Why Diagnose ADHD?

This blog is designed for the purpose of answering the question, why diagnose ADHD?

Too often there are negative articles about ADHD and people with ADHD in the media. I.e., it’s not a real condition, it’s a drug company conspiracy, it’s over diagnosed, take my herbal pill/supplement and it’ll vanish, you just have to punish people and beat them and it’ll disappear etc.

This blog will show stories of adults with ADHD and children with ADHD talking about how their lives were before getting diagnosed with ADHD and how they were improved after getting diagnosed with ADHD and finding ways to manage it better, for example, ADHD medication, ADHD Coaching, therapy, ADD support groups, meditation, professional organizers and bookkeepers, lifestyle changes like diet, exercise, stress reduction, etc. Essentially to show how getting diagnosed with ADHD and finding ways to manage it can improve (not perfect but improve) the quality of ADDers work, academic, family and personal lives.

The Goal of this Blog:

1. Hopefully people who might have ADHD or children who might have ADHD will read some of these stories and be encouraged to seek a diagnosis and if they have ADHD, get appropriate treatment for it.

2. Members of the mainstream, alternative and blogospheric media will create stories on the lives of real people with ADHD, and in doing so de-stigmatize ADHD and encourage government and medical professionals and organizations to provide adequate resources and training so people can get adequate diagnostic and treatment for ADHD, which is unfortunately sorely lacking in many places in North American (including major cities) and even more so in the rest of the world

3. Get provincial/state, federal and local governments to start providing leadership, funding and financing for access to ADHD diagnosis and treatment for adults and children and ADHD awareness campaigns.

4. Get medical professionals like Doctors, Psychologists and Psychiatrists to learn how to diagnose and treat ADHD in adults and children, since unfortunately many weren’t taught to do so in University.

5. Get Medical schools and Psychology departments to adequately train their students to be able to diagnose and treat ADHD and associated comorbid conditions in adults and children. Some do, but unfortunately too many do not. For example the University of BC in my city, Vancouver, only gives their medical students 1 hour of training on ADHD.

If you’re interested in helping out, please send in your personal stories of what your life was like before getting diagnosed with ADHD and what it was like after ADHD diagnosis and treatment as a way of showing some of the benefits of an ADHD diagnosis, not that the diagnosis solves all life’s problems, but it does give you an understanding, and a point of reference to work from. As opposed to “I feel like I have something I feel is wrong with me and I don’t know what it is or why I do certain things and don’t know how to fix it.”

If You Want to Contribute Your Stories, Send us 3 Things Please:
1. Your full name or initials

2. Your city and if you’re outside of BC, your province/state or country

3. Your story
to
Please Do:
Contribute your before and after diagnosis stories

Tell people the advantages you’ve found of getting diagnosed and treated for ADHD.
Please Don’t:
Promote your or someone else’s services or products, URL’s (website links) will be not allowed.

Bother trying to claim ADHD is not a real condition, if you believe this, read Does ADD Really Exist?