ADHD Diagnosis Online

7 Benefits of Telehealth for Adult ADHD Treatment

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Why Telehealth for Adult ADHD Treatment?

If you’re newly diagnosed with ADHD (or if you’re looking to be evaluated for a potential diagnosis), it’s understandable to want to be very careful about who you choose as a treatment provider. It’s important to be familiar with all of your treatment options to be able to choose the provider that’s right for you.

Telehealth services for adult ADHD may not be a traditional choice for treatment, but research has found that it’s just as effective as in-person treatment. On top of that, telehealth ADHD treatment may come with unique benefits that you wouldn’t get if you limit yourself to only in-person providers.

So why should you consider telehealth for adult ADHD treatment? Here’s everything you need to know.

What Is Telehealth?

Telehealth, or telemedicine, is an umbrella term that’s used for any type of health service that’s delivered over a virtual platform. There are many types of telehealth services, from digital health apps to receiving lab results online to having a doctor’s visit over a video call. Telehealth has been around for a while, but it exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic. When people were afraid to leave their homes, especially to go to the hospital, they were able to have their health appointments online. 

Many health services can be delivered through telehealth platforms, including psychotherapy and . Obviously, some hands-on medical care like surgeries can’t be delivered online. But for most minor doctor’s visits, telehealth provides us with a convenient option for treatment.

Benefits of Telehealth for Adult ADHD Treatment

People see many different health professionals for help with ADHD, from their primary care provider to their in-person therapist. Telehealth may not be the best option for everyone, but in general, it’s a safe, effective, and accessible way to receive ADHD treatment.

Studies have found that online telehealth for adult ADHD treatment is comparable to in-person ADHD treatment in terms of both effectiveness and satisfaction.

So why do people choose telehealth for adult ADHD treatment? Here are 7 specific benefits to consider.

It’s geographically accessible.

If you live in a large metropolitan area, then you may have no problem finding a local adult ADHD treatment provider in your area. But others who live in remote or rural areas might not be so lucky.

Many people, even in the U.S., find themselves without specialized medical services in their local area. Rural mental health services are especially lacking.

For people who aren’t fortunate enough to have an ADHD treatment provider in their area, telehealth services can make ADHD treatment more accessible. They can receive quality, specialized ADHD treatment without having to commute outside of their area. This helps bridge the gap between the adults who need ADHD treatment and those who are actually getting it.

You can choose a provider who specializes in adult ADHD.

When you’re seeking assessment or treatment for adult ADHD, it’s important to see a provider that specializes in ADHD. ADHD is still such a misunderstood condition, which is why so many people reach adulthood without ever having received the correct diagnosis. Seeing a general practitioner for ADHD is, in many ways, a game of chance. Some practitioners may have expertise on adult ADHD, but others may not.

If you choose a telehealth platform, you can choose to work specifically with an ADHD specialist. This will make it more likely that your provider will be able to catch all the signs and symptoms of ADHD that may be affecting you and refer you to the type of treatment that’s right for your specific situation.

Teletherapy is effective.

Some people worry that mental health services over telehealth aren’t as effective as in-person therapy. Research so far shows us that this isn’t the case. Studies have found that online mental health therapy is just as effective as in-person therapy.

That means you don’t have to worry about whether you’re getting quality treatment if you choose an online platform — and you can focus more on whether your treatment provider has specialized experience in treating adult ADHD.

Telehealth saves money and time.

Even if you have an ADHD provider in your local area, the time and money that you spend on commuting to appointments adds up. You’re a busy adult, and getting ADHD treatment should make your life easier, not more complicated. 

Telehealth appointments can save you time and money by taking the commute out of the equation. You can also save time and money on smaller details, like having to get professionally dressed. We can’t speak for all online treatment providers, but at Focus Partners, we don’t care if you arrive at your appointment wearing pajama bottoms!

Telehealth simplifies the treatment process.

Because telehealth appointments are so much easier to attend, the treatment process (from initial consultation to follow-up) is often more simplified when receiving services online.

