ADHD: Private clinics exposed by BBC undercover investigation

Harley Psychiatrists' response to the BBC Panorama Programme.

A very interesting read:

Any comments/opinions would be very welcome:

https://harleypsychiatrists.co.uk/bbc-panoramas-devastating-criticism-of-private-adhd-assessments/

It is promising that they aren't taking this lying down.  They make sense in their rebuttal and seem to be measured, calm and reasoned.

I think, on balance, the BBC have as many questions to answer as they do on this "piece".

Panorama have done some great journalism / expose pieces in the past......but the way they have approached and presented this matter is decidedly dubious.

BBC = Questions to answer.

The clinic = Questions to answer.

Debbie = Golden!  so I would try hard not to let this dent YOUR psyche (which is defo not dependent on a piece of paper.)

Thank you.

You are very kind.

Number said:

I would try hard not to let this dent YOUR psyche (which is defo not dependent on a piece of paper.

The trouble is that this and a recent reply to this thread have dented my confidence in my diagnosis and also made me question what it was that made my mother so 'different'.

If it wasn't autism etc then it may have been schizoaffective disorder.

I was under the impression that she was autistic but also had another condition.

I will never know, of course.

^^ these are some occurring differences, and ways to navigate as an "Example" - from everything I've read back in to the early 1900's, Schizoid 'Delusions' are simply add-ons to the Autism-Spectrum Neurotype. The added 'bonus' is this mechanism in the brain which works with the qualities of the Occipital Lobe and differentiates between being Daydream and Night-dreams, not quite operating correctly. 

For instance, if the Delta Waves, which dominate while we sleep, are active while we're awake.

Add these brain variations to an Autistic Hyperphant with their ability to see systems and the communication difference of the Autistic and making sense of the world becomes incredibly difficult! It's great there's a medication which can help. 

I do have some theories! And really, you could try them to see if they work, but you'd also need to rule out certain attributes that males and females in western cultures default to which get in the way.

For start, everyone would need to take time to recognise how they thrive best - long protected uninterrupted space, in which case the other can become a gate-keeper and protector of - or bursts of breaks which the other can also become a facilitator of. 

The element of interruptions is not a small detail and can be more important than finances. However, everyone wins with Dependability, Respectfulness and Always earning Trust (except when designated moments of burnout / regrouping occur). 

Both work with Aion/Aeon rather than linear time. Which means we both can get stuck in a moment and need vigilance to be present in modern society. 

Both are hyper-sensory which actually means you can sharpen your senses, best done one thing at a time and with taste or sound. Wine tasting / Album date-night Wednesdays for example.

With ADHD, there's a forget and move on, which is fantastic in some ways and irritating in others haha

With Autism there's an inability to forget and move on until the issue is fully resolved, which is also great in situations for an automatic drive and irritating. :) 

So with the above, if I'm married to an ADHD'r, I'll have to print out a notice and tape it to my door: Today I'm: "STRESSED LOVE YOU ALSO PLEASE DON'T BUG ME" 

Understanding the others strengths and limits is key to knowing what to expect and how to work with it!

Indeed.  More wise words.....and congratulations on your demonstrably sound relationship together.  16 years don't lie !  

I think in practice it involves each party trying to change what they can towards the other, and accepting what each other cannot change. And hoping that is enough, but we've survived 16 years!

Whether a person can change their behaviour in the context of their condition should be a part of it I believe.

Very, very wise words, I believe also, as you.

I didn't realise that about the hallucinations, so that's interesting, thanks.

My mother often said that people were doing strange things and that vans and the police followed her, so in fact that could be hallucinations as well as delusions.

With regard to relationship counselling, I had that with my former partner before we were each diagnosed as autistic.

Having a context for the counsellor to analyse behaviour and find a way forward is essential I think, so I can see your dilemma.

Whether a person can change their behaviour in the context of their condition should be a part of it I believe.

All the best with that.

It does sound difficult to work out, especially when she is gone, but it does sound a plausible theory. A thing with hallucinations is the person doesn't always know they are not real, and they might not be visual, but can be auditory or in fact any of the senses. So she might not have known she was having them, or might not have shared if she knew. I guess the only thing you can be fairly sure of is that it sounds like she was neurodivergent in some way.

My husband had his diagnosis and meds long before we met, he had two hospitalisations in his young adulthood and had been stable for decades. I do wonder if he would still be more stable if he had never tried to come off the meds, as he is now on a higher dose than he used to be, or if it just gets worse with age. But what-ifs are not much use.

I'd like to find a relationship counsellor who understands both his condition and AuDHD to advise us how best to relate! He doesn't seem able to not trigger me in a stressful situation even when he has been told very precisely what the trigger is. I can only assume it is his condition, or possibly the meds. And I'm sure I could do better at caring for his brain if I only understood it better. Maybe we'll get there by the time one of dies, haha!

Thank you.

That's really helpful and interesting.

My mum hardly ever slept.

When I was a child I was the only one I knew whose mother went to bed at 2am (apart from my sisters ).

As an older person, she wouldn't go to bed at all so just stayed in the armchair.

She had a lot of delusions and paranoid behaviour throughout my life, but no hallucinations as far as I know.

I find myself thinking a lot about my mum after her death, trying to understand her.

She didn't really know anyone outside of the family, distrusted everyone and especially medical intervention.

It's good that your husband's condition is recognised and that the meds help to a degree.

My husband has schizoaffective disorder. He is on quite a low dose of meds, but when he tried coming off them he had a breakdown due to not sleeping. Even on his meds he can be a bit paranoid and have hallucinations. He does have some traits in common with autism and scores borderline on several autism tests (lower than my scores), he failed the reading the mind in the eyes test, but his disorder is known to have some overlaps, especially in eye contact and social interactions, so I don't know if he has any autism or not. But the paranoia and hallucinations are I think more diagnostic for the schizo-spectrum. I don't know nearly as much about his spectrum as I need to, it seems harder to find info on it than on autism or ADHD. I don't know if any of this helps you understand your mother better. I think it would be more difficult to fly under the radar with a schizoid condition than with autism, but my sample is only one person, albeit one who seems to have it relatively mildly.

I will never know, of course

I agree, you can never know more about your mother because she has gone.  But you do know about yourself Debbie.

Please take my observations and clumsy attempts at reassurance that may have had the opposite intended effect.....and file under "R".

I say this as your friend, you are so totally valid howsoever you chose.

My feelings regarding "formal" diagnosis are pretty 'fringe' at the best of times.

I'm OK if you take me with a pinch of salt.

Number.

I will never know, of course

I agree, you can never know more about your mother because she has gone.  But you do know about yourself Debbie.

Please take my observations and clumsy attempts at reassurance that may have had the opposite intended effect.....and file under "R".

I say this as your friend, you are so totally valid howsoever you chose.

My feelings regarding "formal" diagnosis are pretty 'fringe' at the best of times.

I'm OK if you take me with a pinch of salt.

Number.