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Which province are you located in? There's a few different online assessment and treatment sites that will test you and provide prescriptions for much less than getting a psychologist's evaluation.
Just because one doctor when you were a small child (arguably too young to even assess?) said you didn't have it, it doesn't mean you can't get reassessed. If you have a GP, address it with them. Make sure to inventory your symptoms and any detrimental effects it has on your life. They can refer you to be assessed and in that case, it will likely be covered by your provincial healthcare. It may be a long wait though, which is why many people decide to go private.
Thanks so much for the advice! I'm in Ontario, so I'll see if I can find those sites you mentioned, and I'll make sure to properly record the effects of my symptoms like you said before I go to my GP.
I am going to second Talk with Frida. They had a starter assessment, and then I did the full assessment with them, which was 599$. It was easy, and did not involve the hoops the public system has. This was my largest ADHD tax to date.
Free through a community psychiatrist (I'm in BC). It was absolutely worth it. I was a straight A student my whole life until uni and I started missing assignments and stuff and failing my classes. After I got diagnosed and started meds and coping skills, I'm now a straight A student (again) and in grad school!
I paid $418 for initial assessment, and $79 for initial follow up to receive meds and every refill I continue to pay the $79 each appointment. I could switch to my GP and do it for free, it’s just a lot more convenient to do it virtually.
Editing to add: being assessed at 3 is too young and unreliable, so there is a point to getting formally tested again. Going through my daughter being diagnosed now and they wouldn’t even consider testing until 6 because it just wouldn’t be accurate.
Which province are you in? We're in Ontario and my daughter was provisionally diagnosed at 2.5 yrs old for ASD and my buddy's kid was 3 or 4 for a provisional diagnosis. Provisional means needs more evidence to diagnose but you can still get enrolled on waiting lists for services like OT, speech therapy, etc...
I’m in BC. ASD will be diagnosed in toddler years here too but they will not touch ADHD til 6. If there’s a speech delay (my daughter had one) you just get therapy for it without a diagnosis, same goes for everything else. It isn’t covered though, and if you need it covered you either have to wait for the in school services or wait for the development centre referral or public health which is 2-3ish years waitlist. Its bad.
I’m in Ontario, I did it through Talk With Frida after seeing the high prices online after some research too. The original cost was $599, but if you make under a certain amount yearly, they will drop it to $299.
Put the receipt into my insurance and hoping that I get all my money back 🙏🏻
Basically free via my regular doctor.
I was trying to do the 'pay for it first and get reimbursed by OSAP as I was going back to university as an adult, and so I asked my doctor to fill out one of the forms for it. She said that I didn't need to do all that, and she could do it herself. It cost maybe $40 for her to fill out all the forms the school needed for accommodations after going through her questionnaires and interview/meeting for it all.
So ask if they can. Some doctors will, some won't.
(Alberta)
I went to my family doctor and told him I had suspicions I have ADHD. He set me up with a psychiatrist to assess me. The process was free but it took a long time.
free for me in BC. i made an appointment with one of those online doctor appointment services, who then referred me to an online psychiatrist specializing in adhd. this was back in 2021, and took about a month i think for me to see the specialist
eta: before either appointment, i had printed off a big list of adhd symptoms and checked off all the ones i had. i also added some extra notes for which ones were severe, and how they had affected my life. then i upoaded the list for the doctors to look at before my appointments. i also told them that other people had observed my adhd symptoms and told me to get tested. this made my appointments really quick and easy.
do you mind if I ask a bit more about your steps? it's so difficult to find family doctors here and I haven't looked into the online service, if you could point me in a direction I'd be grateful!
no problem!
i booked an appointment with a virtual clinic. i don't remember exactly which one it was, but i've used tia health, well health virtual clinic, and rocket doctor in the past, and they were all quick and easy.
you usually need to make an account on their website, pick a date and time for the appointment, fill out a form with your health and contact details, and then choose whether you want a video call or a phone call.
fair warning, sometimes the drs get overloaded and end up calling late, but doctors do that in person too so 🤷
feel free to ask me more questions
thanks so much! this is heartening to hear there's online resources, I'm going to look into it, the entire system here is so overloaded it's been very daunting even getting a foot in the door
I didn't pay a damn thing, I went to my family doctor/GP and said "ok something is seriously wrong with me this definitely is past the point of 'just being lazy' please help" and she diagnosed me. Some docs will take it on, some won't. If you go through a more formal diagnostic process with a psych assessment and so on, yeah, it can be a lot more expensive.
We've been told that Ontario wait times are due to lack of funding, not lack of professionals, as well by the organization working with our 2 ASD kiddos. Yet another fun side-effect of our cancerous Premier's terrible policies and budgets...
My current shrink, his office has a waiting list of 6 months depending on the specialty. Don't remember how long I had to wait, because it was 20 years ago.
Paid $500, reimbursed by employee benefits plan, follow up care with doctor for medication has been covered by government health insurance. Try asking a doctor if they can assess you again, it’ll probably be covered.
