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Mental Health How does one get diagnosed with ADHD during college?

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Stimulated

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Sep 15, 2013
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How does one go about getting diagnosed with ADHD?

I'm a 20-year-old college student. I just finished my sophomore year at a very well-respected public university. About a year ago, I came to the conclusion that I may have a form of ADHD. I was almost diagnosed as a child (5-6 years old), but my mother threw such a fit at the doctor's office ("There's no way MY SON has ADHD, blah blah blah!") that she practically forced him to rule out ADHD as a possibility, even though it very well may have been the case. Instead, the doctor took an alternate route, deciding instead to prescribe me with an antidepressant (Paxil I believe it was). Since the age of 6, I have been on multiple antidepressants, including Paxil, Zoloft, Cymbalta, and Celexa (there may have been one more than I can't remember right now). I am currently still taking Celexa, and I am in the process of trying to get off of it. What kind of self-respecting healthcare practitioner prescribes a 6-year-old kid an antidepressant without thinking twice about it? I feel that all he successfully did was facilitate my current physical and mental dependence on antidepressants. Shit, I don't even know if I really had anxiety/depression to begin with, or if the medication has caused these symptoms. Anyways, that's another issue in and of itself.

It was not until college that I first considered that I might actually have ADHD. I never considered the possibility of having ADHD in high school, as high school didn't require the same kind of focus, motivation, and determination that college does. I never had to study in high school, and always got As fairly effortlessly. College is a whole different environment, and it opened my eyes to the fact that maybe I do have an attention disorder. I know most ADHD diagnoses occur at an earlier age, so I'm wondering whether it will be difficult to be diagnosed during college.


I have been self-medicating with Adderall/Concerta for awhile (probably about a year and a half, on and off) to combat my symptoms. When I don't medicate, I have a legitimate problem focusing and paying attention, and it isn't due to willpower. I have the will to do my work, but no matter how much I will myself to study or do my work, I constantly get distracted by anything and everything. How should I go about getting diagnosed? Should I tell my psychiatrist that I have been self-medicating and that it has been effective in controlling my symptoms and getting me to focus, or disclosing this information prevent him/her from writing a prescription that might be able to help me?

TL;DR VERSION: 20-year-old college student. I think I legitimately have ADHD-Inattentive Type. Looking for a diagnosis/legal prescription. Don't know how to approach it. Need advice.
 
This is (borderline) sourcing, so I'm not sure what direction the mods will want to take your thread.

Just because stimulants help you focus-
Stimulated said:
I never considered the possibility of having ADHD in high school, as high school didn't require the same kind of focus, motivation, and determination that college does. I never had to study in high school, and always got As fairly effortlessly. College is a whole different environment
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This does not sound like ADHD to me.

Good luck with college, OP.
 
It's unreal you were put on an SSRI at that age. EVERY child is ADD. Kids are curious about the world around them and aren't meant to sit in a room for 6 hours learning about shit they aren't interested in. People also have up's and down's, which is apparently now known as bi-polar disorder. This is just psychiatry categorizing every nuance of the human psyche to correspond to a pharmaceutical treatment. It's insane. Of course you feel like you have AHDH-I, the human brain was not designed for the world we live in today. If you must be medicated just realize that you are going to deal with consequences long term. Sure, it may help you and work wonders to get you through your studies, but eventually you'll need more of it and more of it, until the side effects outweigh the therapeutic value. Such is the nature of all drugs. There is no way to prevent the brain from attempting to achieve homeostasis (the natural balance you were born with), so either work on your issues yourself or become another revenue source for big pharma.

The choice is yours.
 
You will be doing yourself a huge, huge favor to simply read everything you can read about ADD and ADHD including all the opinions about using drugs to "treat" it. I have it (diagnosed) and I treat it as I do every other aspect of my personality/brain function/learning style--I figure out strategies to maximize the benefits of such a brain and minimize the deficits. Look at it this way--if you think that you need stims to function better in school when does it stop? Will you function better on stims your whole life? Focus, motivation and determination don't come in a pill. I know that stims help you get all that for free but what have you developed that you can count on for your whole life? I feel so sad for young people growing up in this age of magic bullet fixes that harm more than they fix. Don't rob yourself of the opportunity to develop your mind and your life-skills.

Some really helpful reading: Scattered by Gabor Mate

this article

Dr Hallowell

I'm sorry if this is contrary to what you were hoping to hear but as an educator, parent and fellow ADD brain, it is a passion of mine to fight the stimulants-as-panacea for what used to be called developing character. You take what and who you are and you work with it; you shape a life that fits you through trial and error. Ever notice how you don't even notice that you have the symptoms when you are actually fully engaged with a subject that truly interests you? I see this condition not as a disorder but as something about myself to be explored. With a balance of hard won changes and acceptance of what I can't change and choosing a career that actually utilizes all that pinball style energy up there, it's been an OK life (60 years into it I feel qualified to say 'has been').
 
Be honest with the doctor or a medical professional and tell them that you have taken prescription stimulants, and any other drugs you have or do take even if you just smoke pot and drink, or trip every so often.

I apparently have ADD/ADHD and I was not on medications at all for most of college. I only remember a few times when I was on them and that was when I had taken a low dose of medication before an exam, or while studying for a final exam. The rest of the time I did not take them and I have not taken any medication for ADD/ADHD for over a decade.

What helps while you are in college or university if you have ADD/ADHD or even if you do not is time management.

I found that keeping on a strict schedule when it came to studying and doing work, going to classes, etc. helped.

I would make a list of things I had to do for classes and in general, and then work on completing each task one at a time and then move onto the next task.

This may work for you, and it may not. Good luck.
 
PriestTheyCalledHim said:
What helps while you are in college or university if you have ADD/ADHD or even if you do not is time management.

I found that keeping on a strict schedule when it came to studying and doing work, going to classes, etc. helped.
Click to expand...

^This.

Really, OP, I say this from a very caring space: this is where you need to focus your energies. It will help you in everything you do in your life.
 
If you have to ask how to get diagnosed that kind of sends up a red flag. You shouldn't have to "try" to get diagnosed if you actually have this disorder. Just be honest with your doctor; if they're competent they'll do the best for you, and if they're not you'll either get it though you don't need it or won't get it though you need it.
 
Comparing university level study and high school (in the U.S.) and self-diagnosing based on how much harder one is than the other is not a very good basis for a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD. Of course it is more difficult. The demands and the expectations are worlds apart (especially if you are coming from one of the states like mine where your public schools are near the bottom as compared to other states. In California the 10 UC locations are required to accept the top 4% of high school graduates. The fact that a huge number of these high school honors graduates have to take remedial writing classes before they can perform at the college level should illustrate that gap quite well. Thinking that the level of focus, organization, self-direction and motivation that you used to get through high school will be the same in college isn't realistic.
 
^^these last 2 posts are really on the money.

Do your research, and if you're convinced you have a disorder, go see a doctor, and just be HONEST. If you have ADD/ADHD they'll do the necessary diagnosis to be sure.
 
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