I'm going to a shrink on Monday of next week and I was just wondering: did any of you want to have ADHD before you went in?

My dad asked me if I wanted to find out ADHD and I told him that I do. I don't like to lie and that is how I really feel. I just feel that if I have it, it means I'm going to be able to fix a problem. I just want my grades to get better and if they say I don't have it, I'm not sure I trust myself with my own schooling.

Is this a bad mindset to have?

No it's not really.
Usually you go find a diagnosis because you have problems and you want to know why.
You want the creature to have a name.

It's much better than running around with uncertain complaints and not knowing where they're from.

No it's not really.
You want the creature to have a name.


Well said Sarek! I wanted to hear that the monster was Grendel, or the Horta :D, or ADHD - just as long as the monster's name was not "You're Hopless."

When I went to my p-doc about ADD I brought in two books (Delivered from Distraction and Answers to Distraction) brimming with sticky notes that marked every symptom or story that I felt matched my experience. I told him that I'd been seeing alot of myself in these books, but wanted an expert's opinion because, "hey, what do I know, right?" The p-doc seemed to like being called an expert. And after he asked me about my history, he said that I had "pretty straigtforward, uncomplicated ADD."

So, yes, I did want to have ADHD before I went for my appointment - not because I thought it was cool, but because I wanted whatever was wrong with me to be fixable, and not my fault.

I had no clue what I had when I went in. Just wanted help. I described what was going on and got an GAD/OCD dx/rx. Several months later, after group and individual counseling, AND after two therapists and fellow OCD group members AND a couple of friends suggested ADHD AND I bumped into this youknowyouhaveaddwhen (http://www.fdisk.com/cgi-bin/add/youknow.pl)... site, I asked my pDoc about it -- she gave me an ADHD diagnosis.

I was surprised and relieved. As sarek and river said, I wanted a name for the beast and got it.

Naming it was great, but didn't slay the beast. I don't expect a cure but feel much better than a year ago.

I'm medicated, but still need the group and still have to face the challenges of daily life with ADHD/OCD.

The only concern (I wouldn't call it a "problem" per se) is that if you're set on it being ADHD, you'll see ADHD in everything, and that may skew your responses when getting diagnosed (i.e. "Well, an ADHD'er would answer *this* way, so...")

However being set on something is not the same as, in Sarek's words, "wanting the creature to have a name". So long as you go in there just wanting to know if this is ADHD or not (leaving the option open that it *may* be something else), I don't think you have to worry.

(I'd never even *considered* ADHD when I was seeing my psychologist so it came as a shock to me. Wasn't possible to skew the results...I didn't know what the heck was going on! :D )

Hi fortytwo:

I would echo the comments above and urge you to do a little research into common symptoms of ADHD and other, related conditions before your appointment - if you haven't done so already. Misdiagnosis is not unheard of, so it's in your best interest to research some other conditions like OCD, depression, anxiety, etc. so that you understand those symptoms as well and can talk to your doctor knowledgeably about them.

Here is a great resource all about conditions related to ADHD: http://www.additudemag.com/topic/adhd-treatment/depression-anxiety-bipolar.html

Plus an article about common diagnosis mistakes that I think is really helpful to read in advance: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/1876.html

Good luck! And let us know how it goes...

Well i also want to get diagnosed so i don't get screamed at for stuff i do at school (which is nothing much aye).

I don't feel like I'm a different person since diagnosis, but it was a relief; it helps me make a little more sense of my life than I could before, and the meds have had an immediate effect...
I guess in a way I could say I 'want' to have it in that I'm worried - I go to school in the US but currently only have a permanent address in the UK, and I don't know where I'm going to be studying next year, if at all, and I'm terrified that I'll be re-tested in the UK and they'll decide I don't have it and stop treating me. But I think that's just me doubting myself; I find it hard to believe I don't have it, especially given the immediate positive reaction to the meds and my huge long ridiculous history which I can't believe didn't raise the possibility years ago.

I didn't want to have ADD. I was quite surprised when that's what the report said. . .

I went in wondering what was wrong with my short/medium term memory. It turns out there's nothing wrong with them. I just have difficulty attending to things. I have an above average intelligence but I don't fit in with "normal" society. Now I know why. "And knowing is half the battle. . ."

Hi, I had no clue, I was just sober for one year and I thought I was really losing it, called emerg mental health service...dx adhd at age 45, this was the farthest thing from my mind....but Im so happy....my "condition" has a name and its treatable....that was 14yrs ago:)

keep us posted we care

lol

Yes, I kind of did. I made the appt and when asked for the reason, I told them for possible ADD diagnosis. After getting my daughter diagnosed and seeing how well the meds were helping her, and reflecting upon myself and my life, yes, I was begging (in my mind) for the diagnosis. I finally had an answer to my whole life and I was nervous the doc would tell me that I was just a crazy person. I wanted to have ADHD (or at least have the formal diagnosis as such) so I could help understand some of the choices I made in life. Let the healing begin...

Yes. To some people it will sound sick, but I think a lot os us "old" ADDers WANT that stamp. To anyone with a hint of knowledge, it is very understandable, though.

Sarek; once again - very good post!

Sure, I wanted to get that diagnosis. If I don't have ADD-I, then I have to go back to thinking of myself as "crazy, lazy, and stupid", which is really depressing. That said, I completed my assessment with the utmost honesty.

No point getting a diagnosis if it's not going to be accurate.

Interesting talk here, good insight.

When tested, I didn't know I'd be dxed. with ADD. I considered other possibilities, early dementia because my memory had gotten worse......or an undetected learning disability as I was getting lost in familiar places and confusing right/left more than before. A psychologist one of my kids was seeing suggested I undergo testing that had to do with cognition/thought processing as well as motor response to sounds heard through earphones. He had noted during my child's intake how scattered and disorganized my thoughts were in spite of what he perceived as high intelligence.

