The Adult ADHD Assessment Process ~ A step by step guide
Step 1: Research ADHD (and look at gender differences) and complete 2 x online screening tests; the ASRS (Adult ADHD Self Report Scale) and the WFIRS (Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale) and you can google these and find them available for free online
Step 2: Figure out whether it might be other factors at play (other mental health conditions or lifestyle factors that mimic ADHD)
Step 3: Decide whether your symptoms warrant or need a diagnosis
Step 4: Make an appointment to see your GP, and take with you your research and screening results, and you can decide then whether you want to see a Psychologist (no medication as Psychologists cannot prescribe medication for ADHD) or Psychiatrist (can prescribe medication). You can also discuss the option for going private or public system.
Step 5: If your GP doesn't provide a referral, you can also research clinicians and call them to a) ask about their assessment process and typical amount of sessions they need and b) to see what their wait times are. From there you can then provide their information to your GP to write you a referral, which you then send back to your preferred assessment provider.
Step 6: Begin your assessment process
Read moreWe are spending more attention cash than our brain wallets have, and our cognitive debts are trying desperately to tell us something: “It might be time for a brain budget” →
We are collectively living and working in a way that rapidly depletes our ‘attention resources’. This concept is similar to “living within one’s means” or understanding and actively knowing and not choosing to push your body beyond its functional limit (I cannot run as fast as a racehorse, I have tried and it didn’t end well). So we can think of attention resources in the same light, but applied to your brain—finite and essential to everything we do. There is only so much thinking and processing our brains can do.
Read moreSo you have just been diagnosed with ADHD, now what? →
So, you’ve just received the news: you have an ADHD brain!
Likely up this point you have been scared shitless that you would be told that you didn’t have ADHD, and that you’d be left thinking there was something wrong with you. This is a super common concern for those in the lead up to the diagnosis process.
So you have ADHD…..what now? Maybe you have a script for meds, maybe you want to manage it the natural way - whatever you have chosen is cool - but what does it actually mean to be neurodivergent?
Read moreDo No Harm: What to Do When an Employee or Colleague Discloses Their ADHD, Autism, or Other Neurodivergence in the Workplace.
It saddens me to hear that many people feel unsafe disclosing their neurodivergence in the workplace, fearing judgment or being deemed less capable by managers or colleagues due to differences in how their brains work.
This article discusses ways we can safely support people when they share their neurodivergence with us.
Trigger Warning: This article mentions facts related to suicide.
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