IF the PCP did a questionnaire that WAS ADHD testing. Again, I suggest that a psychiatrist do the interview and questions. And a parent should do one too. You can both be in the room when results are discussed, if your kid agrees.
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So OP- your D is doing great both freshman and sophomore year in college, and now a doctor has confirmed that she does not have ADHD.
At what point do you let this go?
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@blossom I donât think doing well is necessarily proof there is no problem, or no struggle. And I would not trust a PCPâs evaluation, especially without parental input.
It sounds to me like ADHD was not on the radar until college. I think ADHD often is evident before then. I may have missed it but I donât think Mom ever indicated that she thought something was off.Wasnât this started at the daughterâs request? I would guess that Dr Google and peers played a role in this idea. One of my kids was convinced for awhile that they had borderline personality disorder from stuff they read on the internet. I tried to reassure them that it was their anxiety that was the problem but I think it took seeing a professional to really get that message across.
There is a lot of executive functioning that is still coming online in college years. I think a lot of college kids feel like they donât have it together yet â their room is a mess, etc â and that there is something wrong with them. If she is doing well in school and getting all the work done and not missing assignments then that is awesome. What was she thinking made her feel like she had ADHD?
I think itâs good to get things checked out but if mom doesnât suspect ADHD and the doc doesnât suspect ADHD and her performance is fine then I think itâs fine to move on, too.
How does your daughter feel about the doc saying no to ADHD?
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Who doesnât struggle in college? Thatâs what itâs for- to stretch your intellectual abilities, your time management skills, your productivity.
A kid who is performing well and whose only symptom is- what- having to work a lot harder in college than in HS- are we pathologizing struggles now? This isnât a kid who didnât learn to read until 5th grade, or couldnât remember to bring lunch, or couldnât figure out how to apply to college without an EF coach (unless the parent is leaving out a lot of material elements to the story).
I remain baffled.
I hope all goes well with this something else. Both my kids have anxiety and one has depression at times too. Both of those conditions can cause your brain to feel ADHD like sometimes. I know other conditions can too (that Washington Post article I linked touches on this). Hope the other condition her PCP is testing for is not too serious and something that can be treated easily.
Thank you thumper1, compmom, blossom, sweetgum for your comments/Qâs.
The PCP did not do any adhd testing. The Q/questionnaire were about other life aspects that affects optimal functioning.
To clarify the lab results shows deficiencies that are easily fixable and are important for optimal body functioning. Not sure what they are because I was not in the room and got the general summary only. Sleep and stress are other aspects too.
Sleep/stress is bit harder to improve because school work, work/interships, social life, etc., etc., lots of moving pieces.
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I will say that when I was having concentration/memory issues, one of the bloodwork tests revealed I had a Vitamin D deficiency. Since using a supplement, things improved in that quarter and itâs been an easy fix. Not to say that this is what happened for your D, but it is one possibility.
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@Owl1 it is always a good idea to check out the physical side- thyroid, vitamin levels, etc.
Sorry I missed the part about the doc saying it was not ADHD testing- I got thrown by the questionnaire!
I donât think investigating learning style or ADHD or anything else at the request of the kid is âpathologizing.â Instead, it can be reassuring if there is nothing to address. Of course it is also helpful if there is something to address.
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DS had been tested in high school but for the wrong things â and in college was diagnosed with ADHD. Frankly, it made SO many things make sense to both of us, but because no âHâ was evident, it really never hit anyoneâs radar. It was, in retrospect, exhibiting itself, but so many things - from good teaching, to great study buddies, to a innately quick mind - conspired to make it look like like a problem that just needed a bit more self-discipline.
Yes, Dr. Google can make any of us suffer from a variety of illnesses with a little imagination, but our own experience was that itâs quite possible to finally put a name to your challenges later in life.
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