What to Do If You Think You Have ADHD

As awareness grows around adhd and more people and professionals recognise the differences that show up in people, the more those who connect with how adhd brains work are seeking to get a diagnosis. This is something common in women reaching peri menopause, as traditionally adhd was thought to only impact boys and many young girls were left to struggle as they presented differently.

But now we know more and there's a lot of discourse around it and thousands of online creators highlighting the issue. There's a real chance to get the diagnosis you need in your life.

If you think you have adhd here's a step to work through to help you get the answers you need.

Self Assessment

There is a free evidence based tool on the NHS website that you can use to help you identify patterns in thinking focus and daily life that are consistent with adhd. You can find them on other sources too although not all are free or as accurate as the NHS one.

These tools however are not a diagnosis but they are a useful first step in working out whether what's being experienced actually fits the profile or is assumption-based on what you might have seen on social media.

Many of these tools will require you to answer questions about your childhood and experiences in your life to get a more complete picture of what you're living with and to see if you fit the diagnostic criteria.

Track Your Symptoms

Keeping a record of specific moments missed deadlines, lost items, conversations where focus drifts difficulty in starting tasks builds a much more comprehensive picture than trying to describe the general feeling of struggling.

Patterns matter much more than isolated incidents so tracking even over a few weeks not just a single day will give you a clearer picture of how consistent and disruptive these experiences actually are.

This record can then help form evidence needed for any further assessments as specific examples carry more weight than simply saying you can't do anything or you struggle with certain things.

Talk To Your GP

A GP assessment is the first formal step and they can then refer you for an NHS assessment too. However, waiting times for this can run into the years in many areas. That being said, you can avoid the waiting list if your GP accepts you might benefit from an ADHD diagnosis.

You can opt for a private adhd assessment, which will offer you a faster route to your diagnosis if you meet criteria. Whether you get an assessment via the NHS or a private option, it will usually be a structured diagnostic interview and a psychiatrist consultation followed by a full diagnostic report that can then be shared with your employer if needed and your GP if you went private.

Look Into Support Groups

Connecting with others who have ADHD, whether through local groups or online communities, tends to help you in more than a diagnosis can alone. Hearing how other people manage similar challenges, from practical organisation strategies to simply feeling less alone, can make a huge difference, and many of these communities are also a genuinely helpful source of information on things like navigating diagnosis, workplace accommodations and treatment options from people who have been there themselves.