Counseling and Therapy

[Static1]

Hello. My name is Keith Wilson. I have had over five years of counseling and at least a year of individual therapy. I have been diagnosed with over fifteen different mental health diagnosis' but the doctors still do not quite know which one really fits my situation. Recently, I received a second opinion from a psychologist after my psychological test, which showed that I was a psychopath, and this time I tested in the sixty-six percentile on my IQ test and it was found that I have ADHD.

I disagree with the antisocial personality disorder diagnosis that i received the first time. I do get along with people and was recently engaged to married to a beautiful, wonderful woman. Initially, I wanted a second opinion because I thought that my symptoms had something to do with a developmental disorder like autism or NVLD. I do not have NVLD and I am still waiting for the results of the autism testing that I did but at least now I know where some of the hyperactivity is coming from.

Anyway, they ruled out psychopathy and decided that I was bi-polar, schizoaffective type one. When I first went to see a psychiatrist at nineteen years old I basically told them that I was schizophrenic. That was not true as far as I knew but I wanted to be seen for something. To at least get my foot into a clinicians office, so that maybe they would search deeper and find out what was really going on. But they ran with the diagnosis and it has followed me for eighteen years. I tell you, it is easier to convince someone that you are not sane than to convince them that you are.

Either way, I am working with doctors to see if I can get a proper diagnosis and maybe get some more one-on-one therapy. I am searching for a therapist currently and will be speaking to her on Wednesday. Well, thank you for listening.

[406M]

Hi,Sounds like you’ve been through the psychotherapeutic wringer. Good on you for preserving! I’m not a therapist, but have been through the same wringer with my son, who was diagnosed with ADHD in elementary school. From that experience, and my master’s degree in special education, I can make some informed observations:

The behaviors associated with neuroatypical brain processing, cover a broad range of “disorders” and are difficult to pin down. ADHD is also highly associated with depression, anxiety and sometimes bipolar behaviors. Symptoms don’t begin and end with a discrete diagnosis, but cover an interactive, complicated and unique continuum that often struggles to answer the chicken/egg paradox. In my opinion, it’s more important to define and prioritize the specific behaviors that impact your life the most and work to treat them, than it is to pin down an exact diagnosis, especially when that diagnosis can randomly seem to change. Try to find a good cognitive behavioral therapist who can help you modify or adapt behaviors that get in your way. That, in combination with the right meds, can move you forward significantly. Even without medication, changes in diet, sleep habits and exercise - in conjunction with CBT - can impact your life in a positive way. Just don’t give up on yourself. While it is important to recognize and deal with the consequences of neuroatypical brain function, don’t let a “diagnosis” define who you are. I recommend looking at, “How to ADHD” for more about the neuroatypical brain and living beyond a label.

[Bonnie02 in reply to 406M]

This is awesome advice from a caring parent that most likely did her best to find the best way to help her child and therefore help others .my spouse has masters in social work and has been telling me he thinks I have ADHD .it’s hard to believe what your Spouse of almost 34 years is now telling me .but it got me doing some researching which led me to this page. Looking back at my childhood and my three kids childhood I see some struggles I had and some my kids have could be the same .I don’t want to be diagnosed therefore be labeled I rather look at what I’m struggling with and deal with each individual issue CBT seems like a very good strategy in my case.I wouldn’t want drugs at this time in my life I think I can deal without that since I have done without this whole time .I’m in my mid 50’s and starting to do self love self care.trying to focus on myself seems to be the I priority’s this point in time .hope to learn from others until I find a good behavioral CBT therapist.we all know we can’t get it from our spouses .wish it would work like that