After going through your initial assessment and receiving an ADHD diagnosis, your treatment provider will probably prescribe you with medication. But the process shouldn’t end there — regular follow-up appointments are important so your provider can monitor your symptoms and how you’re reacting to the meds. Telehealth makes it easier to attend these follow-up appointments without canceling or postponing them.

Telehealth can be easier for people with ADHD.

On top of other things, ADHD makes it hard for people to keep their schedules and tasks organized. Attending treatment appointments may feel like yet another task on the never-ending to-do list, and it’s easy to become so overwhelmed that you put off making an appointment at all.

Communicating online, and not having to physically transport yourself to an office, can make it easier for people with ADHD to keep up with appointments. There’s often more flexibility in scheduling with online appointments, as well. For example, you don’t need to account for commuting time or traffic. All of this makes telehealth appointments much easier for adults with ADHD.

Telehealth can feel like a natural way to communicate for millennials and Gen Z patients.

Younger people grew up using technology for communication, and they often primarily communicate with their friends through technology, too. In some cases, seeing a treatment provider online might feel more natural to you than visiting an unknown office somewhere. 

If you attend telehealth appointments at home, it can sometimes also give your provider a glimpse into your life that they wouldn’t necessarily get if you went to their office. You might feel more natural at home, and more free to be yourself rather than trying to mask your symptoms. This can give your provider a more accurate look into what you’re going through and how ADHD affects your life.

Online Adult ADHD Treatment with Focus Partners

At Focus Partners, we’re committed to providing effective and trustworthy treatment online for adults with ADHD. Our online clinic specializes in adult ADHD, so you can feel confident that you’re receiving treatment from providers who know ADHD very well. We offer online assessment and diagnosis, online medication management, and other services.

We are here to listen to you and empower you to unlock your full potential.  Get started by taking our initial online ADHD assessment and find your focus now. Our team works with adults residing in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and New York.

Adult ADHD Symptoms and Signs

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Adult ADHD Symptoms and Signs

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, isn’t only a childhood condition. It affects over 4% of adults in the U.S., and the actual number may be even higher because of the number of adults who are mis- or undiagnosed. 

Although the recognized symptoms of ADHD are the same in both children and adults, ADHD can present differently for adults. We often think of kids with ADHD as bouncing off the walls, but adults with ADHD may behave in different ways.

Here are the most important signs and symptoms of adult ADHD, including the official diagnostic criteria as well as other signs to pay attention to.

Adult ADHD Symptoms: Diagnostic Criteria

ADHD is listed in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM), which is often considered the ultimate authority on psychiatric disorders and their symptoms. The DSM defines three presentations of ADHD: the predominantly inattentive type, the hyperactive-impulsive type, and combined type. Each presentation comes with its own symptoms.

To meet the criteria for an ADHD diagnosis as an adult, you must experience at least 5 symptoms of inattention and/or 5 symptoms of hyperactivity.

The symptoms of predominantly inattentive ADHD are:

  1. Lacks attention to detail; makes careless mistakes
  2. Difficulty with sustained attention during tasks
  3. Cannot or does not follow instructions
  4. Doesn’t seem to be listening when spoken to
  5. Difficulty organizing or prioritizing tasks
  6. Avoids tasks that require sustained effort or attention
  7. Loses or misplaces objects
  8. Easily distracted
  9. Forgetful in day-to-day life

The symptoms of hyperactive-impulsive ADHD are:

  1. Fidgeting or squirming
  2. Getting out of your chair when expected to stay seated
  3. Restlessness
  4. Cannot engage in quiet leisure activities
  5. Difficulty staying still for a long time; “on the go”
  6. Talks excessively
  7. Interrupts or blurts things out
  8. Trouble waiting in line or waiting their turn

The most common type of ADHD is combined type; if you have combined type ADHD, you would have some symptoms from each of these lists.

To be diagnosed with ADHD, you must have had these symptoms since you were 12 years old or younger. Some people think, at first, that they only developed their ADHD symptoms in adulthood, but with closer examination, it’s usually discovered that these symptoms were present (although perhaps hidden or masked) when they were children as well.

Signs of ADHD in Adults

The DSM diagnostic criteria is used to help clinicians make an ADHD diagnosis, but it might not be very helpful for you if you think you may have ADHD.

