How long did it take you to get an adult ADHD assessment?

moonyix

Hi hi, I'm Moony.

I was referred to the DAANA service for an ADHD assessment by my GP. The referral was accepted on the 7th August. Someone told me it takes on average two years to get from the referral to the assessment stage--is this true? Will it really take that long? How long did it take for anyone who's got to the assessment stage? I know it's only been two months but I'm starting to wonder whether I'll ever hear from them again!

Thank you for your help--just trying to figure things out and calm myself down a bit x 

poppy123456

Hi,

It depends on which area you live but there are huge waiting lists and in some areas it's as long as 5 years and this was before the pandemic. Some people choose to go private because the waiting lists are so long. It's never easy to get a diagnosis like this once you reach adulthood.

Tori_Scope

Welcome to the community @moonyix How are you doing today?

As poppy123456 has said, waiting times do vary, but they can unfortunately be very long. 

Do you think you'll be able to cope while you're waiting to hear back from them? Have you tried implementing any self help techniques into your daily life to see if that helps you to manage some of your symptoms? Are you in education or employment? 

euro

2 years sounds pretty good.  Awful nonetheless.  I joined the Bradford District and Craven CCG waiting list for an ASD / ADHD assessment in February 2020 after fighting over 4 years to be referred.  I was informed in June this year that they are starting assessments again after the lockdown and that I should expect to wait a further 3 years before I am assessed.  

Going private is an option I considered, however the cost is beyond my reach.  For example, with The Autism Service it's £1750 for an ASD assessment and with Connect Blue, if you have both ASD and ADHD assessments, it's £2150.  Just to clarify, I didn't miss a decimal point, nor accidentally add a '0' to those prices.

When one's difficulties are such that working is out of the question without a diagnosis (and therefore access to support, i.e grants or adjustments) it becomes a bit of a double edged sword

Schanios

@moonyix Hi, my husband struggled to get a diagnosis and with medication through the local NHS service, so we changed providers. Through the NHS you have a 'right to choose' when your GP refers you, so we asked to be changed to Psychiatry UK. They contacted him for an assessment within 6 weeks, and it then took about 10 weeks to get to a nurse to start prescribing medications. We found them really helpful, informative and efficient. They also have an app, to message your nurse, and they post your medication to your house. The pandemic obviously makes everything longer, but we started talking to them in Sept last year, so it was during the pandemic. I have no idea what their waiting times are now but id put money on it being a lot faster than 2 years.
I should mention, the NHS service we used were very dismissive, and only offered one type of medication which he didn't get on with, so they told him he mustn't get on with meds then as they're all the same and therefore he could have nothing. That isn't true.

Barukh

If you are receiving the services of a Community Mental Health Team (CMHT ) then there is the possibility of a reduced waiting time. My Community Psychiatric Nurse and Mental Health Support Worker were new to me as they had been changed. 
Over a couple of weeks my Support Worker noticed i had some Autism traits as she had worked previously on a Mental Health/Psych Autism Ward and asked if I wanted to be assessed for Autism due to what she noticed. 

I agreed to this and in a few weeks she did some Questionnaires with me, and as a result of these i was referred to the CMHT Clinical Psychologist who did a full assessment shortly after. So i waited 6 weeks from referral to full assessment which is amazing; but i do have a very good CMHT that i see due to support needs around having Schizo-Affective Disorder ( Schizophrenia & BiPolar) which i have in addition to being on the Autism Spectrum.

So if you are needing or getting support from a Community Mental Health Team mention it to them and your assessment may be as quick as mine. Bear in mind though I have been in the care of Community Mental Health Services for 28 years in 2 other Areas prior to this one. This is the first CMHT that the Staff noticed!! So i recommend mentioning it to them first as i never considered  i was Autistic and so ended up having an Adult Diagnosis in my 50s. But better late than never.