Lost with ADHD

[CreativelyLost]

I've been struggling with ADHD and Anxiety since I was diagnosed in August 2018. My employer is aware of this but doesn't want to know the details even when it would help her help me with work. I was on Wellbutrin for treatment initially however my OB stopped it when I got pregnant and the doctor will not start it again until my daughter is fully on solid foods. I just got written up at work for overlooking details but no matter what I try I keep making the mistakes. I've asked about alternative treatments such as CBT but so far they have no recommendations and I'm kind of struggling on my own to figure out how to handle this without any medication. Any help would be appreciated.

[Shnookie]

There R accomodations under the ADA which should be accorded to U. CBT

is very helpful. I know U R going thru a lot

but U need to advocate for yourself.

one of the basic principles of CBT is to

break things down and not

catastrophize. Also a pad with U and literally write things down step by

step. Also your supervisor can’t simply say to U that she doesn’t want to deal with your ADHD issues. I’ve been applying for jobs lately, and the language of applications

has a provision for accomodations per ADA

Perhaps show your supervisor the

ADA requirement and a letter from

your doctor 👨‍⚕️

Good luck!! 🍀 I’m in your Corner

Shnookie

[positivepassenger]

Hi CreativelyLost,

I am so sorry to hear you are struggling! I can definitely relate to what you are dealing with so know you are not alone!

A bit about me- I have anxiety, depression and ADHD. I was diagnosed in 2009 and have learned a bit along the way. First, thank you for reaching out on here... its not always the easiest thing to do so-- HI WELCOME!

So...

Are you noticing certain things that are really effecting you? Like.. when you say that you are struggling with work-- can you be a bit more specific? For example-- I struggle with time managment, I am easily bored and am prone to burn out (Actually the last burn out was epic but a story for another day lol)...

Or

Are you noticing its more anxiety? We do have quite a bit to be anxious about right now so.. be kind to yourself. I noticed after spending time with my "talky-doctor" --therapist-- that certain situations my anxiety was worse etc.. Every thought about a talky doc? I suggest betterhelp.com if you are considering one-- I can PM you a link for a free week of sessions if you want lmk...

Or...

You tell me =)

Feel free to send a personal message in here too if feel more comfortable...

But-- just know--

(as one of my group therapists used to say)

"I got you girl" lol

xoxo

Rachel

[CreativelyLost in reply to positivepassenger]

Sorry, this actually demonstrates one of my primary issues at work beautifully. I miss the details. It's like having a brain that goes 100mph and doesn't realize that it's nowhere close to the original destination (oh and picked up several speeding tickets along the way for missing the speed limit signs on its trip). The big issue is that at this point it's hard to tell if it's my anxiety at the wheel or if it's my ADHD and my doctor and therapist don't seem to be able to tell either. I had a LOT of anxiety even before the modern plague reared its lovely little head and now it has definitely increased.

To give a little background, I had my daughter in January and then went back to work mid February. Come March the pandemic had really started to gear up and we were told to work from home. Work life with a 5 year old and an infant would be hard for a neurotypical person, but with ADHD it's a lot harder to balance work and family life. We live too far from family for them to be able to help. I was struggling with keeping track of the details such as following up on missing details before working from home and it has only gotten so much worse. Time management certainly factors in as I will think something happened a week ago only to look back at my calendar and see that a month has passed instead. My work is also really redundant tasks now so getting bored is definitely an issue as well. The anxiety usually gets really bad if I know I have a one on one meeting scheduled with my boss because inevitably I hear a lot of what I'm doing wrong and almost never get told when I'm actually doing something correctly.

I keep getting recommendations for CBT but that's not something currently available in my area and the classes normally offered through my insurance are on hold until they can figure out how to safely hold them again. Are there any books I should look into? Any exercises? I really am just kind of lost at where to start. I tried to do lists and reminders, but I have a bad habit of dismissing them and forgetting to keep them up.

Thank you for your support! I was always the kid written off as a flake and daydreamer and while knowing what that is rooted in helps now, it doesn't tell me how to deal with it effectively enough.