ADHD Evaluation recommendations?

[Meggrr]

Hello! I am looking for recommendations for where to get a solid ADHD Evaluation for adult women in Delaware County, Chester County or Greater Philadelphia area?

[BlessedLady]

A psychiatrist or psychologist should be able to do the evaluation. Call your insurance company and ask for psychiatrists and psychologists in your area that accept your insurance.

[Gettingittogether]

Just schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner and report your suspicion that you have ADHD. Don't get side tracked about "evaluations." Every psychiatrist wants to evaluate a patient themselves basically. So this is not a condition where you show a sheet to every provider and they go, "yes, of course." Too many adults think adult diagnosis is like getting a school diagnosis. It's not. There is no official form that qualifies you for X and Y. And there's huge disagreement in the field.

My evaluation was a 10 minute or 20 minute questionnaire, with my psychologist-therapist reading the results. (She herself had ADHD.) For meds, I told my psychiatrist (who had been treating me for depression) that the psychologist diagnosed me with ADHD, and that I suspected I had ADHD. He gave a one-page sheet with like ten questions. Took 2 minutes to fill out. He accepted the results (they definitely fell into the range of ADHD) and we began treatment.

When I shifted to a new psychiatrist, his way of evaluating me was through his first meeting. He might have given me a new form to fill out, but mainly he asked me questions. He was the evaluation. With my next psychiatrist (previous one moved) I am positively sure there was no evaluation. I just reported what was going on in my life. He knew ADHD symptoms ... so I reported on my concentration, ability to follow through and on and on ... he continued the prescription of the previous person.

So just find a psychiatrist. If you can find one who advertises a specialty with ADHD, good.

What are your resources like? It'll be much easier to schedule with a psychiatrist who does not take insurance. Many of the best psychiatrists are not in insurance networks. But they cost more than a copay. The upside is after you fine tune the med, you only see them every three months and usually for shorter sessions than your first evaluation session. Again, you might find scheduling hard because Covid has overwhelmed people psychologically. But you can probably get on a waiting list.

Just google "psychiatrists" and "adhd" and Philadelphia and see what comes up. Then you can sub the counties you mention. Small world--I'm a philly person.

[Hidden]

I got my evaluation at Persoma(persoma.com/) in Pittsburgh. They specialize in adult ADHD. It's not in Philly, but you can do it virtually, the way I did.

Hope that helps. Hard to get diagnosed as a woman.