Not from the medical professionals, but we did have difficulty convincing the school that our daughter was failing because of ADD, not stupidity, because she LOOKED like she was paying attention.  Just because the face is pointing in the right direction doesn’t mean the brain is engaged!

I not only did not have the support of physicians and psychiatrists, my culture worked against me as well. I was failing in elementary school and all the teachers knew how to do was publicly humiliate me (I’m Chinese) in hopes that I would improve. They blamed me for everything, and dragged me to the front of the 48-people class to apologize for “letting everyone down”. I still have a difficult relationship with school, though my parents, wisely, I think, transferred me to an American school, seeing there’s no way I could do well in a Chinese school. Even in college there are times when I wish I could just drop out even though I was making superlative grades. It’s psychologically straining and I kept crying for no reason. They obtained a diagnosis for me when I was in second grade, but they, too, were ingrained in their culture and believed that my problem was simply a moral one, and it is not customary for Chinese to believe in psychiatry.

As I got older, recalling my diagnosis (which was left untreated), I fought tooth and nail with my parents to get re-diagnosed. At that point I was doing quite well in school, making many As and being showered with praise from my teacher, but I was relentless. Every time I mentioned my ADHD my mother would get angry. She said: “I had the same symptoms when I was young, but I controlled them, didn’t I? I didn’t need THAT excuse.” I was furious: “Do my grades not show that I got a hang of them too? Do you HAVE to make life difficult for me?” Our relations, at that point, was extremely strained.

She dragged me to a counseling psychologist (who is entirely unfit to speak about ADHD) who basically told me my problem was an emotional one. In college, using my insurance, I got myself diagnosed and obtained accommodations, and the LP who diagnosed me expressed shock and sympathy of what I had to go through. Yeah, the world is definitely working against me and what I took from this is: If you want things done, do it yourself. Now THAT’s over, I have my leftover psychological baggage to deal with, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, low self esteem, slight depression and a sleep disorder. My parents have come around and are more supportive now, and we’ve agreed that I would try to forgive my mother for all the pain she put me through.

My daughter has adhd inattentive type. I had nooo idea she had any psychological issues until she started cutting herself jr yr in hs. She was by personality very quiet and never ever exhibited any recognizable symptom. We went to three psychiatrists in a row. No body could get it right and she ended up in the hospital. By that time she had severe depression, anxiety and all the adhd stuff. After 2 years she is now much better. I always knew from her childhood on something was wrong but drs told me i was nuts or attributed it to physical things like bad sinuses, etc. My heart goes out to parents in my spot. I dont know what else we could have done, but i wish we would be able to better diagnose and maybe even prevent and cure. Sigh!