It’s like a they’re driving a car and the blinker won’t work.
When we’re headed from point A to point B it’s easy to develop a one track mind. The thing of it is, as any mechanic will tell you, it’s a lot harder to fix the driver.
Do you have difficulty focusing, or is your standard beyond the limitations of human focus?
Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder is a very sneaky differential diagnosis. I wouldn’t fault a single clinician for starting ADHD medication only to realize after the fact. The executive function problems are real, they do exist. Especially if the appointment is after the crash out rather than a scramble to stay head above water.
No matter what, everybody needs to pull over for gas eventually.
Yes, the inevitable crash out, because OCPD pathology is an adaptive developmental strategy way past it’s due date. Compounding the issue is the depression that will set in once you realize doing it “the old way” no longer works. Associated symptoms of fatigue, poor motivation and difficulty with concentration are the clues that your OCPD looks like ADHD.
It’s really hard to “rule out” ADHD, and I strongly advise against that type of fatalism. What makes the most sense is to understand what pathology is visible initially and the limitations of baseline assessment of executive function when someone is experiencing an irregular mood.
If you are a clinician or you yourself believe you have OCPD, here’s the good news: it’s treatable. Medication therapy, and raising awareness can resolve this personality disorder. You can’t say the same thing for ADHD.
An ADHD brain will always be an ADHD brain, but it’s going to be hard to know if you really have one without treating OCPD first.
