Getting a diagnosis 😖

I think the masking actually causes the anxiety. Plus being on meds for extreme anxiety is probably making things worse too.

Find someone who specializes in ADHD specifically. With psychiatrists, you can have 15 different psychs review the same information, and get 15 different diagnoses. For years I have been diagnosed with MDD, and even one thought I could have BiPolar II, thank GOD she didn't formally diagnose me... but now that so much light has been shed on ADHD and neurodivergent brains, I am seeing all roads lead back to ADHD.

I was misdiagnosed for years. I was first Diagnosed with ADD when i was in elementary school, but my parents treated it as something i just had to “get over” in their eyes, if i just worked harder it would go away. So it was my mission as a child to get off the medication they put me on. And i did, in the 6th grade I learned how to mask well enough that they took me off the meds. Unfortunately the high masking created a slew of other issues and I was promptly diagnosed with major depression and anxiety at 14. Placed on SSRI’s and Benzo’s… they never really worked but I kept trying. I told EVERY doctor I saw that I had a childhood ADD diagnosis, and they all brushed it off. I believe it was because I was a woman, and I didn’t have a lot of the “typical” ADHD symptoms. Now I’m here at 30, and was finally rightfully Diagnosed with ADHD and properly medicated, without the flawed ideas about trying to just get over it, I have never felt better. For me it was just about finding the right provider. The US healthcare system makes that so incredibly hard. But keep trying and you will find your way.