You just go see a psychiatrist or a psychiatric nurse practitioner and ask them to perform an evaluation. Many GPs can also perform/refer you as well. ADHD understanding and awareness was very low before the 2000s/2010s many people in their late 20s/30s/40s went undiagnosed.
I had even stereotypical symptoms as a child but just wasn't tested.
Bro you're 40. Google for list of therapists and psychs in your area, call them.
Mention you've been struggling with these symptoms for years and there has been a lot of discussion online about, you're not sure if you have a real case or something else, but you'd like to do some evaluations.
They'll usually tell you if they'll do that, or not, and could often refer you to someone who would.
Speaking as an almost-40 whose ADHD was untreated until recently: Contrary to your suggestion, being almost 40 did not make the process of navigating the medical labyrinth (Canada) to get assessed/treated any easier. Almost like I had an attention disorder or something.
rofl. hard to find a mental health professional who takes our insurance (US) and has any idea how to help.
if it was easy, id have sought help decades ago. love how people think "oh man its such an easy solution" when it is, in fact, a lot of work. My fiance had periods that lasted months, and not a single doctor would even consider looking at root causes "have you considered that maybe its all in your head?" getting the right treatment is in no way easy, especially when its a mental disorder that you can "cope with".
I'm 30 now, and I got my diagnosis and started treatment at the beginning of this year. I live in a second-hand country, and our culture has been shaped into what it is now by communism and decades of corruption. This has a huge impact on everything, medical system included. Getting diagnosed with ADHD as an adult is pretty rare and only happens in a few places, where the doctors have been keeping themselves up to date and are actually professionals.
The first time I went to the psychiatrist to ask to be tested for this was three years ago. They told me I can't have it, because if I did I wouldn't be able to maintain a job, and being able to do good at work, especially as a dev, should be impossible. They said I'm depressive and put me on SSRIs that fucked me up for 6 months.
I was depressive, been like this ever since I was able to reason for myself and figured out that neither me nor others know what the f* this whole thing I'm waking up is, but my depression is my always-there companion, that keeps me humble and thoughtful of life. What the SSRIs did to me was very different, and much, much worse.
Adult testing is a thing, and I'm not mad at all for not getting a diagnosis earlier, I'm just grateful that it happened at all.
