If you want a formal diagnosis
Adult ADHD assessment in the UK is available through GP referral (NHS — long waiting lists) or private psychiatrist (typically £500-1500). The US route is psychiatrist or psychologist with adult ADHD specialty. Either way, expect the assessment to include developmental history, screening questionnaires, and (often) interview with someone who knew you as a child. Bring this self-screen and any prior school reports.
If medication is on the table
Stimulant medication helps roughly 70-80% of ADHD adults substantially. Non-stimulants are an option if stimulants don’t suit. Decision belongs with a prescriber but worth knowing that medication often makes the difference between coping and thriving — not as a moral question, as a clinical one.
If you’re not pursuing assessment
Plenty of ADHD adults manage well with strategies and accommodations rather than medication. The Neurodiverge Pro tracker and AI coach are built for this — daily check-ins surface patterns, the coach helps with executive function work without requiring formal diagnosis. Coaching is also useful regardless of medication status.
Building the evidence file before you book
Some-band adults get dismissed at assessment more often than strong scorers — you present as coping, so the impairment has to arrive as evidence rather than vibes. Spend two to four weeks collecting concrete instances: late fees and missed renewals (bank statements are an unexpectedly rich source — forgotten subscriptions and duplicate purchases all leave timestamps), the abandoned-project list, performance-review phrases like 'great ideas, inconsistent delivery', old school reports if your parents kept them, and one specific week diarised hour-by-hour showing where the time actually went.
The file serves you twice. Bring the self-screen result too — it isn’t diagnostic, but it anchors the conversation. And if the assessor says 'not ADHD', a documented pattern makes the follow-up question — then what is this? — much harder to wave away.
Timing the decision
Nothing at this band demands action this month, which cuts both ways — no urgency, but also no natural trigger, so the decision drifts for years. Some predictable windows tend to convert a manageable some-band profile into an unmanageable one: promotion into management (more admin, more interruptions), a new baby, a partner’s illness, perimenopause (falling oestrogen commonly worsens ADHD symptoms), or the loss of a structured routine.
If one of those is on your horizon, start the process ahead of it rather than from inside the wreckage. Assessment waits mean support arrives a year after you ask — and the best time to ask is while you’re still coping.