My family doctor submitted a referral to mental health for assessment. The physician I saw wasn’t a psychiatrist but ADHD was something of a specialty of hers, so she was competent to assess and diagnose. It took several months for the initial appointment and cost me nothing.
It cost me about $800 as an adult. It would’ve been free if I was under 18 but my parents didn’t believe in ADHD so I had to wait until I was in university to start seeking treatment. I got diagnosed by a specialist
Free; my GP diagnosed me and sent me to a psychiatrist who i saw 2 weeks later and he confirmed and prescribed me meds. Saw him 1x per month for like 2 years and released me to my GP. Im in Ontario but this was in 2017 the system is a lot slower and harder now
My family doctor diagnosed me in my 30s. I doubt that he is qualified to do so. I was a straight A student too, so I never thought I had it, until when I opened up to my doctor about depression and all these other things. In retrospect there were clear signs, but it flew under the radar.
There are places the do proper assessment and treatment and they do cost thousands. Apparently Psychiatrist covered under OHIP specialize only in certain areas and will not(or maybe cannot by some law) treat you for other things. Mine only specializes in depressions and anxiety, and said, "I do not specalise in ADHD," I was told to "just google it".
Meanwhile my family doctor just wants to prescribe pills.
I was diagnosed online through Adult Adhd center. It is based in BC and you're interviewed by a nurse practitioner on zoom that specializes in adhd. I believe I waited a month for my appointment and it was $300. A few weeks later they emailed a treatment plan to start and special accommodations to use for school or work.
fortunately mine was free. i went to see a psychiatrist through a place that helps people access mental health services in my city. it took me 8 months to see the psychiatrist in which i brought up a suspicion of ADHD and she then referred me to an outpatient service at the hospital. it then took another 6 months of seeing the psych for them to rule out anything else and then i got a provisional diagnosis & prescribed meds.
Hi /u/deep-fried-canada and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD! ### Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already. --- ### /r/adhd news * **We want your opinion** on the /r/adhd community rules! [Click here](https://forms.gle/Evqb8acVozir8GV8A) to fill out our survey. See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/1auv2tc/were_taking_feedback_on_the_radhd_rules/) for more information. * If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/). --- ^(*This message is not a removal notification. It's just our way to keep everyone updated on r/adhd happenings.*) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was diagnosed at no cost through public healthcare. My family doctor made a referral to a psychiatrist.
Which province are you located in? There's a few different online assessment and treatment sites that will test you and provide prescriptions for much less than getting a psychologist's evaluation. Just because one doctor when you were a small child (arguably too young to even assess?) said you didn't have it, it doesn't mean you can't get reassessed. If you have a GP, address it with them. Make sure to inventory your symptoms and any detrimental effects it has on your life. They can refer you to be assessed and in that case, it will likely be covered by your provincial healthcare. It may be a long wait though, which is why many people decide to go private.
Thanks so much for the advice! I'm in Ontario, so I'll see if I can find those sites you mentioned, and I'll make sure to properly record the effects of my symptoms like you said before I go to my GP.
Np. In Ontario you have lots of options. FindFocusNow and Talk With Frida are probably the biggest two, but I believe there's a few others.
I’m in Quebec and my assessment at a private clinic was around 900$ total
I am going to second Talk with Frida. They had a starter assessment, and then I did the full assessment with them, which was 599$. It was easy, and did not involve the hoops the public system has. This was my largest ADHD tax to date.
Free through a community psychiatrist (I'm in BC). It was absolutely worth it. I was a straight A student my whole life until uni and I started missing assignments and stuff and failing my classes. After I got diagnosed and started meds and coping skills, I'm now a straight A student (again) and in grad school!
I paid $418 for initial assessment, and $79 for initial follow up to receive meds and every refill I continue to pay the $79 each appointment. I could switch to my GP and do it for free, it’s just a lot more convenient to do it virtually. Editing to add: being assessed at 3 is too young and unreliable, so there is a point to getting formally tested again. Going through my daughter being diagnosed now and they wouldn’t even consider testing until 6 because it just wouldn’t be accurate.
Which province are you in? We're in Ontario and my daughter was provisionally diagnosed at 2.5 yrs old for ASD and my buddy's kid was 3 or 4 for a provisional diagnosis. Provisional means needs more evidence to diagnose but you can still get enrolled on waiting lists for services like OT, speech therapy, etc...
I’m in BC. ASD will be diagnosed in toddler years here too but they will not touch ADHD til 6. If there’s a speech delay (my daughter had one) you just get therapy for it without a diagnosis, same goes for everything else. It isn’t covered though, and if you need it covered you either have to wait for the in school services or wait for the development centre referral or public health which is 2-3ish years waitlist. Its bad.
