Published on 12, July, 2020
I've been diagnosed with ADHD for years and OCD for even longer, but despite getting help & medication I'm still struggling. My autistic friends and family think I have a level of autism as well and I'm not sure what to do with that. My autistic best friend said it wasn't as noticeable until I was medicated for the ADHD, but is certain it's a thing for me. Her husband is AuDHD as well, so she's got a good understanding of what it could look like. I'm balancing a lot of stuff, I've got a managerial job, I'm a carer and I've had a lot of "adverse life experiences" over the last few years - not the least with managing the Covid pandemic and months of shielding and losing my entire life and support structure overnight. I'm currently going through titration to try and sort out my ADHD meds a bit better and I'm hovering on the edge of raising it with my ADHD consultant, but I'm not even sure how to start that conversation. I'm waiting on talking therapy from the NHS, but that's taking a long while in coming. I'm really not sure where to go next with anything. Sorry, this seems a rather self-indulgent post, but I think I needed to just get it out there.
I'm a retired teacher who was working on special education certification with an endorsement for autism. People with autism are sometimes misdiagnosed with ADHD. It's also entirely possible that you have both ADHD and autism. I myself have previously been misdiagnosed with depression and social anxiety disorder. While the clinicians in question were technically correct, as it turned out, depression and social anxiety disorder were both symptoms of autism. I wound up not being clinically diagnosed until I was 60. This was nearly four years ago.
In answer to your question, what should you do about your family concerns, why not seek a clinical diagnosis?