Diagnostics
We carefully assess whether you have ADHD. We do that online, with fixed steps and a clear discussion of the outcome.
The diagnostic assessment includes several conversations, so we look not only at your current complaints but also at your development, context and possible other explanations.
We work fully online, with fixed steps and a clear discussion of the outcome at the end of the trajectory.
Steps
Start
We start with an introductory conversation. You tell us about your complaints, your history and what you hope to achieve. We also review your physical health, including blood pressure, weight and medication use. You arrange these measurements in advance through your GP or pharmacy.
Diagnostic interview
Next we conduct an extensive diagnostic interview. The DIVA-5 is the standard instrument in the Netherlands for ADHD diagnostics in adults. We discuss your current complaints and how things were in childhood.
Additional information
We also speak with a parent, partner, brother or sister. This is done in a separate conversation, without you present. That gives us a more complete picture, especially of how you were as a child. It is an important part of the assessment.
Further assessment
Our psychiatrist has an additional conversation with you. In that meeting we look at your overall mental health and discuss whether anything else may be going on alongside ADHD, such as low mood, anxiety or sleep problems.
Conclusion
Finally we discuss the outcome with you. If ADHD is present, we draw up a treatment plan together. Not everyone who registers turns out to have ADHD; sometimes something else is going on, such as long-term stress, depressive complaints or anxiety. In that case we refer you back to your GP for further care.
After the outcome
Sometimes the assessment shows that something else is more prominent, such as long-term stress, depressive complaints or anxiety.
In that case we refer you back to your GP for further care. If ADHD is present, we immediately discuss what an appropriate treatment plan could look like.
