What should I say or not say to the therapist for the first time? Should I come out and say I think I have ADHD or should I avoid my own self-diagnosis and ask them to evaluate my habits on their own? Anything I should say or not say in a first chat? Anything that may be a red flag or green flag with a new therapist?
I’m hoping that I won’t need meds at all and there’s an approach where I can just use therapy to help me understand myself and how I can manage my bad habits.
What’s frustrating is that I took some tests when I was younger but they were administered by someone in my family who actively was hoping I wouldn’t have ADHD and therefore wouldn’t need meds - so that confused me a bit… unless they were right and I’m potentially an anxious mess instead. But anxiety might be it’s own meds 🤪. Still would like to avoid it.
ADHD is one of the conditions that responds best to meds (success in the 70-80% range). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2518387/
Be open to it if you are diagnosed. My life changed drastically for the better in ways that habits or awareness could not have helped - lack of fatigue, depression gone, able to actually start things (activation energy), etc. ADHD is a difference in how our brains function and it’s hard to out habit a brain that is determined not to work the way it “should”.
Should also note the meds are different now than when we were kids.
Vyvanse changed my life. Without it, my career would have stagnated and my marriage would likely be over. I was diagnosed in my early 40s. I didn’t realize how many of my issues stemmed from the frustration caused by being forgetful, procrastinating, aggressive, etc. The meds, along w/ years of therapy, help me manage my brain. I’m still the same person w/ many of the same issues but I am able to manage them much better. I’m not saying meds are for everyone. But be open-minded. Realize that ADHD is just like any other disease or disorder. You would take meds for diabetes or high blood pressure. It is the same thing.
I know the feeling… believe me. I tried to not use meds… I never want to take an prescriptions. Somehow I saw it as being weak or feeling reliant on something made me… less of a person? I don’t know how to describe it. I even started using marijuana as a more “natural” alternative for awhile. Ultimately, through introspection I felt that not seeking the meds route was doing myself a disservice for a since of control that wasn’t necessary. I totally empathize with you and get it. Best of luck to you.
Commenting on an old post, but hopefully still of use.
There are 2 main treatments for ADHD, drugs and CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). Both help a bit. However, when both are combined, the effectiveness is magnified massively.
Basically, most of the issues with ADHD aren’t the ADHD itself, but the maladaptations we’ve created to deal with it (or other maladaptations!). CBT can tell us what to change, along with how. Unfortunately, we know many of them, but can’t apply them, the ADHD mind is quite resistant to this sort of change. This is where meds come in. On their own, they counter some of the baseline problems of ADHD. Unfortunately, they don’t effect the maladaptations we already have. What they do do however is make adjusting our minds a LOT easier. When this is combined with CBT, the results are impressive.
Many of us choose to stay on the drugs, long term. They help with problems we don’t want to have, without significant side effects. If you choose not to however, that is also fine. Some people use the drugs to make changes, then come off them. Others brute force the CBT route to help, without drugs at all. None of us will (or at least shouldn’t) judge others for choosing a different path.