Help for adult daughter

[4evrDanzr]

My daughter, at 39, has come around to believing she might be ADHD. I want to be able to help and support her while honoring her as the adult she is.

I was finally diagnosed in my mid 60's so I am still in a learning phase, though through forums like this and a great therapist I have learned a lot in the past 4 years. However, even though we live in a large metropolitan area, finding a psychiatrist or medical practice with a specialty in ADHD has been next to impossible, (and when found, was unaffordable!)

Any suggestions or advice on support she might find? She is a lot more tech savvy than I am so online programs, apps,etc. would be in her wheelhouse.

Thanks so much!

[STEM_Dad]

Welcome to the Adult ADHD forum 4evrDanzr ! Your daughter would also be welcome here, whether diagnosed or not.

Since you have ADHD, any biological children that you have statistically have a 70% chance of having ADHD.

(The reverse is that if a child has ADHD, there is about a 30% likelihood that either of their parents will have it as well. I think it's about the same for siblings.)

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I live in a more rural area, so I can relate to how hard it can be to find an ADHD support provider.

I received my diagnosis from a licensed mental health counselor, but I got a second opinion confirmation by the doctor that I had at that time.

• In the US, I believe in every state the diagnosis can be made by any medical doctor or psychiatrist, but also most states permit certain other health care or mental health care providers to diagnose ADHD.

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The best recommendations that I can make would be the following:

• Your daughter can check with her health insurance company for providers who have a specialty in treating ADHD.

• Search through the directories of care providers on sites like CHADD.org or AdditudeMag.com and then try to see if providers in her area are covered by her insurance.

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Note: Many providers who truly specialize in treating ADHD are pediatricians, so they may not take on adult patients. For many mental health providers who list ADHD as a specialty, they might "specialize" in a wide range of needs...in other words, they might not truly specialize in ADHD, but are just willing to provide treatment for it.

• The only way to truly know how familiar a care provider is with ADHD is to interview them and ask them. Some might be okay with a free interview session, to see if they will be a good fit for the patient's needs, but often the only way to talk to a provider is to book an appointment.

BTW - The counselor who initially diagnosed me primarily specialized in treating anxiety disorders. (I was seeing her for anxiety treatment.) She was working on a PhD at the time with a focus on PTSD. It just so happened that she also had a lot of experience treating ADHD... mostly in children. ~ People with ADHD do have a high likelihood of experiencing anxiety or depression, and I believe also higher than average incidence of experiencing trauma.

(My doctor at the time was just a family care physician, but had many years of experience treating patients with ADHD, but he would mainly treat with medication. He was the one who recommended that I see a counselor for my anxiety issues. He made a referral for me to a psychiatrist, but it was the first year of the COVID pandemic, so the psychiatrist was swamped.)

[Mamamichl]

I would have her find a mental health practice that does Telehealth. Talk to the doctor about getting a neuro psych test.