ADHD diagnosis is one of the few non-socialized parts of our medical system. Because of the abuse potential they charge a fairly steep fee (cad $3k+, with a $2k+ autism assessment addon) to even attempt diagnosis (after screening by your GP — referral required).
The intake paperwork alone was perhaps 100 pages of online questionnaires that lead to interviews where they schedule counselling and evaluation sessions with you.
It took me almost a year to complete because 100 pages of “often always sometimes never” multiple choice questions (with attention checking red herrings) proved to be an almost insurmountable barrier for me.
I ended up completely surrendering to their scheduling requests: “just book it and tell me when it is. I will adjust my schedule around you. Agreeing on mutually free times with six providers is a functional impossibility. Just book it. Now. Go. Lock it in.”
It took a year to get through the maze and now they’ve booked me ASAP: three months out.
If I have an opportunity to give feedback it will be that they badly need people on their team with lived experience. It makes sense that a system designed by people who were able to complete multiple years of medical education and training is effectively blind to conscientiousness and executive function deficits.
Then again, perhaps the maze is another preventative measure: if you are able to speedrun it, perhaps you shouldn’t get medical meth.
I had the complete opposite experience last winter in Ontario. I asked my doctor about ADHD, he had me fill two forms, set up an appointment with a psychologist, who after a couple weeks of appointments was ready to prescribe Atomoxetine (at my request since I wanted stimulants only as a last resort).
I paid for nothing in this entire exchange, and the meds are usually covered by an extended drug plan if you have one.
Yeah, BC chiming in. Any physician can diagnosis you with ADHD. It’s free, as are all GP appointments.
There is nothing controversial or difficult about getting a diagnosis in this province. And the stimulant-class medications are easy to access and inexpensive if a generic option is available.
I wish they would just give Atomoxetine first. Yes the side effects suck but no abuse concerns and it gets your brain working to be able to navigate the stimulant regulation disaster
There are nice clinics - I got my diagnosis in 2 working days and we started trialing stims on 3rd working day. It costed me 500CAD. The clinic is adhdvancouver.ca
ADHD diagnosis is one of the few non-socialized parts of our medical system. Because of the abuse potential they charge a fairly steep fee (cad $3k+, with a $2k+ autism assessment addon) to even attempt diagnosis (after screening by your GP — referral required).
The intake paperwork alone was perhaps 100 pages of online questionnaires that lead to interviews where they schedule counselling and evaluation sessions with you.
It took me almost a year to complete because 100 pages of “often always sometimes never” multiple choice questions (with attention checking red herrings) proved to be an almost insurmountable barrier for me.
I ended up completely surrendering to their scheduling requests: “just book it and tell me when it is. I will adjust my schedule around you. Agreeing on mutually free times with six providers is a functional impossibility. Just book it. Now. Go. Lock it in.”
It took a year to get through the maze and now they’ve booked me ASAP: three months out.
If I have an opportunity to give feedback it will be that they badly need people on their team with lived experience. It makes sense that a system designed by people who were able to complete multiple years of medical education and training is effectively blind to conscientiousness and executive function deficits.
Then again, perhaps the maze is another preventative measure: if you are able to speedrun it, perhaps you shouldn’t get medical meth.