Do people think you are crazy?

[ladym]

Sorry, but I have to vent!
Seriously, do they, do people think you are crazy? I am a 30 yr old female that "thinks" I have ADD. I have a brother that has been diagnosed, and a child that has been diagnosed. I have practically every symptom that comes with ADD. I've been through the long story here before, so I won't go over it again.
Anyway, I decided to look for help. For a few reasons, mainly I don't feel like I can help my son as well I should, the way I am. Between the two of us, we remember his medication maybe 3-4 days out of the week. We start a chart system, and by the end of the week we've both lost our interest. I just feel like I'm being swallowed up in this never ending fog.
So I go to a psychologist today, which mind you, was extremely difficult for me. It took a lot of nerve and energy for me to go in there. I tell him my symptoms, he asks me some questions. He spends about 20 minutes with me, if that, and says "I don't think this could be a neurological deficit or someone would have picked up on it before now . I think you are a mother of 3, stay at home mom, without a lot of outside social outlets and your anxiety is causing some unwanted problems". Not two minutes before that I had just finished telling him that I do have anxiety, I have had it completely under control before, with medication, but it never lifted my fog. It took away my anxiety, but didn't fix anything else.

I really just felt like he wasn't listening, or thought I was crazy. Then I'm telling someone else about this experience, and they tell me that I can't expect to walk into the office and tell them what I've diagnosed myself with. . That's not what I expect. I don't "know" if this is what I have. This is what I think I have. It's what makes a whole lot of sense. More then anything though I would just like to hear something, anything beyond "its anxiety". I didn't have anxiety when I was 9 years old and starting zoning out, don't tell me this is from anxiety . I honestly just feel like people think I'm crazy. Heck, at this point I think I would rather hear I'm crazy, then I'm in a fog because of some mild anxiety

[ChrisO]

Hi. I just recently shared with my coworkers that I am ADD. Some have been extremely accomodating and I hear others making little jokes about it. While I don't think they intend to offend me it still happens. I try to remind myself that they just don't understand what it's like to have ADD and that the media of the 90s has really just caused us to not be taken seriously. So I can understand why you're ticked! Although I'd be more angry that someone I was PAYING to help me brushed me off so easily.

It's so sad that a professional doctor would just brush you off like that. When I was diagnosed in 1990 I had to spend an entire 8 hours in a little room with a psychologist and take tests all day. I guess it's quicker than that nowadays but it still seems wrong what happened to you today and you SHOULD vent about it. That guy was a jerk.

Good luck finding someone who can help you more & give you a real diagnosis!

Chris

[chloe516]

I have some problems with other people because of my ADHD and I'm trying to decide if I should tell people or not. I don't want it to be an excuse, but I do wonder if it would help them understand that I am not trying to do some things that make them angry or upset, that I have a disorder that makes some things difficult.

[ChrisO]

Well, Chloe, I can tell you that the people who I've suspected were my friends have been really cool with it. In fact my team lead went out of her way today to refocus me when she saw I needed it & she also made sure I was where I was supposed to be. She knew I had struggled before but I don't think she realized how much of a struggle it was until I told her.

The people who seem to have not taken it seriously are the people who are always looking for something to make fun of. I'm sure I'll be the butt of their jokes for awhile but at this point I really don't care.

I had a huge freakout at work the other day over stress and that's when I discovered that it was all related to my ADD. I'm trying hard not to use it as an excuse either, but when it comes to organization & stress management there's no way for it NOT to be related!

The book I started reading "ADD on the Job" by Lynn Weiss is what gave me the courage to tell my teammates. I was so relieved while reading it that I started crying. FINALLY I knew what was causing me to have all these issues.

I'm still struggling with the "don't use it as an excuse for everything" part because I'm not far into the realization of it all so I hope it stops feeling like that eventually.

[~boots~]

Chris, I *hid* it for so long, with jokes about myself, and some serious overcompensating, that I doubt anyone will believe me anyway! I'm happy to stay in the ADD closet for a while..
Good luck with your co-workers and the non-believers.

[ChrisO]

Thanks, Tracy. I did the same thing you did and I'm not really sure why I chose this week as a time to "come out". I can tell you (not surprisingly) that it wasn't well thought out when I spewed all this information about myself, but what's done is done & now I'm just going to move on. The closet was much warmer & comforting!

[~boots~]

Originally Posted by ChrisO

Thanks, Tracy. I did the same thing you did and I'm not really sure why I chose this week as a time to "come out". I can tell you (not surprisingly) that it wasn't well thought out when I spewed all this information about myself, but what's done is done & now I'm just going to move on. The closet was much warmer & comforting!

true, true..sometimes I worry *OMG* why did I say that on this forum..if anyone I know in real life happens to pop into here they will know it is me straight away..not a good idea using my real name either LOL..another thing I didn't think through I am seriously contemplating asking the moderators if I can change my user name instead of deleting all my posts and starting again....oh why oh why *don't* I think before I speak,....LOL..or write, as in this case I guess that is *WHY* we are all here LOL

[chloe516]

That's why I didn't use my real name or put my location.

I think my reason for feeling like I want to tell people is that I end up having problems for things that are not in my control, like missing details or not getting jokes. I just want people to know that I am trying my best and just have a hard time. I'm a teacher, so I hope people are more accepting of it. I have a friend, another teacher at my grade level, who is ADD, so we have fun together. We are always teasing each other about our ADHD stuff and we don't get upset about topic changes and other stuff because we completely understand each other. I have told another person, and I'm not sure she believes in it, she just said that she does some of the same things sometimes. My response was "everyone does it, but does it seriously impact your life and cause a lot of trouble for you." I'm still debating about who I should and should not tell.

[notmADD]

Ladym, don't let that jerk discourage you! Be proud that you're a woman who has the guts to look further into her situation and better it for the sake of her family and herself. Try to find someone who specializes in ADD ADHD, make an appointment and go in armed with info you have found that states your symptoms. I have read many times that girls are often overlooked for ADD ADHD. That guy is a jack@##.

[speedo]

talk to your son's doctor.

Me