. The reverse is hyper focus - something interesting-to you- can cause you to have an amazing lazer focus, spend time working on it, produce A1 standard work/reports etc but you never quite manage to finish tidying the house, you have a big go then it falls apart again, you zone out of boring work tasks and make “silly” mistakes, under/over estimate time, get distracted dealing with an interesting crisis instead.
Have a look at the ADHD late diagnosis thread…

 

[Bread]

Thank you both. Because I've never had school or work issues I've never really thought I had a problem but it's getting really bad at the moment; it doesn't help that, being out of work, I will easily sit up for hours doing something for which I get paid (online work!). I wasn't in bed until 0230 this morning and am so tired I feel sick. I will try and find that questionnaire, and the thread!

I have mentioned it to my psychiatrist (when I had one - I don't have private healthcare insurance) and also my mum, both of whom were quite dismissive but I think my depression/anxiety were so overwhelming this didn't get a look in. Why would it - it's always just been how i am and it didn't bother me so much when I was busy and had real difficulty sitting down and relaxing. But now I'm making myself unhappy.

 

[HotesTilaire]

Thank you both. Because I've never had school or work issues I've never really thought I had a problem but it's getting really bad at the moment; it doesn't help that, being out of work, I will easily sit up for hours doing something for which I get paid (online work!). I wasn't in bed until 0230 this morning and am so tired I feel sick. I will try and find that questionnaire, and the thread!

I have mentioned it to my psychiatrist (when I had one - I don't have private healthcare insurance) and also my mum, both of whom were quite dismissive but I think my depression/anxiety were so overwhelming this didn't get a look in. Why would it - it's always just been how i am and it didn't bother me so much when I was busy and had real difficulty sitting down and relaxing. But now I'm making myself unhappy.

I think it’s worth a look into, people assume it’s fidgety kids who did badly at school, but in women the tendency to mask, with attempts to be organised, when combined with being academic = a shitstorm of overcompensating for being incapable of just “doing” stuff, even easy stuff. Especially easy stuff. Oftengets out of hand with perimenopause as well, helps the house of cards to fall due to less energy for compensating.

Have a look at Additude magazine online or just google ADHD in women and girls.

 

[Bread]

Thank you.

Spoiler: Stuff

I am wondering if looking into it might help with my self-harm tendencies which are under control but raising their head more and more frequently as I struggle to deal with my overloaded head. I'm starting to come close to panic attacks as I feel so overwhelmed. And I'm perimenopausal, ha!

 

[Bread]

I have had a referral from my GP and the mental health nurse is sending me the form having asked me a lot of questions. Just hearing her explain what some of them mean was like a light switching on in my head.