"ADHD and the inability to obtain access to psychiatric services"

When my ability to focus at work started to really affect my work, I decided it was time to ask for help.  I am in my 60s, I have two adult children both diagnosed with autism and ADHD in recent years.  They tell me I should be assessed myself.  Both are prescribed medication for ADHD.  One works and reports real benefits in her ability to focus at work and get things done with medication.  One lives in England, diagnosed on the NHS.  One lives in Scotland, paying £3,5K for a private diagnosis.

If you are like me and can't focus well, I'll summarise - I'm likely to end my career because the NHS will not help me with my (self-diagnosed) ADHD and other metal health challenges.

For me the job that I do has morphed into something uncomfortable.  There are new tasks that I can't seem to get started on, or complete.  The degree of procrastination has become too much for me to cope with through my usual strategies.  I believe I have struggled for years, but just like my eyesight, the symptoms appear to worsen with age.  I can't cope at work - and it is likely that I will have to give it up, or find something completely different to do.  This is unfortunate because I have significant skills and experience that my employers need.

My first approach was to my GP back in 2023.  I was referred to a mental health practitioner who established that I was not suicidal, and then explained that NHS Ayrshire and Arran do not offer an ADHD/Autism diagnosis.  This was hard for me as I had poured my heart out to that person, and hoped for some help. They advised that I might approach the Occupational Health service.

I carried on for another year and put up with things.  Towards the end of 2024 I was feeling overwhelmed.  I just carried on, but work became more and more difficult.  I felt that I was under-performing - OK I was and still am under performing.  I just can't get pieces of work progressed.  There are a few work tasks that I really enjoy doing - and I do them well.  This is not OK as I know I can't pick and choose my work.  This is a mental inability - not just a laziness preference.  When I say I can't start a piece of work, I mean that if there is a deadline, and if I am going to be hugely embarrassed if I miss it, I might force myself to do it, and do a poor job just in time.  It is that deadline and pressure that is the only thing that can make me do the work. 

So I recently made a self-referral to our Occupational Health team.  Long story short, a phone call, establishing that I am not suicidal, then a loose promise to refer me to an occupational therapist.  After another month or so I wrote to that occupational health person and asked - can I get an ADHD test on the NHS.  They said no.  I mentioned loose - because to date I have not had any offer of support.

I called my GP and was told that a mental health practitioner would call me.  They did - we chatted.  They established that I was not suicidal, then went on to signpost me to a number of online resources - largely in the 3rd sector.  They told me that there is no ADHD assessment available via NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

I called my GP again to reaffirm.  The GP said that there is no ADHD assessment available to me in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

My work is now at the point that I am severely uncomfortable.  I come to work and sit and look at the screen but just can't get into the work.  Not wont, but can't.  This is a serious mental health issue, and I am perplexed as to why there is no assessment and diagnosis on the NHS.

So my only recourse is to find an ADHD assessment privately.  I am quite sad about that.  I remember when I had a significant physical ailment - Ulcerative Colitis - I was given medication freely until my surgery date was through.  I received excellent care in surgery in Glasgow, and can only say that the service was fantastic, even life-saving for me.  I like the others in the ward could never have afforded to pay privately for the treatment we were receiving.

So why then, with a mental health condition must I go untreated?  I can only imagine that care for such conditions could save careers, relationships and even lives.  But no, seemingly I have to slowly lose my confidence, suffer the embarrassment and the downturn in my wellbeing, and waste the skills and experience that I have to offer.

My guess is that my next chapter will be finding the money for a private assessment and diagnosis, paying for medication then going through a complex process to try to get the NHS to pay for ongoing medication.

I will find this money and I will get treated, as I am not going to become unemployed/unemployable.  I am too young for that.  Did I mention that I am a physically fit and competent.

I am telling this story as I know there will be so many who can't take the private route, and who will be suffering in frustration, feeling themselves in an impossible situation with no way forward.  Yes there are coping strategies, like the Pomodoro timer and the like, but I don't feel that this is fair or effective.  It would be like having a damaged leg and being given a crutch.   Imagine the scenario - there, use this crutch as a coping strategy, because we don't treat legs in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Come on NHS Scotland, get your adult mental health services sorted!