I've been seeing a registered mental health nurse for strategies to cope with grief, studies in art school and keeping on top of day to day general wellbeing. I call them my strategist. I'm seeing them through my school.

We've maybe done about 6 or 7 sessions once every two weeks. They told me several of the strategies we have discussed are very useful for ADHD. Today I mentioned the possibility of having ADHD and what can I do to investigate. The reaction I got was not what I expected.

They were genuinely surprised and thought I already had a diagnosis. What was also lovely was they then continued to tell me why. To which I have taken notes.

What I didn't expect was the next step. The only recommendation was to talk to my GP, to ask my parents to prepare to give supporting evidence from when I was a kid, and that the wait for diagnosis and potential targeted treatment can take up to, or over two years.

I have a really bad relationship with my mum, and my dad was always working when I was a kid, then got kicked out.

So I feel seen, but also really apprehensive for what can actually happen for me.

Extra context, I am in Scotland, so my main GP is through the NHS. I don't know how much quicker or how expensive things can be through private. I am also older, 30 y/o, and am so mixed emotionally on all of this.

I guess my real reason for reaching out on here is to ask if anyone else had issues at the start and to just share my start point in a safe space. Even though there's no definite answer/diagnosis yet. I also fully accept that I may not have ADHD and my symptoms could be from a mix of loads of other things that have gone on in my life, or even from my other diagnosis of depression, general anxiety and chronic fatigue syndrome.

TLDR; I am 30 year old student who has been told I probably have ADHD, should get a diagnosis/start the testing and treatment, but it can take up to 2 years through NHS.