New here and waiting for ADHD and Autism assessments

Ive had what sounds like similar experiences to you in my life. I got diagnosed with inattentive type adhd and asd approx 2 yrs ago , struggled with looking after myself all my life , and suffered with situational depression for many many years ,and have been on anti depressants for almost as long , I do think medical professionals should try to rule out autism / neurodevelopmental issues before just issuing out ssri/snri like candy , I think many things were missed in my development, they labelled me with “learning difficulties “ when I was just 2 I hate the term learning difficulties like what does that even mean , such a vague term. It makes me angry abit. I get sad about my missed potential,  I had some extra help in primary school with learning. But that vanished at secondary school and spent my years there hiding from bully’s and basically shut down from learning, and left with one C at gcse in media studies. My saving grace was doing a vocational qualification in catering but professional catering is something I’m feeling that isn’t the right environment for me anymore. I love researching how things work and learning about sciency things . If I was an animal I’d see Myself as a panda most people describe me as a gentle giant lol don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing , all the best Dom :)

Ive had what sounds like similar experiences to you in my life. I got diagnosed with inattentive type adhd and asd approx 2 yrs ago , struggled with looking after myself all my life , and suffered with situational depression for many many years ,and have been on anti depressants for almost as long , I do think medical professionals should try to rule out autism / neurodevelopmental issues before just issuing out ssri/snri like candy , I think many things were missed in my development, they labelled me with “learning difficulties “ when I was just 2 I hate the term learning difficulties like what does that even mean , such a vague term. It makes me angry abit. I get sad about my missed potential,  I had some extra help in primary school with learning. But that vanished at secondary school and spent my years there hiding from bully’s and basically shut down from learning, and left with one C at gcse in media studies. My saving grace was doing a vocational qualification in catering but professional catering is something I’m feeling that isn’t the right environment for me anymore. I love researching how things work and learning about sciency things . If I was an animal I’d see Myself as a panda most people describe me as a gentle giant lol don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing , all the best Dom :)

Hi Dominic 

Thank you for taking the time to reply and sharing so much of your own experience. There were quite a few parts of your message that resonated with me!

I've spent years being treated for anxiety and periods of low mood, and it's only more recently that I've started wondering whether there could be an underlying neurodevelopmental explanation that wasn't recognised earlier. I don't know yet whether that will be the outcome for me, but it would certainly help make sense of quite a lot - I have had many occasion of being frustrated that I just wasn't getting "better"!

I was particularly struck by what you said about missed potential. That's something I've been thinking about a lot recently. I know we can't change the past, but I do sometimes wonder how differently things might have been if I'd understood myself earlier, or had the support.

I'm sorry to hear secondary school was a difficult experience for you. It sounds like you had interests and strengths that perhaps weren't recognised in the environment you were in. It's lovely that your curiosity about how things work has stayed with you.

Also... I had to smile when you said you'd be a panda too! It looks like there are at least two pandas on the forum now.

Thank you again for your kind reply, and I wish you all the best too.

Best wishes,

Curious Panda