Dual Diagnosis Are there any members of this community who have been diagnosed with both ADHD and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)?😳

[FIGHTER4LIFE]

What types of treatments have you tried that have truly been affected? I’m desperate to save my career but cannot find appropriate treatment in my area. Any advice is truly appreciated!

[cjnolet]

Up until my re-diagnosis as an adult, I was seeking a diagnosis for obsessive-compulsive disorder. In fact, my childhood consisted of me being told "Corey, you're obsessing again!" over and over and over again- each time with a different hobbie that I just couldn't stop thinking about. It was so bad that I would often forget or ignore about everything else in my life because I only wanted to think about specific things all day long- my obsessions started early. Actually 2 years old when the first time it was noticed. I've been through so many different hobbies, each one making me a better person (in my eyes).

Anyways- because of the way my obsessions tend to have full control of my brain, I originally started seeking therapy hoping to secure a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which may help explain to my wife why my mind works this way. Don't get me wrong, I've been very successful in school @ in my career as an adult but I also know the obsessive behavior puts a strain on my relationship with my wife and kids.

So it turns out, what I was calling "obsessive-compulsive" is actually "hyperfocus" and "impulsive" behavior. My brain has trouble shifting from tasks that I find interesting. My hyperfocus has been both a gift and caused anguish- it's a gift because I've been called things like "machine" & "genious" by peers and co-worker sthroughout my life for my work ethic during this state. It's caused the most anguish, however, as a result of the things I've missed because I'm not paying attention. This includes learning social norms as a child all the way up to giving appropriately-times responses to co-workers as an adult. When I'm hyperfocused, It's almost like a zen flow- I am able to tune the world out, like giving mechanical responses to people without ever listening to them or solving an extremely hard problem in the middle of a party with people being loud and disruptive.

When I'm not in a flow, unfortunately, I'm highly distractable- easy everyday tasks become hard and I can't think through even the easiest problems without my mind going in several different directions. Another point of anguish is that these traits have caused some severe anxiety- because I'm inattentive as well as hyperfocus/impulsive/hyperactive (combined-type ADHD), I suffer from both extremes and so my abilities to both accomplish things and communicate effectively with other people are inconsistent to the point of people wondering if I am bipolar.

That's a long-winded way of saying no. But I hope this helps.