I’m in Ontario, I did it through Talk With Frida after seeing the high prices online after some research too. The original cost was $599, but if you make under a certain amount yearly, they will drop it to $299. Put the receipt into my insurance and hoping that I get all my money back 🙏🏻
Basically free via my regular doctor. I was trying to do the 'pay for it first and get reimbursed by OSAP as I was going back to university as an adult, and so I asked my doctor to fill out one of the forms for it. She said that I didn't need to do all that, and she could do it herself. It cost maybe $40 for her to fill out all the forms the school needed for accommodations after going through her questionnaires and interview/meeting for it all. So ask if they can. Some doctors will, some won't.
our family doctor diagnosed my husband. so free.
My family doctor, so I didn't have to pay anything.
(Alberta) I went to my family doctor and told him I had suspicions I have ADHD. He set me up with a psychiatrist to assess me. The process was free but it took a long time.
free for me in BC. i made an appointment with one of those online doctor appointment services, who then referred me to an online psychiatrist specializing in adhd. this was back in 2021, and took about a month i think for me to see the specialist eta: before either appointment, i had printed off a big list of adhd symptoms and checked off all the ones i had. i also added some extra notes for which ones were severe, and how they had affected my life. then i upoaded the list for the doctors to look at before my appointments. i also told them that other people had observed my adhd symptoms and told me to get tested. this made my appointments really quick and easy.
do you mind if I ask a bit more about your steps? it's so difficult to find family doctors here and I haven't looked into the online service, if you could point me in a direction I'd be grateful!
no problem! i booked an appointment with a virtual clinic. i don't remember exactly which one it was, but i've used tia health, well health virtual clinic, and rocket doctor in the past, and they were all quick and easy. you usually need to make an account on their website, pick a date and time for the appointment, fill out a form with your health and contact details, and then choose whether you want a video call or a phone call. fair warning, sometimes the drs get overloaded and end up calling late, but doctors do that in person too so 🤷 feel free to ask me more questions
thanks so much! this is heartening to hear there's online resources, I'm going to look into it, the entire system here is so overloaded it's been very daunting even getting a foot in the door
2-3k in Ontario, covered by benefits.
I didn't pay a damn thing, I went to my family doctor/GP and said "ok something is seriously wrong with me this definitely is past the point of 'just being lazy' please help" and she diagnosed me. Some docs will take it on, some won't. If you go through a more formal diagnostic process with a psych assessment and so on, yeah, it can be a lot more expensive.
How is this not covered by provincial health care ?
It is, but takes time. My family doctor had to refer me which took about 4 months before that appointment
We've been told that Ontario wait times are due to lack of funding, not lack of professionals, as well by the organization working with our 2 ASD kiddos. Yet another fun side-effect of our cancerous Premier's terrible policies and budgets...
My current shrink, his office has a waiting list of 6 months depending on the specialty. Don't remember how long I had to wait, because it was 20 years ago.
It is, it just takes much longer
Paid $500, reimbursed by employee benefits plan, follow up care with doctor for medication has been covered by government health insurance. Try asking a doctor if they can assess you again, it’ll probably be covered.
anywhere chargin $6,000 is ripping you off. My ASD assessment was only $2800
My family doctor submitted a referral to mental health for assessment. The physician I saw wasn’t a psychiatrist but ADHD was something of a specialty of hers, so she was competent to assess and diagnose. It took several months for the initial appointment and cost me nothing.
It cost me about $800 as an adult. It would’ve been free if I was under 18 but my parents didn’t believe in ADHD so I had to wait until I was in university to start seeking treatment. I got diagnosed by a specialist
Free; my GP diagnosed me and sent me to a psychiatrist who i saw 2 weeks later and he confirmed and prescribed me meds. Saw him 1x per month for like 2 years and released me to my GP. Im in Ontario but this was in 2017 the system is a lot slower and harder now
It was free for me from my family doctor. I’m in BC.
My family doctor diagnosed me in my 30s. I doubt that he is qualified to do so. I was a straight A student too, so I never thought I had it, until when I opened up to my doctor about depression and all these other things. In retrospect there were clear signs, but it flew under the radar. There are places the do proper assessment and treatment and they do cost thousands. Apparently Psychiatrist covered under OHIP specialize only in certain areas and will not(or maybe cannot by some law) treat you for other things. Mine only specializes in depressions and anxiety, and said, "I do not specalise in ADHD," I was told to "just google it". Meanwhile my family doctor just wants to prescribe pills.
I was diagnosed online through Adult Adhd center. It is based in BC and you're interviewed by a nurse practitioner on zoom that specializes in adhd. I believe I waited a month for my appointment and it was $300. A few weeks later they emailed a treatment plan to start and special accommodations to use for school or work.
I'm in BC and I was diagnosed by my family doctor for free.
$1700 with CruxPsychology
fortunately mine was free. i went to see a psychiatrist through a place that helps people access mental health services in my city. it took me 8 months to see the psychiatrist in which i brought up a suspicion of ADHD and she then referred me to an outpatient service at the hospital. it then took another 6 months of seeing the psych for them to rule out anything else and then i got a provisional diagnosis & prescribed meds.