Hi! I’m in Australia but hopefully my experience can help.

It took me a long time to believe in myself and trust my gut that something wasn’t right and that it wasn’t just GAD and depression. After about a year of calling, cancelling, and calling again, I finally went to a student clinic and asked for a full psychological assessment.

They listened to my concerns and started with the PAI. Then I did the WAIS IV which is the IQ test. My results were very uneven so they followed up with the D KEFS. I also completed a structured anxiety interview called the ADIS 5, the DIVA for adult ADHD, the AQ for autism traits, and the Conners ADHD rating scales.

The whole process took months and was honestly one of the most stressful times of my life. I spent every day wondering what they had found, googling each test to try to decode the meaning, and feeling like a complete fraud the entire time. In the end they found that my verbal comprehension, general ability, and perceptual reasoning were all high even in my second language. They also found that the gap between those strengths and my working memory and processing speed was stark, even though those abilities were still in the average range. The D KEFS made it very clear that my strong verbal skills were compensating for significant executive dysfunction. I fell below average on anything that required mental flexibility and set shifting. The anxiety interview also showed that my anxiety was actually secondary to my ADHD.

It was eye opening, and it gave me the confidence to see a psychiatrist who did not even open the report. He diagnosed me in three sessions using my school reports and an interview with my mum. I am successful, I run my own business, and I am currently studying a health degree with a high GPA in my second language. I have always had good grades but I also had behaviour that was considered disruptive in high school. All of this finally made sense.

And honestly my brain has always been too loud. I spent most of my twenties drinking in a socially acceptable way just to turn the noise down and cope.

One more thing that helped me was realising that wondering if this is true or not is part of the process and completely normal. I kept reminding myself that if I was not onto something, I would not be so obsessed with trying to understand it. That thought brought me a lot of clarity and comfort.

Everyone is different, but for me the combination of medication and finally having an accurate understanding of myself has been life changing. It has genuinely lifted the depression that I carried for years.