My Diagnosis Story, Part 6

Phew. I've finally reached the turning point in my diagnosis story, that being my appointment with Dr. I! After about two months of striving to get proper help, he was my last chance. I knew that if he couldn't or wouldn't help me, I would have to give up....because I was running out of patience and money :-/

Thankfully, though the receptionist at Dr. I's office was a bit...well, rude (seriously, what is with doctor's receptionists and their attitudes? they keep just about the easiest hours ever and all they have to do is not be jerks, but they can't even accomplish that)...Dr. I himself was great. We talked about how I'd been trying to find help, about Dr. Shady and his bullshit, about the things I'd discussed with Dr. A. I did have to repeat a lot of what I'd already told both Dr. Shady and Dr. A, but at this point I suppose I was used to having to repeat myself...and after a while Dr. I said that he was glad I'd decided to seek help, because he could see the ADHD tendencies in me - not just in the information I was giving him, but in the way I sat, jittered my leg, moved and wrung my hands...

And then Dr. I pulled out a sheet of paper. "Here is your thousand dollar ADHD assessment," he joked. It was a little questionnaire, on just one side of the paper, maybe 20 questions long at most. In fact, it was very similar to this questionnaire that I had found and taken online prior to my first appointment with Dr. A.

He left me in his office for maybe 5-10 minutes to fill out the "assessment". I answered the questions as truthfully as I could, but to be honest I toned down some of my responses. I didn't want this doctor to think that I was just being ridiculous. But when he returned and reviewed my answers, he still seemed shocked that things for me were...well, as bad as they were. To the point where he told me that the fact that I hadn't been on medication for my ADHD before was "exemplary".

Of course, he doesn't know about how many relationships I've failed because of my hyperfocusing, loss of interest, and cheating. He doesn't know that the only classes I didn't struggle in were the few that I took by choice (in college). He doesn't know that in just the past 7years I've held 11 jobs with 8 different companies and that I've been on the verge of losing my current job for months because I can't focus long enough to get even the simplest tasks done.

For right now, though, all of that is besides the point :) I'll get into those aspects of having ADHD at a later time. At the moment this entry is long enough, and next up I will write about the medication portion of my diagnosis. Hopefully it won't take me another week to find the time to post! The holidays are just such a crazy busy time of year.