I was relieved to learn I had ADD. As with other ADD/ADHDers I've known, I can be inexhausible with problem-solving as long as I have a point of origin and clues to solutions are tangible. I don't think anyone, ADDer or not, can address symptoms of a disorder in a systemic, meaningful way if they lack knowledge of the origin/core.

If you suffer symptoms associated with ADD/ADHD or any definitive disorder for that matter, diagnosis can be quite helpful. One reason is that we're social animals. All of us, ADDers or not, need to belong somewhere. Friends I've known who suffer physical and/or mental symptoms and don't fit into a diagnostic category are at a loss to feel understood by others. Living in limbo and fitting nowhere can be isolating and debilitating.

I found this site a week ago by accident and am awed to find I have a wealth of (never-expressed) thoughts/feelings/experiences that I have in common with folks I've never met, some living 1,000s of miles away. Weighing that against the so called "close" relationships I've had with those in close proximity is food for thought. At the very least, it confirms with absoluteness how real ADD/ADHD is.

i actually sort of "wanted" to have ADHD, yes indeed.
its because i was diagnosed with quite a bit of other stuff (depression, anxiety disorder, anti-social disorder, borderline, defiant personality, blah blah) before and was medicated for it, and the medication either didnt do much or made me a complete maniac (i got really aggressive on tricyclic antidepressants), and it scared me that i couldnt be helped for my weird disease, i thought i was probably a hopeless case, a lunatic, a psycho. no medication works, im just nuts. same as the dentist always told me that the lidocaine he injected was already a major dose like used for an adult, but it didnt work for me, so i screamed in pain and nobody belived me, which left me quite with a childhood trauma... thank god my mother then paid for nitrous oxide, which made the dentist berable. but thats another story.

the ADHD diagnosis was a relief, as it fit me as well as gave me hope for treatment. i am currently on an NRI (like strattera / atomoxetine, but its actually reboxetine) and it has side effects i can hardly bear, but its also making me more relaxed and less angry, so i feel like i am somewhat on the right path here, unlike before, where medication used to have adverse effects and really f***ed me up.

No, I didn't want to have ADHD but I certainly wanted to have an answer and wanted to hear that I didn't have the severe things that I'd discovered I had symptoms for by using the trusty internet. ADHD actualy came as a shock for me and didn't expect that at all. I guess the things I was having difficulty with didn't seem to match up with what I had heard about ADHD and never really had the proper information. I was happy to hear ADHD (actually my Doc said, "you have some serious ADHD girl") after blubbering like a maniac for an hour with my psychiatrist because it made me feel like I wasn't totally losing my mind. But, I also understood it was going to take work on my part, and that the "fix" wasn't really going to get rid of the ADHD but rather help me function. It has certainly helped with the anxiety and depression I was feeling because of it, and I've properly developed enough OCD behavior to function well without ADHD medication (I do use Wellbutrin XL daily and take Focalin when I am preparing for a needy day) so all in all it's been very cathardic to hear the diagnosis.

I think wanting to have the diagnosis and wanting to know there is a light at the end of the rambling and chaotic mind is very natural, certainly there is nothing wrong with it. Just be open and honest during your sessions so you are getting the correct diagnosis and not the one you are wanting. Nothing gets better when it's manufactured.

the medication either didnt do much or made me a complete maniac (i got really aggressive on tricyclic antidepressants)

Me too... so glad I'm not the only one. Seriously — I thought I was just a jerk...

there is something about having your problems being given a title that is just reassuring that you aren't going insane. Realizing this and having done enough research to get a rough idea of what you might have will to some degree make you "want" to be diagnosed just so you can put it aside in your mind if you were obsessing about it and/or getting proper treatment in order to fix things.

It was never even a thought for me. I have severe sleep apnea and my GP wanted me to see a psych that works with sleep disorders to make sure I wasn't getting depressed, order any necessary test and perscribe meds if needed for my excessive daytime sleepiness. The doc was wonderful. He asked me hundreds of questions, it seemed like, with regard to my sleepiness and other symtoms. Then he started asking questions about my childhood that I didnt understand. Next thing I know he's telling me Im classic ADD. I left feeling kind of like I was in a cloud. Went crazy looking the subject up on the internet and havent had been so happy about the diagnosis but with more reading and you guys Im beginning to be happy about it. I totally understand wanting an answer for the problems you are having though. If you dont know what is wrong, how can you begin to fix it. Good luck to you. I hope you get a correct answer, whatever that may be.

I want to have ADHD. After researching countless disorders that kind of apply to me, or might be me if you squint a bit and tilt your head to the side and imagine it really hard, it's almost exciting to find something that actually does genuinely seem to fit.

I don't think having a name for why I act oddly will magically cure me, but I feel like there's a limit to how much i can improve myself without understanding what this is.

I was so SO relieved when I got the diagnosis - ADD (inattentive).

Up until then, for several months, I suspected that it was the "answer" to a lot of the questions I had about myself. Some of that was based on my own reading, some was based on participating in discussions on this forum.

When I got the official diagnosis, it actually (ironically, I guess) was the same day that I was put on disciplinary probation at work, based on performance issues. My supervisor took things very personally. . .any mistake I made, any time I had to go back to her to clarify verbal instructions she'd given earlier, she thought was some kind of direct threat to her authority.

After leaving the appointment with my doctor, I called my parents to tell them the news. They were concerned and didn't seem to understand how I could see the diagnosis as a GOOD thing. But, as others have said, I finally had a "name" for it.