I took DS to a pediatric psychologist who was able to tease out gifted, ADHD, anxiety, depression chicken/egg situation in about 20 minutes. It was awesome. He referred us to a pediatrician who specializes in medication management for ADHD. A psychiatrist can handle medication management, but in my experience, a psychiatrist is more likely to misdiagnose. I am very leery of psychiatric misdiagnosis as I've suffered through that. I have a medical condition of the autonomic nervous system and ADHD, but I ended up being diagnosed with everything from bipolar disorder to an eating disorder! Whoops. 😳
I didn't think that a doctor or psychologist's experience with highly intelligent children was relevant until the psychologist later started pushing reward/punishment systems for behavior modification. (If those had worked, he wouldn't need a therapist. :rolleyes: ).
I think that feeling like one is failing is a normal experience for parents, and that "full potential" might be a myth. Don't beat yourself up for things outside your control. (((hugs)))
