Well, got my diagnosis back | ADHD Information

Hit the spacebar and lists of words????

I could do well with both. Does this mean the therapist/doctor team that diagnosed me was wrong????? Even though they pretty much say, yup, clear cut case, no doubts?

These two tests sound like BS to me.

Personality profile, maybe.

Resistance how did your doctors diagnose you?I'm getting the vibe from you that you might disagree with the diagnosis. Am I right? If you are not confident that you agree with the doctor's diagnosis, I have two thoughts.

First, get a second opinion. Better to have a certain knowledge of what is going on in your head and how to treat it than a misdiagnosis and wasted years. It's best to find someone who specializes in adhd, because they know exactly what to look for, unlike your average joe psychiatrist/psychologist. If the original diagnosis is correct, then excellent! You now have 2 people confirming it and you can move forward.

Second, an acquaintance that is a professional specializing in adhd (psychologist) told me that adhd "tests" can be quite unreliable because a person with adhd can be stimulated by the new situation of taking the test, which causes them to focus well. Thus they stream through it with flying colors and appear non adhd according to the tests. He especially mentioned the "hit the spacebar" test as being wildly inaccurate because of that.

I'm not trying to rock the boat on your diagnosis, but I just got the feeling from you that you weren't in agreement with the doctor.

Good luck whatever you do.[QUOTE=chocoholic]Second, an acquaintance that is a professional specializing in adhd (psychologist) told me that adhd "tests" can be quite unreliable because a person with adhd can be stimulated by the new situation of taking the test, which causes them to focus well. Thus they stream through it with flying colors and appear non adhd according to the tests. He especially mentioned the "hit the spacebar" test as being wildly inaccurate because of that. [/QUOTE]

Aha! Exactly what I was trying to say.

I was given a qEEG test with electrodes all over my head and I had to press a button when I heard a sound. Mostly I just had to sit there and stare at the wall, so they could pick up what my head is doing when I'm not doing anything.

They used it more as a test to decide what kind of ADD I had and what medication I should go on, not to prove whether I had it or not. That probably inspired me to not try very hard to do well on it. I just sat there thinking it was boring! I did feel very focused in the test and went into denial that I had ADD for a week, then the next week I became so scattered I was losing things and could barely get out the door.

A doctor should take into account things like your age, intelligence, and computer game experience. Those would probably make the reaction times faster. I'm pretty fast on Counterstrike, but I make silly mistakes and get killed if a game goes on too long. Think I'd be easily beaten in a 5 hour tennis match.

Thanks :) Good luck with your tests. Hopefully even if it's not ADD, they can determine what the cause is and work from there.

I am glad to learn that you are not ADD. You don't want to be.

I remember the tests you talked about. I took many others as well. Some of the tests are designed to give you the 'impression' that the Dr. giving the test is preparing for something else while you are "on your own". In reality, the Dr should be 'watching' you test every step of the way.

The computer test you explained was given to me along with other computer-based distraction/attention tests. My Dr. explained to me (after the test) that the computer was deliberately placed in front of a window with some outside distractions in order to help show my distractibility when I was performing a task requiring focus and concentration.

Just my thoughts and past experience.

As some of you may recall I went in for testing a few weeks back, and went in yesterday for my diagnosis, so just wanted to follow-up on that if anyone was curious.

Initially, I had gone in to test for ADD inattentive and SAD (social anxiety disorder).

The doctor first talked about the results from the ADD test. He said I did not have it, and showed me his evidence.

The first test, which was repeating words from a list someone said to me verbally, was intended to catch ADD. According to him, people with ADD cannot recognize that the items on the list were from multiple categories, and categorize them mentally for better memory. My scores were intially below average, as it took me two tries to recognize the pattern. But, although he said that was unusual, he said people with ADD never could mentally categorize the items after any number of trials. He also noted that my long-term memory retention of the list items was above average.

The second test was the "hit spacebar when you see a letter appear on the computer monitor test". My reaction time for this was insanely fast -- a product of many hours of Counter-Strike, I'm sure. The normal times were measured in seconds. My speeds were listed as 0.01 seconds, or 10ms. The times listed for having ADD were all in multiples of seconds.

I questioned the validity of that test, as those kinds of slow reaction speeds would prevent people with ADD from playing video games well at all, and I certainly had seen people with ADD playing "twitchy" fast-response video games successfully. He disagreed...

