How can someone go about finding doctors who treat ADHD in adults? Psychiatrists (who may or may not be knowledgeable on ADHD treatment for adults) may be too expensive if not covered under an individual's insurance plan. Most pediatricians treat children but one can't find a listing of doctors who treat ADHD. If I need an orthopedist I can easily look in the phone book or call my health insurance company for a listing of orthopedists but not for doctors who treat ADHD in adults (aside from a listing of psychiatrists). Online listings at organizations such as CHADD are a great idea, but since it is voluntary, the chances of finding a doctor who practices in your area are slim.

Simply being a psychiatrist is no guarantee that he or she knows how to treat ADHD in adults. I know of several individuals who have been given inaccurate information by a psychiatrist regarding ADHD. For example, one woman on this site was told that she couldn't be treated for both depression and ADHD. That she would have to choose which disorder she wanted treated.

My sister, who was diagnosed more than 14 years ago with clinical depression and has been seeing a psychiatrist ever since , had to educate her psychiatrist about adult ADHD when she began to suspect she had the disorder. She has had treatment resistant depression and has undergone many changes in her medication yet she was never evaluated for ADHD. I have done extensive reading on ADHD and read of several clinicians who recommended that any individual who has treatment resistant depression should be evaluated for ADHD. This was based on a research study showing that 55% of those with treatment resistant depression had undiagnosed ADHD.

The only alternative I know of is to call doctors one by one and ask if they treat adult ADHD and how much knowledge and experience they have with adult ADHD. Obviously, that is very time consuming. There has to be a better way.

Hopefully, you have some suggestions that would be helpful. Thank you so much for your input.

Elaine

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