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...

If you’ve sought help from a mental health professional (MHP) and didn’t get what you needed this may shed some light. As of my July 2015 review of the California Board of Behavioral Sciences website, I do not see that there is an academic requirement to study adult ADHD in the licensure track for Licensed Marriage Family Therapist (LMFT), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) or Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP). This specialty may be offered as an elective, depending on the university attended.

This lack of educational requirement leads me to believe that LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and LEPs have very little or no working knowledge or specialized training in addressing the serious issues of adults living with ADHD. Furthermore, the general public is not aware of this lack.

In the U.S., about 60 percent or 6 out of 10 ADHD children grow up to be ADHD adults, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

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