Both children and adults with ADHD face the same symptoms, but they can present in very different ways. It’s important to know what ADHD looks like in adults, specifically, so you can recognize the signs in yourself and get treatment if you need it.

Here are some clear signs of ADHD in adults, and descriptions of how they might present in your life if you live with ADHD. These signs are based on the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRSv1.1), which is a screening tool for adult ADHD that is used by clinicians and physicians for adult ADHD.

Trouble with focus

A major sign of inattentiveness in ADHD is an inability to focus. In adults, this symptom may present as “spacing out” during meetings, lectures, or conversations or being easily distracted while you’re trying to complete tasks. They may also find their attention drifting while they’re in the middle of a conversation and have a hard time following along with what people are saying. Unrelated sounds or sights around them might distract them easily.

Many adults find this difficulty with concentration leads them to make careless mistakes at work and home, especially when the task is repetitive or boring. They may have trouble following instructions or miss the details in their work.

Difficulty with organization

If you’re an adult with ADHD, it may feel to you like your space (both internal and external) is a constant mess. This doesn’t mean that you’re emotionally unhealthy or a slob; it just means that adults with ADHD often have trouble organizing both tasks and spaces.

For example, you might have trouble starting on an assigned project because you can’t organize the steps involved. Or the reverse may be true: you may be able to start on projects, but not be able to finish the details. The space around you, like your office, home, or car, may also be cluttered and messy.

Many adults with ADHD remember having messy backpacks and desks at children, no matter what their academic performance was like.

Forgetting appointments

Partly because of the difficulty with organization, many adults with ADHD have a hard time remembering appointments or deadlines.  Adults with ADHD may suddenly realize that they forgot to call a colleague back after they promised to, or notice that there was a deadline the week before that they completely missed. 

This is one of the reasons why ADHD is such a serious condition. If left untreated, symptoms like this one can start to cause problems, especially at work.

Restlessness

Adults with ADHD often feel restless, or as if they’re driven by an internal motor. It might be difficult for them to wind down at the end of a long day, even if they’re exhausted, because they’re constantly “on the go.” Both adults and children with ADHD have difficulty staying seated for long periods of time because of this restlessness. They may squirm or fidget a lot, like tapping their legs or pencil.

Children with ADHD are often depicted as “bouncing off the walls,” but adults with ADHD have usually learned to control their restlessness to some degree. However, restlessness continues to manifest in their lives in different ways. For example, adults with ADHD may get out of their seats often during long meetings, even when they’re expected to stay seated. They may have racing thoughts and ideas that keep them awake at night.

Procrastination

Everyone procrastinates sometimes. But for adults with ADHD, procrastination may be a lifelong habit that has wreaked havoc on their lives. Many people with ADHD procrastinate not because of “laziness,” but because they simply don’t know how to or don’t feel able to get started. Tasks that are repetitive or that require a lot of concentration can feel torturous for people with ADHD. If you have ADHD, you may constantly put off these types of tasks until you’re faced with the consequences.

ADHD might also make it difficult to prioritize tasks; people with ADHD may spend a lot of time trying to organize the different steps involved and run out of time to actually complete the task. Other adults with ADHD may start the parts of projects that interest them, but have a difficult time finishing or polishing them. 

Low tolerance for boredom

Often, adults who are newly diagnosed with ADHD say things like, “But I can pay attention while I’m playing my favorite game/talking to my favorite person/doing my favorite activity. How could I have ADHD if I can pay attention sometimes?”

The truth is that people with ADHD don’t always have trouble concentrating in every scenario. Some people with ADHD may even experience something called hyperfocus, which causes them to become completely absorbed in a task or activity that interests them.

But most people with ADHD do have a very low tolerance for boredom. It’s during boring, repetitive, or tedious tasks that ADHD symptoms flare up the most. Of course, most people don’t enjoy doing boring tasks. But adults with ADHD may avoid these tasks altogether or get very frustrated when they’re unavoidable.

