Interesting post and no doubt all of it is true. Whatever serves the capitalist beast is what gets the $$ and support. As someone who was diagnosed as an adult with audhd, I was already taking the medications I needed to function before I was diagnosed. The diagnosis simply gave me answers for why I am the way I am, wonderful clarity I had lacked and needed my whole life. Always be suspicious of the "it's overdiagnosed" crowd. I can see clearly that my dad has ASD, mom has anxiety and adhd. They've never been diagnosed, but they've been on the same cocktail of meds 30+ years that my kids take now for those diagnoses.
I ended up taking out a loan so my children could be assessed privately. ADHD in girls can look very different, and it is not always the obvious hyperactivity people expect, which makes it easy to miss.
Things became especially difficult when they reached their teenage years. Looking back, I truly believe that with the right support and understanding earlier on, that transition could have been much easier for all of us.
They struggled quietly for a long time, and as a parent it was heartbreaking to witness without fully understanding what was happening or how best to support them. It left me feeling helpless at times and I just wish we had the guidance and help sooner. 😞😞😞
Brilliant writing. My new psychiatrist wants to talk to my family members because “adhd is normally diagnosed in childhood” Maybe that is true for boys or for younger generations, but I am Gen X and my parents did not believe in bringing us to doctors. I did not see a doctor until I was 14. I had an enlarged Thyroid and probably already had Thyroid cancer, but it’s slow growing so when I caught it in my late 30s it was at stage 2. I also explained to my psychiatrist that my dad sequestered my mom, brother and I from both sides of our extended family when they became fundamentalist born again christians. My ADHD manifested itself in the Space Out variety. I get distracted very easily and have a precarious relationship with time. Like how is it 11:22 am already?! I am already on Adderall so this questioning of my diagnosis is infuriating. Especially since I have already taken a Neuro Psych evaluation in Wisconsin and it showed signs of Trauma and ADHD. Of course the Psychiatrist and his supervisor are men.
I’m sorry to hear this. From everything I’ve read and heard, many (male) psychiatrists are frauds who just like to exert (abuse) their control- it’s an ideal occupation for that, of course, because if you try to disagree with them, they can turn reality upside down and make your behaviour the problem. Professional narcissistic gaslighters would be a better term for them. Women should be able to insist of women psychiatrists, although they are not all reliable, either. It’s appalling that a profession which needs to have the most empathetic people has so many misogynists who have very little. Psychologists are usually more trustworthy.
My ex recently found out she has ADHD in her late 50s: it is very common for older people not to have been diagnosed in childhood for a plethora of reasons and for women it is even more common due to our abusive societies that heap various psychological and emotional pressures onto girls and women, so they have to mask and “cope” to protect themselves and survive. I hope everything works out ok for you.
Isn't this what capitalism is all about? For example: people pay youtube to advertise their products and other people pay youtube to remove said adverts. So for youtube its a win/win. The rest of us are shafted. Thanks for your pieces Ali. Always food for thought.
Nd people, particularly women are a threat to the status quo, so our societies must vilify, ridicule and pathologise them and preferably limit access to support and diagnosis that might help them understand the difficulties of navigating our deeply dysfunctional societies and thereby have more influence. The malignant patriarchy will hamstring women with insight at every single opportunity to maintain its control.
Interesting post and no doubt all of it is true. Whatever serves the capitalist beast is what gets the $$ and support. As someone who was diagnosed as an adult with audhd, I was already taking the medications I needed to function before I was diagnosed. The diagnosis simply gave me answers for why I am the way I am, wonderful clarity I had lacked and needed my whole life. Always be suspicious of the "it's overdiagnosed" crowd. I can see clearly that my dad has ASD, mom has anxiety and adhd. They've never been diagnosed, but they've been on the same cocktail of meds 30+ years that my kids take now for those diagnoses.
So the system profits from diagnosing us and then from telling us we're overdiagnosed. Great.
Yes and also make sure you internalise all of it
Right. Great!
I ended up taking out a loan so my children could be assessed privately. ADHD in girls can look very different, and it is not always the obvious hyperactivity people expect, which makes it easy to miss.
Things became especially difficult when they reached their teenage years. Looking back, I truly believe that with the right support and understanding earlier on, that transition could have been much easier for all of us.
They struggled quietly for a long time, and as a parent it was heartbreaking to witness without fully understanding what was happening or how best to support them. It left me feeling helpless at times and I just wish we had the guidance and help sooner. 😞😞😞
Brilliant writing. My new psychiatrist wants to talk to my family members because “adhd is normally diagnosed in childhood” Maybe that is true for boys or for younger generations, but I am Gen X and my parents did not believe in bringing us to doctors. I did not see a doctor until I was 14. I had an enlarged Thyroid and probably already had Thyroid cancer, but it’s slow growing so when I caught it in my late 30s it was at stage 2. I also explained to my psychiatrist that my dad sequestered my mom, brother and I from both sides of our extended family when they became fundamentalist born again christians. My ADHD manifested itself in the Space Out variety. I get distracted very easily and have a precarious relationship with time. Like how is it 11:22 am already?! I am already on Adderall so this questioning of my diagnosis is infuriating. Especially since I have already taken a Neuro Psych evaluation in Wisconsin and it showed signs of Trauma and ADHD. Of course the Psychiatrist and his supervisor are men.
I’m sorry to hear this. From everything I’ve read and heard, many (male) psychiatrists are frauds who just like to exert (abuse) their control- it’s an ideal occupation for that, of course, because if you try to disagree with them, they can turn reality upside down and make your behaviour the problem. Professional narcissistic gaslighters would be a better term for them. Women should be able to insist of women psychiatrists, although they are not all reliable, either. It’s appalling that a profession which needs to have the most empathetic people has so many misogynists who have very little. Psychologists are usually more trustworthy.
My ex recently found out she has ADHD in her late 50s: it is very common for older people not to have been diagnosed in childhood for a plethora of reasons and for women it is even more common due to our abusive societies that heap various psychological and emotional pressures onto girls and women, so they have to mask and “cope” to protect themselves and survive. I hope everything works out ok for you.
Thank you! my follow up appointment is on May 12, i’ll have to self-advocate in a polite way because, God forbid, women get too “aggressive”… 👩🏼🎤🤘🏼🤘🏼
Isn't this what capitalism is all about? For example: people pay youtube to advertise their products and other people pay youtube to remove said adverts. So for youtube its a win/win. The rest of us are shafted. Thanks for your pieces Ali. Always food for thought.
Nd people, particularly women are a threat to the status quo, so our societies must vilify, ridicule and pathologise them and preferably limit access to support and diagnosis that might help them understand the difficulties of navigating our deeply dysfunctional societies and thereby have more influence. The malignant patriarchy will hamstring women with insight at every single opportunity to maintain its control.