Four Helpful Resources in Embracing Your ADHD.
So You Have ADHD
It can feel daunting to be newly diagnosed with something that you’ve actually had your whole life. ADHD can feel like a curse when left untreated or undiagnosed. However, if treated you can learn to embrace your ADHD as a gift. I have had many adult women approach my practice who wonder if they have ADHD or were only recently diagnosed as an adult. Women are significantly under diagnosed with ADHD as compared to men. Despite the prevalence in males and females are similar, American men are diagnosed 69% more than American women who have ADHD.
Figuring out if you have ADHD can feel like a daunting endeavor to even know where to begin. I am laying out a few helpful resources for you so that hopefully you feel like you have a path forward.
Evaluation
The first step in figuring out if you even have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is to get an evaluation. Find therapist, PMHNP, or psyhiatrist to who specialize in ADHD evaluations. Don’t use Tik Tok or Instagram to self-diagnose. Social media is a great resource but it is not a place to diagnose or treat potential ADHD. You can find great evaluation resources by doing a simple local google search or going to psychologytoday.com. An ADHD diagnosis is very nuanced and can often look like Anxiety or Depression or may appear as ADHD when reality it is something else but is causing ADHD like symptoms. For example, if you have an eating disorder, the lack of food intake will of course feel like you can’t concentrate due to the decreased energy that you would normally receive from food.
The evaluation process can look different depending on the setting. Some clinicians do interview style evaluations supplemented with paperwork, some do multiple hour testing (usually called neuropsych testing), or others might also request to speak to multiple people in your life to get a picture of how might ADHD be effecting your life. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, it is just depends on what you are looking for and what feels right for you. Even if it turns out that you don’t have ADHD, they clinicians will still provide you with a diagnosis of some kind a provide referrals on next steps. You won’t be left in the dust wondering what to do now.
Therapy
Therapy can be helpful for many reasons, including treating your ADHD. Finding a therapist who treats ADHD is of course the first step in this process but you may be wondering, ‘How exactly can therapy help me with my ADHD?’ Below are a few examples of what you might explore in therapy, but these are definitely are not the exhaustive list.
Emotional support- therapy can help support your own emotional experience. My work with adult women with ADHD often entails reflecting on some sort of grief or anger around going through life struggling and not knowing they had ADHD. We often reflect on how much their life, often school or work, could have been very different if they had a diagnosis. With women who have a new diagnosis, we often explore what this new diagnosis means for them and their future.
How ADHD has impacted your story- this has been something that you have had your whole life. Even though it may be only something you have recently learned about, it has colored your view of the world and your experiences.
Relationships to others and yourself- often untreated ADHD can really impact your relationships. This could be with family, a partner or even yourself. Sometimes untreated ADHD can bring conflict, tension or resentment within relationships, therapy can help you reflect on ways to cope with such experiences.
Low self esteem- people with ADHD often have to work much harder than neurotypical folks. To others it may feel like you’re not trying hard enough, but in reality you are putting in as much effort as you can. Due to having to work harder, this can often lead to low self esteem.
Executive Functioning Coaching
Many of my clients don’t know that this resource even exists. Executing functioning can provide you with an extra boost. You learn tools and skills on navigating your ADHD in your day to day life. This may be specifically learning tips to help you at work, studying or your personal life. An executive functioning coach can help you learn things such as: time management, planning, organization, task initiation, and self-monitoring.
Medication
ADHD is essentially your norepinephrine levels are higher and lower than neurotypical folks. Simply put in the ADHD world, Norepinephrine is a chemical in your brain that helps you focus. Basically an ADHD brain can concentrate a lot on something (usually something you find interesting) and then concentrate not enough on other things. ADHD medications work to balance out your norepinephrine levels.
There are stimulant and non-stimulant options. Yes, there are some side effects but usually those decrease with time. I won’t go into too many specific details since this is an area reserved for a psychiatrist or PMHNP but medication is a really helpful resource for people with ADHD. Despite certain ADHD medications getting a bad wrap in mainstream society, they are very helpful and safe in treating ADHD when used properly. I get that medication is a personal decision, and you may decide that it isn’t right for you. That’s ok. You do you. However, you options and medication for ADHD has been a huge game changer for many of my clients.
How I Can Help You Through Your ADHD Journey
Please note, I do not diagnose ADHD. So what do I do? I work with you to provide counseling services to help you find balance and to normalize your experience. I worked several years at an ADHD center and have extensive knowledge in the world of ADHD.
Along with providing counseling services, I work with outside services to diagnose, provide medication management and executive functioning coaching. I triage with the other outside providers to provide the best treatment possible so you can get back on track with where you want to be in life.
If you are looking for a therapist in the Greater Seattle area, consider working with me. I have expertise and experience working with millennial women just like you. You can request a free phone consultation to see how we might be able to work together.
Meet the Author
Adrienne Kandhari (she/her) is a licensed mental health counselor in the state of Washington. She specializes working with millennial women and helping them to grow, succeed, and thrive in the modern world. When she’s not with clients, you can find her exploring the PNW, sewing a new fashion project, and attending to her trove of houseplants.
