Is your therapist a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist? If not, I would take what she says with a great skepticism.
> I feel sure that I did not have ADHD symptoms during childhood.
That would be an instant disqualification of an ADHD diagnosis.
> I believe have come extreme and unusual mental stresses I have been subjected for several years
I am not a clinician nor do I know the full extent/magnitude of your stresses, but have you ever investigated (C)PTSD? If can mimic many ADHD symptoms.
> However, there's not enough literature on ADHD coming during adulthood. . . Most, like the OP, say that it would have gone undetected during childhood. Some say that ADHD can develop during adulthood too. I have also read that Adult ADHD seemingly has a different mechanism than ADHD that develops during childhood.
Based on what is commonly understood about the condition, it cannot come on in Adulthood. Similar to how there is no Adult-onset Autism. You're born with it or without it. Also, just because symptoms were not "detected in childhood" does not mean the symptoms did not exist in childhood. My symptoms were not detected in childhood, but oh boy, were the signs and symptoms there. I just grew up in the South East, US where stuff like ADHD just didn't exist, and I and plenty others were punished and ridiculed for our "daydreaming," "restlessness," "laziness," and "inappropriate behavior."
Personally, I am not sure if I buy the research on this topic though. Then again, I also think the label "ADHD" is just like "Cancer" -- a massive blanket-term for multiple similar conditions. So, who knows? It's not like there is a single biomarker that has ever been discovered that can be used to diagnosis the condition. It's all just professional opinions based on agreed upon patterns and heuristics.
Anyway, I hope you figure out something that works for you.
Thanks for a detailed response! Sincerely appreciated.
>> Is your therapist a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist?
Yes. Clinical psychologist.
>> That would be an instant disqualification of an ADHD diagnosis.
You could be right. That's what most literature says. However, there's some talking about ADHD developing in adulthood. I cannot say whether to trust or not; surely there's very little such literature.
>> ... nor do I know the full extent/magnitude of your stresses
I have been shouted upon by my wife at peak volume for hours at a stretch, about once every two days, for years, with her usually beating herself badly along the way, sometimes threatening with knives, and so on and on.
As I wrote in another comment here, I started facing these symptoms around 2011 and distinctly in 2012, when I was 35 years of age. Prior to that, I have always been a star performer, during childhood and at work, with no such symptoms to the best of my understanding.
>> ... but have you ever investigated (C)PTSD? If can mimic many ADHD symptoms.
My therapist did mention that to me and told me to read about it. I read about it on Wikipedia, but do not know enough myself to say either way. I'll talk to the therapist again on my next visit.
> I feel sure that I did not have ADHD symptoms during childhood.
That would be an instant disqualification of an ADHD diagnosis.
> I believe have come extreme and unusual mental stresses I have been subjected for several years
I am not a clinician nor do I know the full extent/magnitude of your stresses, but have you ever investigated (C)PTSD? If can mimic many ADHD symptoms.
> However, there's not enough literature on ADHD coming during adulthood. . . Most, like the OP, say that it would have gone undetected during childhood. Some say that ADHD can develop during adulthood too. I have also read that Adult ADHD seemingly has a different mechanism than ADHD that develops during childhood.
Based on what is commonly understood about the condition, it cannot come on in Adulthood. Similar to how there is no Adult-onset Autism. You're born with it or without it. Also, just because symptoms were not "detected in childhood" does not mean the symptoms did not exist in childhood. My symptoms were not detected in childhood, but oh boy, were the signs and symptoms there. I just grew up in the South East, US where stuff like ADHD just didn't exist, and I and plenty others were punished and ridiculed for our "daydreaming," "restlessness," "laziness," and "inappropriate behavior."
Personally, I am not sure if I buy the research on this topic though. Then again, I also think the label "ADHD" is just like "Cancer" -- a massive blanket-term for multiple similar conditions. So, who knows? It's not like there is a single biomarker that has ever been discovered that can be used to diagnosis the condition. It's all just professional opinions based on agreed upon patterns and heuristics.
Anyway, I hope you figure out something that works for you.