I think I may have ADHD, but there's nothing I can really do about it as a teenager
TL;DR -- parents aren't approachable on things like this, I'm starting to think that maybe the "depression" I thought I had was more centered around ADHD, I'm doing shitty in school, definitely not a "gifted kid" anymore, I can't go to the doctor on my own just bc of this, my social worker is probably right: there's really nowhere to go from here.
I have anxiety and depression, as far as I know, or what I've been told. I was diagnosed with depression about a year ago, by a school social worker/psychiatrist that I'm still in touch with. but I've had the symptoms of it for at least three or four years. It's been a bit more manageable nowadays. The anxiety has definitely been the worse of the two for a while now, with panic attacks and that sort of thing.
When my social worker called my parents last year to tell them I'd been "struggling emotionally" (despite my efforts to convince her to not call), they demanded to know why I was seeking help for problems I didn't have. It was disregarded and then forgotten, which I honestly preferred to the alternative of being interrogated over it. They don't even know I'm still in contact with her, and she's since apologized for bringing them into it when I had made it clear to her it would be futile, and was right.
I think I may have ADHD. If something takes me longer than a little bit to figure out, I'll give up on it. I have no long term interests, I'm either super fixated on something for a week or two, or I've completely dropped it. Back in junior high & elementary, I never really had to concentrate, and my teachers called me a "gifted kid". But now when I have to do it, I realize that I have no attention span and I'm distracted constantly. My grades have been shit since the beginning of high school (two years ago), and I've never been good at focusing. I keep putting off assignments, or starting them and never ending, and there's no organization in my life. Even my hobbies are pointless and temporary. I'm starting to think that maybe all this motivation shit was more ADHD kicking my ass than depression. I don't know.
I feel really stupid writing all this. I'm sorry. I don't want to self-diagnose, and obviously, I don't expect people on the internet to be able to tell me whether or not this is a reasonable thing to suspect. I asked my social worker about it and apologized a shit ton of times cause I don't want to feel like I'm making up problems. She said there's really nowhere to go from here unless I'd want to go and see a doctor and all of that, and there's no way in hell I'm gonna go up to my parents and ask them about this type of stuff when they're, well, them.
At this point, maybe I've just been venting, so thank you if you read it. I'll appreciate any advice or conversation. I hope anyone reading this has a nice day.
Posted Apr 1, 2021, 5:14 PM UTC
Wondering about things like this and trying to seek help is in no way stupid. Good on you for trying to take charge and get to where you need to be.
You can always start this off on your own and get medication/whatever else you need when the time comes. I would suggest researching these things:
Mindfulness - A big part of CBT, it helps you figure out when you are feeling off and why. You can use this to help guide yourself to feeling ok when things are off.
Breathing/meditation - This goes hand in hand with mindfulness. Start with taking some longer breaths and just try to see how things feel. Really pay attention to how things feel. It can be super hard to do but the more you stick with it the better you will get.
Strategies for people with adhd. Chaad is a great recourse to start looking into this they go over a lot of things. My personal biggest strategy is making things as easy as possible. Automating everything I can while keeping my work load light. I can always build up my workload over time but I know for now I would prefer to take things easy so that is all good. Really take as easy of classes as you can. You can still get into a good school and you get the bonus of working on your other issues without having schoolwork on top.
I'm sorry about the situation with your parents. It might be hard to see but it sounds like they have their own problems they are not facing.