Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello, my name is Sue.
My daughter is 26 years' old and was diagnosed (privately) with ADHD, Autism and PTSD about 18 months' ago. This followed several years of being prescribed a variety of anti-depressants and several rounds of CBT through the NHS. We are funding her psychiatric treatment and therapy privately. My daughter tells me that she first became aware of the need to "mask" from the age of about 8.and I can recall her saying to me "Mummy, I am different" and my response was "different doesn't mean bad, sweetpea". She presents as a confident and vibrant young woman because of her learned strategies. The amount of energy and stress this means for her has led to a series of "burnouts" which impacts on her ability to work.
My experience, so far, is that there is lots of support and guidance out there for how to support your child, far less on supporting adults. What I crave is a non-judgemental forum where I can share candidly the impact this is having on me and the rest of the family. Is there anyone else out there who has felt any of the following:
I realise that this list is becoming rather long:( Do any of you recognise any part of my emotional roller coaster?
Hello Sue @NAS85436 I could have written it myself. My daughter aged 23 recently diagnosed ASD and awaiting assessment for ADHD. Thank you for your post. I don't feel so alone with my feelings.
Hello again, I hope this is helpful. I recently paid for my daughter to have a DNA test to discover how her body processes different mental health medications. The results explained why she had never responded to antidepressants/ anti anxiety medication. She has just tested yet another medication for ADHD which has severely exacerbated her Autism. Our next appointment with her psychiatrist is to explore non-medicated ways of managing her ADHD.
You may already be aware that Autism and ADHD compete against each other. Just thought I would let you know that you may find it a rather meandering, at times frustrating journey discovering the right treatment and strategies for your daughter. Fingers crossed that the process for your daughter is more straightforward, Sue
Have been on multitudes of threads. In conversation with at least 100 autistics. 98% have had negative and some long-lasting terrible side effects to anti-depressants. Our entire biology is different and these operate different. There's a community of medical researchers and several threads on how autistics should have access to Anti-Anxiety medication instead of anti-depressants.
Few of us suffer from actual depression, we often don't have the vocabulary to express how we feel or how we're trying to cope with the negativity around us or the sensory assault. The words which often come up are: a lack of clarity, misunderstood, intensely impacted, frustrated or confused.
As a helpful suggestion, it could be beneficial to have her GABA levels checked.
That's very helpful as she is on 5th anti depressant and not entirely sure the latest is really that helpful either! GP appointment in a couple of weeks. Hope to find out when ADHD assessment can begin soon. Thanks