I don’t have GAD and don’t know much about it, but I recognize the thought that your ADHD could be a primary cause of it. For me personally, I spent a few years with therapists and doctors discussing depression and how depression can result in ADHD-like symptoms. It wasn’t until a few months ago that I got my adhd diagnosis and realized that this is actually reversed. I would consider finding a psychiatrist with experience in adhd, they should be able to recognize if your anxiety causes the adhd symptoms or if your adhd is causing the anxiety symptoms. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more useful aside from that.

Regarding the comment she made about university- I fall into the exact same category. It took me multiple years (from when I first started considering it) to get my diagnosis because I did decently in high school and got into college myself. This left me with the same thought as your doctor, and it took a long time to shake this mindset. What your doctor doesn’t realize (or isn’t acknowledging) is that struggling in school is just a portion of the issues that adhd can cause. Limiting adhd to just a “focusing on school is hard” problem is wrong and incredibly disingenuous. I agree that the statement she made is very frustrating. It may help to look at the aspects of your life beyond school and how adhd affects them. Share these moments with your doctor and hopefully that can emphasize how adhd IS a primary problem for you.

I wish you the best of luck on this and for everything :). Adhd is tough to deal with and I’ve only recently been seeing the benefits that medication can bring. I have a journey of improvement ahead of me but this diagnosis and the subsequent medication has finally kickstarted me into taking those first steps.