Having ADHD in the US is a genuine nightmare. Maybe in another, totally differently structured world, having ADHD wouldn't necessitate strong stimulants, but in THIS world, not having quality, perscription stimulants means being miserable and being at significantly higher risk for suicide, addiction, job loss, homelessness, and illness.
Trying to get treatment is a nightmare.
People with ADHD are treated like addicts regardless of whether they have pre-existing issues with addiction. People with addictions are already treated unscientifically and horrifically in the United States, and this treatment extends outwards even to people who are "following all the rules".
As an example of what this looks like, until about 5 years ago, my state required LEGAL PERSCRIPTIONS for stimulants to be manually refilled each month, with a MANDATORY physical copy of your perscription in hand. This means that every month, you have to travel to your doctor, have them print out on watermarked paper a physical piece of paper, which you must then deliver to your pharmacy. If it gets lost or damaged, you are shit out of luck, not to mention the incredible time and planning burden this places on people. If you don't have a car, if you have an inflexible job schedule, you're just out of luck.
Additionally, All medications require "pre-authorization". What this means functionally is that getting a doctor perscription isn't enough. Your doctor will have to contact the insurance and answer questions about you, which often leads to the insurance requiring "alternate paths of treatment" before approving medication.
Two examples of this:
When I first sought treatment for ADHD, I had to try an additional ANTIDEPRESSANT first, despite having been on 3 separate anti-depressants before seeking out ADHD treatment.
Recently, after experiencing severe negative side effects of a medication that was formerly working for me, my doctor and I did extensive research finding an alternative. Despite me having tried THREE different treatments for ADHD already in the past, and having a formal diagnosis for well over half a decade, I am being required to do a trial run of a drug that I know will not work for me because the insurance company is hesitant to cover a drug that some people abuse without a prescription.
This is JUST the prescription side of things, without going into stigma, diagnosis issues, and general medical lack of education.
@Eddiespencer @DemonMama I was diagnosed as an adult. I'll forever be self medicating with caffeine (if I can solve my sugar cravings, I'll probably still take the pills) as I was straight up told they don't want to start meds as an adult. If I fall far enough to change their minds, I worry I'd also be losing my kids, so I often just avoid things I love to do, but obsess over or too drastically lose track of time during.
@DemonMama yep I'm still in the waitlist to get tested to get a diagnosis but I did get ADHD meds luckily my doctor finally gave in as she was tired of waiting for the testing place to get back to me as far as I know I'm still in the wait list but in the meantime I have medication and they work and their lives of her but it took a year over a year to get to this point.
@DemonMama
It's also so frustrating to see how much being "believed" varies between individuals and providers. Some in my circles are able to get rxs with basically no hoops or paperwork, while others have to wait weeks or months for a dx despite expressing very similar experiences.
(Maybe it's not a coincidence the friends I've seen have the most trouble are fem-presenting and diagnosed BPD)
@DemonMama ADHD sucks balls for me here in Ireland given our general lack of mental health etc., and also because I have anxiety & elevated blood pressure so not many options in terms of meds. It's literally ruined my life/ability to learn or do anything, it sucks.
@DemonMama yup om struggling with work now and everware I go im being gatekept for any "ADULT" adhd diagnosis let's not use that I was diagnosed as a kid as a stepping stone no, gotta start from ground zero adulthood cures ADHD apparently