How do I tell my parents I think I have ADHD?!


Question: How do I tell my parents I think I have ADHD?
I am fairly sure I have ADHD as I match many of the symptoms and have done for as long as I can remember.

I am worried about discussing this with my parents for a few reasons...
1. I don't want them to take me to the doctor and they say I don't have it because they won't believe me next time I ask
2. I don't like talking to people about things I am not sure about. I have fairly low-self esteem and this is one type of thing I have always tried to avoid.

Also, is it worth even bothering to get diagnosed? Can anything be done?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me :)

Answers:

Everyone, and I do mean everyone, sometimes has some of the symptoms of ADHD. If you have low self-esteem and you're a teenager you probably think there's something wrong with you, and you naturally want to know what it is. Chances are, it isn't ADHD or anything else that can be officially diagnosed.

If you are diagnosed with ADHD (and there's a good chance you would be if you talked to a doctor about it even if you don't actually have it) the only real treatment is medication. This includes Ritalin, Adderal, Strattera, and several others. All of them are amphetamines. Your body will quickly develop a tolerance for the medication and the dosage will have to be increased or it will stop working. The side effects will increase when the medication is increased, and these possible side effects include insomnia, loss of appetite, and eventually as the dosage reaches higher levels, visual and auditory hallucinations. There is also a high risk of permanent damage to the short-term memory after extended usage. The point is that you won't be able to take the pills forever and when you stop taking them, you'll still have ADHD (if you have it in the first place).

Personally, I feel that the pills are a bad idea because at some point you're going to have to deal with the disorder on your own without pills and relying on the pills to fix it for you only delays that necessary process. You'll never get a job where you have a boss that's willing to accommodate your ADHD.

Diagnosed with ADHD at age 7, took Ritalin for 9 years, can't remember what I typed above unless I look at it again.



a lot of times, people read symptoms and then think that they have that disease because almost all of them match. it probably isn't adhd, it just might be your personality. don't start diagnosing yourself. you remind me of the time that i thought i had tetanus just because my symptoms matched those of that disease. it turned out to be nothing.



lol the best way to tell them is too, lay out your reasearch before them and circle stuff you have or make a list of things that you have.

Lay it all down. :) the research i mean. :)

a table full of papers and documents.. :))) and talk to them like a lawyer...

"I initated this meeting to discuss my possibility of ...." lol... that's how i would do it. :)



Well you have to be diagnosed by a professional to see if you do, indeed, really have the disorder.
Ask your parents to take you to be tested

24 yrs psychiuatric healthcare




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