Depression And Anxiety Are Recognized

Depression and Anxiety are often the diagnoses that are first given to adults with ADHD because they are recognizable to most all Mental Health Professionals (MHPs). However, it’s a chicken and egg scenario. Which came first? Their unrecognized and undiagnosed ADHD led to the Anxiety and the Depression? Or their Depression and Anxiety masked their ADHD and hence it was not diagnosed?

Is it your job to educate the MHPs or to know what your diagnosis is when you see them? Of course not. And yet, it is happening more and more often. Can you imagine walking into a medical doctor’s office and having to inform them that you have hypertension, diabetes or whatever condition? Of course not. The doctor’s questions lead to testing and to a diagnosis followed by treatment because they can recognize the common diseases that plague us. For the less common ones, there are software programs, such as Isabel, that lead you through the possibilities to some solid options. If only MHPs could operate in the same manner because they were familiar with many more possibilities than they typically consider.

I trust those tools are coming in the future and will bring great benefit.