ADHD and the System

You’re stuck. You’re trying. But the system isn’t helping. If getting support for ADHD feels like a full-time job, you’re not imagining it.

It’s long. It’s confusing. It’s draining.

And finally, someone has officially said it out loud.

For loads of people, the road to diagnosis or support in the UK feels more like an obstacle course than a pathway to care. The steps it takes to get help feel as if they're almost specifically designed to be difficult for ADHD brains:

Long forms

Long waits

Long silences

Sometimes it feels like you need a PhD in admin just to be heard.

You might be handed a form to fill in. Or three.

Sometimes it’s the same form they give to kids, so there you are - a grown adult - being asked how often you forget to hand in your homework.

Then you might sit on the mysterious waiting list for 12 months… Or 36.

Or maybe you’re not even sure whether you’re on a list at all.

And if the whole thing sounds so complicated that you haven’t even tried yet, I don’t even blame you.

The process can be fully overwhelming. Which can leave you wondering if it’s even worth trying.

You’re not overreacting. This is very real.

What’s Actually Going On

More people than ever are asking for ADHD assessments. Demand has gone up, but the system hasn’t caught up. And that’s left thousands of people waiting. Hoping. Stuck.

So after years of people saying something needs to change, a group of ADHD advocates and experts (some of them with ADHD themselves) came together. They're called the Independent ADHD Taskforce (think ADHD Avengers, but with spreadsheets).

They were assembled because too many people are being let down.

People are:

• waiting years to be seen

• being offered no help at all, until they’re officially diagnosed.

• dealing with different rules depending on their postcode

• left to navigate a broken system on their own

Which is the opposite of how support should work.

And it’s making things much harder than they need to be.

10,000 Voices. One Message.

The Taskforce spoke to over 10,000 people - people living with ADHD, parents supporting them, professionals trying to help, and people working within the system. Then they wrote up their findings in a report.

And it doesn’t sugar-coat anything.

The headlines:

• the system is confusing, fragmented, and inconsistent.

• support should start with listening, not paperwork.

• it shouldn’t take years to get assessed.

• Black and Global Majority communities are being excluded altogether.

• people deserve support before they get a diagnosis.

Say it louder for the people at the back!

While their report doesn’t literally fix anything, it does name the problem.

Clearly.

Publicly.

And from people in positions of power.

Which feels important. Expecting people to prove their pain before offering support isn’t just unfair, it’s part of the problem.

The good news is, now that it has been said out loud, maybe something can be done.

It’s evidence. The system is failing. And now it’s official.

If you’re lost in the system

Maybe you’re somewhere in that grey area. Where something doesn’t feel right, but the support to make sense of it just isn’t there yet.

You’re trying to figure it out on your own.

You’ve gone deep in the comments section.

Wondering if what you’re experiencing is ADHD.

Trying not to self-diagnose.

Not sure what the next step is.

Knowing you can’t get assessed anytime soon.

Maybe you've already tried and got nowhere.

And in the meantime... You’re still beating yourself up for losing your keys five times a day.

Still paralysed by the to-do list.

Still absorbing the jokes about ADHD being a 'trend'. Still wondering if you’re lazy, or broken, or just not trying hard enough.

Still being told “Isn’t everyone a bit ADHD these days?” (Don’t even get me started on that one)

It’s exhausting.

And it can be a really lonely place to be.

So… what support is out there?

If people do make it through the system, the support on offer can be genuinely helpful, sometimes its actually brilliant! BUT...What you receive often depends on where you live, who you talk to and how well you can navigate the maze of forms and follow-ups.

What is (sometimes) available:

• an official assessment

• medication, if that fits for you

• some coaching or education about how ADHD shows up

• help with work or studying

  
  

But that’s a big if.

Take Access to Work, for example, which is a government scheme that can fund some genuinely useful stuff that can make a real difference to day-to-day life: ADHD coaching, text-to-speech software, ergonomic kit, a Remarkable tablet, even a standing desk and Loop earplugs.

The process to get it though, is another story.

It’s not something that’s just handed to you once you're diagnosed.

If you're lucky, you find out it exists. Then apply. Then wait. Then chase it. Then you finally get told you’ve been approved.

But to access the support, you have to buy everything yourself first, and then wait months to be reimbursed.

And in order to get reimbursed, you guessed it... you need to fill out forms! The whole thing feels like it was designed for brains that don’t need it.

It’s full of confusing paperwork, delays, and steps that don't make sense, the precise things that can make ADHD harder to live with in the first place.

It's help worth having.

But it shouldn’t be this hard to reach.

On the other hand, the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) process is a breath of fresh air. They’ve nailed it.

Quick, clear, and actually accessible.

Exactly how support should feel.

If any of this feels familiar...

When you’ve been stuck trying to make sense of it all on your own, you probably don’t need a report to tell you how hard that can be.

Still, there’s something powerful about having it recognised.

To see your experience written down.

Not judged.

Not pathologised.

Just seen.

The idea that people deserve support before they’re in crisis shouldn’t feel radical. But it does.

Your needs matter even if you don’t have a diagnosis yet.

Your struggles are valid even if the system hasn’t caught up yet.

You’re a person who’s trying their best.

You deserve support.

ADHD is Real. So is the Struggle.

ADHD can leave you depleted. Not just because of how your brain works, but because of how hard it is to get anyone to understand or support you. Getting help shouldn’t be harder than the thing you need help with. And yet, here we are. But you don’t have to wait for the system to catch up before you start exploring what works for you.

There’s Help Outside the System

The good news is, not everything needs a diagnosis or a 15-page form.

There are plenty of small things that could help now. No waiting lists, no remembering to chase anyone up:

• Brain.fm app focus music with an ADHD-specific setting

• Focusmate helps with procrastination, free virtual accountability buddies

• Get Dopa dopamine-friendly vitamins designed for ADHD brains

• Lion’s Mane supplements people say it can help with focus and brain fog

• Seed Talks in-person and online events on ADHD and mental health

• Gabor Maté’s book Scattered Minds offers insights on how to cope

• No Drama Llamas they’ll help you fill out Access to Work forms (woo hoo!)

• 1.5x Speed speeding up podcasts or videos can help with focus

Just a note: I’m not a medical professional, just someone who listens to a lot of tired, brilliant ADHD brains. If you’re considering supplements, its best to check with a doctor first.

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

And if you’re too overwhelmed for an app or an audiobook right now. I really get it. I can’t fix the NHS.

And I can’t fast-track waiting lists.

But I can offer you a space here, now.

A warm, ADHD-aware counselling space, with no wait.

You don’t need a diagnosis to be met with compassion.

You don’t even need to fill in a form.

You don’t need the system’s permission to start feeling better. You’re allowed to get support now.

While you’re waiting, you can still be seen. Still be heard. Still be supported.

You’re not alone.

And you never needed to be.

That’s what counselling is for 💚

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You can read the full report here on the NHS website:

Part 1 of the Independent ADHD Taskforce Report

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