Thread by @mwjsimpson

On #WorldMentalHealthDay, which poignantly for me coincides with October's #ADHDAwarenessMonth, I wish to follow the example of others & share my experience in what I believe is an unfit for purpose mental health service here in Scotland. #TeamADHD #neurodiversesquad (1/?)

After years of operating in a constant state of overwhelm, exhaustion and anxiety, I went to my GP in January to seek a referral to NHS psychiatry because I had come to believe that I was suffering with undiagnosed ADHD. A week later I received this letter. (2/?)

For 6 months leading up to this appointment, I had carried out thorough research after a colleague from a teaching job caused me to question if ADHD was at the root of why I was so deeply miserable in my university life. It wasn't long before the penny dropped. (3/?)

Initially, I was too preoccupied with life at the time to take it seriously and go to the Dr, primarily trying to get through my final year studies. A couple incredibly difficult life events and ignoring the issue for too long ultimately led to burning myself out. (4/?)

I was left with no choice but to take leave from my course and decided to repeat my final year. Fast forward 2 months into the New Year and here I was facing a resounding rejection for support that I unequivocally should have had a right to access. I was destroyed. (5/?)

In that 10 minute GP consultation, I presented my case for why I believed ADHD had slipped being picked up as a child and opened up for the first real time about the true detriment to which my mental health was playing in my everyday life. (6/?)

To say that I was ridiculed by the doctor would be to put it lightly. I was subjected to their personal view on the oversubscription of students to universities which in their words, results in too many coming through Drs' doors for "hand-outs and excuses" (7/?)

They told me that I must accept the fact that "not everyone is cut out for university" and had my prospects challenged, "how can you expect to become a lawyer if you're struggling now?". To my rebuttal, I was asked "Why do you want a diagnosis? What does it change?" (8/?)

And to my measured response I got "an ADHD diagnosis will only make your life more difficult, in getting a mortgage, a job, and escaping the stigma that comes with it". Despite all this, I was still shocked & devastated to receive the official rejection letter a week later. (9/?)

8 months later and with a diagnosis, I am finally set to begin treatment in the upcoming fortnight, after being left no choice but to seek private consultation - a very costly resolution but one that I am extremely fortunate to have had thanks to the support of my parents. (10/?)

Getting this diagnosis has unquestionably changed my life for the better but it still cuts deeply to read the mockery contained in the words of that responding consultant. So the point that I wish to make for #WorldMentalHealthDay and in response to *that* letter is this: (11/?)

Instead of ruling out #ADHD because of the areas in which someone outwardly presents success, we should be listening to understand how the struggles that they face are actually evidence of it. It's appalling how much misinformation on the condition prevents access to help. (12/?)

The misconception that for ADHD to be diagnosed, a person must display absolute detriment in all areas of their life or that a university degree is evidence of no "significant cognitive impairment" is ridiculously outdated and dangerous. (13/?)

But ultimately this is the prevailing rhetoric which results in so many adults with ADHD being unable to reconcile their lived experience with their own self narrative. The effects of this are devastating, to harbour such internal shame every waking moment is debilitating. (14/?)

Today, a great deal of the discussion we see around MH is dominated by depression & anxiety but to conflate these (albeit genuine + valid) with complex & stigmatised conditions such as ADHD, which needs drastically different treatment, is nothing but reductive. (15/?)

And don't even get me started on the straight up unacceptable waiting times that come at the expense of an NHS waiting list. Up to 2 years (& that was before COVID) in order to get your foot in the door just for consultation demonstrates alone the unfit for purpose system. (16/?)

Had it not been for the abundance of resources, support and understanding than can be found in our online spaces (#TeamADHD to name but a few) I do not doubt that I could have succumbed to the very worse of my darkest days (17/?)

I could go on and on but my brain is expended. In short, listen when someone opens up about THEIR lived experience instead of trying to catch them out and REFORM the mental health system which is FAILING this country!! (18/18)