Misplacing objects

Adults with ADHD are known to misplace important objects, like their car keys or cell phone, on a regular basis. As a child, if you were lucky, you may have had an adult in your life who kept track of your important things for you. But as adults, most of us are responsible for ourselves — and adults with ADHD can have a hard time keeping track of their own things with nobody to help them.

Part of this may be because their space is disorganized and cluttered due to inattention caused by ADHD. If you are an adult with ADHD, there are behavioral strategies you can use to help you keep track of objects you tend to lose on a regular basis.

Talking too much

Have your friends ever told you you talk too much? Do you find yourself interrupting conversations or finishing other people’s sentences, even when it isn’t appropriate? Do you find that you have “no filter” and blurt things out and regret them later?

These are often signs of adult ADHD which are related to impulsivity. These symptoms can cause serious damage to relationships, especially when adults don’t know that these behaviors are caused by ADHD. The people around them may see them as rude or socially inappropriate.

Treatment for Adult ADHD

When adults live with untreated or undiagnosed ADHD, life may seem more difficult to them than it is for other, neurotypical adults. The correct diagnosis and treatment may make a world of difference to adults who have lived with untreated ADHD since childhood.

You can live a successful, fulfilling, and happy life with ADHD. See if we can assist by taking our initial online ADHD assessment to start your ADHD treatment journey today.  Focus Partners provides telehealth-based online ADHD treatment for adults, and we’re here to listen to you and help unlock the full power of your potential. Our team currently provides ADHD treatment services online in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and New York.

Welcome to Online ADHD Treatment at Focus Partners

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Intro to our trusted online ADHD treatment and evaluation services

Allow us to introduce ourselves in this inaugural blog post. We are Focus Partners, the Midwest’s premier independent membership-based medical practice dedicated to treating adults living with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).  We provide the best online ADHD treatment services available to you.  Our providers at Focus Partners listen to you to empower you to reach your full potential. We will provide some honest and candid commentary in this blog. We plan to work together with all of you to continue breaking the stigma of adult ADHD so that people get the assistance they need.

Focus Partners began as a simple start-up medical practice to help those that were either too afraid to bring up the conversation of ADHD with their primary care providers (PCPs) or that were brave enough to bring it up only to be dismissed (“adult ADHD isn’t real”). Or that faced 3-6 month wait times to schedule an appointment with an ADHD specialist that could help. We are solving this issue one patient at a time, now working with members in Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. We have members in Chicago, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Ann Arbor and have some big expansion plans in the works for 2022.

ADHD diagnosis and treatment online

The advantages of providing online ADHD diagnosis and treatment services for adult ADHD are (or should be) clear to everyone. Focus Partners makes it even easier. Our program is one flat monthly fee that covers your initial consultation, automatic electronic refills and any follow-up appointments or questions that you have. There are no extra fees if you want to check in with questions or just let us know how you’re doing.

The initial consultation is risk free. If we are not able to establish a treatment plan, you will not be charged. As of this post, the monthly program fee is $65 per month. We can’t guarantee this won’t go up for new members, but your rate won’t as long as you are a continuous member of Focus Partners. You also don’t have to worry about us running a special for a reduced consultation fee the week after you sign up either, which we have heard is done by certain online ADHD treatment services.

Other online ADHD treatment services

We receive a lot of questions about how we differ from some of these online ADHD treatment companies like Donefirst, Cerebral, Klarity ADHD, etc. The key difference is that Focus Partners is a real medical practice that is backed and managed by physicians. We are invested in our members’ well-being. Our goal is not to see an infinitely high volume of patients, which might sacrifice your experience and care. With fully licensed physicians, there are no limitations on ADHD medication management like you might see with other ADHD treatment services (ex: not able to prescribe Schedule II stimulants).

We work with several members that switched over from one of these other online ADHD treatment services. Focus Partners does not charge a separate fee for the initial consultation. We can help whether you are looking to get an ADHD diagnosis for the first time or transfer your ADHD medication management to our ADHD specialists. Please schedule an appointment with us today.

If you have any questions or think we can help manage your ADHD, please visit the rest of our site, shoot us an email or leave a comment below. We appreciate your feedback and are always learning from each other and our members. We will be adding more states for online ADHD treatment throughout 2022. Good luck to all – make yourselves a great day.