no need to apologize!! i really do hope everything works out for you and that you get a good therapist and whatnot. i’m wishing you much luck 
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Thank you kindly.
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I just wanted to re-iterate this. I saw your thread @Qualeshia12 but it’s closed now. Finding the right doctor/therapist is like the prince trying to find Cinderella with a friggin shoe lol it’s a process and the American health care system doesn’t make it any easier. I feel your pain. I hope you found something that feels like it’s going in the right direction. My therapist has even told me about women getting diagnosed after they’re past middle age. Especially high functioning, I think it’s really hard for people to sense there’s anything “amiss” because so long as you’re somewhat functioning as a “normal” human being, they’re not worried unless you reach a point where you melt down one day and the symptoms become extremely obvious. Neuro-divergent people use a lot of mental and physical resources to “mask” and try to behave/function like neuro-typical people and when we’re stressed/in survival mode, we no longer have those resources to spare, hence why our symptoms seem that much worse/obvious.
And you can have overlapping things. A lot of symptoms of autism/ADHD overlap for example, but same with bi-polar. Only a professional, and time will tell. I’ve only just realized I have ADHD maybe like a year or two ago, and I’m STILL de-tangling things from my childhood/early adulthood that I didn’t totally understand at the time. I also think what helped my therapist finally figure it out after years is there is a lot of stuff that I just never mentioned to her because I ASSUMED it was “normal” or something “everyone does.” Turns out, that wasn’t the case. So yeah, whoever you end up talking to, don’t hold back. Whatever “clues” you can provide, even childhood memories etc. those might help with a diagnosis faster vs if you came in like, “Hey, I manage to keep a job but I’m so depressed/anxious” and don’t really give them anything else to work with, then depression/anxiety is what you’ll likely get diagnosed with even if those are a result of exacerbated autism/ADHD/whatever symptoms.
Anyway, I’m currently weaning off a medicine atm. It’s not that it wasn’t helping me, but I just wasn’t sure if I truly needed it? Guess I’m about to find out. 
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This truth freaks me out. Thanks for sharing this though.
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Aww, don’t let it. On the bright side, there are so many more resources now with the internet than there was when I was a kid. So it’s “easier” to help yourself in that way or at least have some “evidence” to bring to whoever you talk to versus just walking in, and crossing your fingers, hoping the quack knows what he/she’s doing. Therapists are human too and unfortunately, there are many not fit to be therapists. I’ve even found mental health counselors that helped me more than a “psychiatrist” so just because the title might be different, you’d be surprised how one person might help you more than another. I don’t know how I would’ve graduated college without my disability counselor (I’m hard of hearing) and to think neither of us had a CLUE I had ADHD.
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It’s frustrating taking steps backward when you trying to move forward and your mental health isn’t being fair, yet the help your getting isn’t as helpful either.
Then my insurance sucks because I can’t get a bit better than I what I currently have and for me to do that I need a job. WITH THE WAY MY MENTAL HEALTH IS NOW AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN, I CAN NOT AND WILL NOT HANDLE WORKING A JOB!
That isn’t self-doubt, but merely an observation.
I hate going through not getting the proper help I need and constantly self-diagnosing myself because the people in this country are either too stupid or too far outside my reach to help me.
I don’t appreciate people fucking with my livelihood!
That scares me!
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Something my therapist says a lot is the working world here in the west aka capitalism was not built for neurodivergent brains. It’s why we struggle so much. Adulting isn’t made for our brains either, but we kind of have to even if we do a crappy job of it sometimes.
I also wanted to clarify about the medicine I mentioned I was weaning off of. It’s not meant for ADHD. It can be used for that as an “off brand” kind of med but it was never meant to treat/help with that and I’d only taken it because my anxiety was unbearable after I lost my mom for obvious reasons. Then the pandemic hit and I stood on it for again, obvious reasons. So it’s not that the meds weren’t helping the ADHD side, I just never took it for that in the first place. In all honesty, I think coffee has helped me a lot although I know it’s a double edged sword.
Anyway, take it one day at a time. I hope you find something soon. 
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I wish I had your therapist. LOL!
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I got lucky with her. Basically I have a best friend who had been seeing her for years, and I had heard about her from said friend, but didn’t think to ask, hey, maybe I should see her too. It wasn’t until I reached a point where I was so desperate that I’d lose my job that I asked my friend if she’d ask her therapist if she was accepting new patients. And then it was a wrap. I’ve been seeing her for years too now. If you know people that have already seen someone, get their “reviews”. It might help narrow down your search as far as who’s “good” vs who to stay away from. Don’t be afraid to research therapists either, check their reviews, Google reviews etc.
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Thank you so much for the tip!
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