The final test was the 300 question personality profile. The graph for it indicated I was only abnormal in two areas: feeling lonely, and feeling like I did not fit in.

He then suggested a diagnosis of schizoid. After reviewing what this was, I disagreed and explained why, and he agreed it was incorrect, and we decided that a diagnosis of mild yet pervasive SAD was probably correct instead. (which is what I had suspected all along)

I asked about my focus problems, and he felt confident that from the test results they could not be due to ADD. He said they could be a form of SAD where my anxiety distracts me, as my attentiveness issue in school only applied to verbal/classroom instruction, not book or note learning. I then asked how that related to focus issues on computer programming (my job) in an office by myself, alone, and he didn't really know.

I then told him of my recent sucesses in increasing my socialization and working through my SAD, and he said it sounded like I was on the right track, but if I got stuck to call a therapist.

So, I dunno. I was kind of surprised at the negative diagnosis. I at least can understand the nature of SAD and actively work towards rectifying it, but I'm still uncertain as to why I have difficulty applying myself and focusing, and what the cause of that is. Maybe I'll never know. Maybe there are degrees of ADD and I only have a mild case that does not show up in the tests that were run. I don't know, so I can only speculate.

On the plus side though, I think my insurance company came through on the co-pay. Yay.
RandomUser38420.4403125I'm not too sure about that letter-spacebar test either. I can't imagine myself sitting there going "duh... which button do I press" for several seconds when I see a letter on the screen.

I've always done fairly well with video games myself, though I do have a slight delayed reaction time with menu-based commands like those found in RPG type games. It's like I have to remember the word I'm looking for, and then find it in the list. But I don't think it takes "multiples of seconds". Hmmm.

I don't think I'd do well with the verbal list of words though. Out of a list of 10 words, I may remember 2 or 3. My retention of verbal lists or instructions is awful.

I have my own appointment with a psychiatrist next week. Now I'm nervous.

I don't exactly want a negative diagnosis either.

I think you are still welcome on the board though....

[QUOTE=ZORG]The computer test you explained was given to me along with other computer-based distraction/attention tests. My Dr. explained to me (after the test) that the computer was deliberately placed in front of a window with some outside distractions in order to help show my distractibility when I was performing a task requiring focus and concentration.[/QUOTE]

Hmmm... see, I still don't know if I agree with that. Dr. Hallowell explains in "Driven to Distraction" that he prefers to observe people, children especially, in their natural environment, because a doctor's office is a "novelty" and therefore people may be more focused than they would be at home or work, renderring tests such as these useless.

ADHD is about boredom and distraction. A test in the novelty of a doctor's office may actually make you more focused because it is something new.

I couldn't see myself staring out the window if I KNEW I was being tested like that.

I dunno... maybe I'm just grasping at straws here.

My son's Dr (a pediatrician) and my PHD tester told me that adults and children are tested/diagnosed differently. Did you know that a person under age 18 can (and often are) diagnosed legitimately (and prescribed medication) by their pediatricians (My son is). HOWEVER, family Doctors (general practitioners) CANNOT treat ADHD/ADD for their adult patience. Once the patient turns 18 the care must be turned over to a Doctor specializing in mental health.

Fortunately, all that may be changing in the next few years.

However, testing and diagnosis can be performed by a PHD, So I guess if your General practicioner is trained to administer the test that diagnosing it is ok.

ZORG38420.5439583333 [QUOTE=Emily86]Resistance how did your doctors diagnose you?[/QUOTE]

Talking to me about my experiences, life and difficulties. The therapist observed me closely without saying "I'm going to observe you closely" which kind of queers the deal, don't you think?

(is queers the deal an insulting phrase? I think not but dunno for sure.)

[QUOTE=ZORG]

Fortunately, all that may be changing in the next few years. .[/QUOTE]

Its frustrating that adults must be tested by a PHD or even a Neurologist but its a must in adults since so many life experiences, habits, coping habits, abuses and physical issues that can mimc ADHD, are more likely to be present and a local GP may hear your issues and assess you as ADD when it could be something else. Children have less issues and are usually what you see is what you get.

But they should tell you that. They should say they hear your concerns and they want honest answers from you to eliminate mimicing mental causes, etc and run tests for the organic ones to ensure the best possibble diagnosis. But most don't.