Sasha Hamdani

So with the levels of dopamine, dopamine, serotonin, you can usually check those.

There are a lot of things floating around with like a urine test where you pee and then they check your levels.

The reason why those are incredibly unreliable is because sometimes

It's not truly that you don't have enough dopamine.

It's just not present in the spot where you need it to be at the right time.

It's a dysregulation.

So there's a couple of things.

that makes a good ADHD diagnostic interview is that not only are you checking for symptoms, but you are simultaneously ruling out other things.

And I think that's what makes it such a complicated thing to do because I have patients who have come in and they're like, I went online for an assessment and it says I definitely have it.

And I'm like, what?

And I understand the thing about ADHD that I know because I have it.

When you are right in the middle of trying to navigate a brain that feels so overly chaotic for you, you are willing to point yourself in any direction to fix it.

Yes, that's right.

That population is a vulnerable population because they are the people desperate to want help.

So I understand why people are taking tests online.

It's just not a super valid test because it's capturing you completely.

in a very subjective manner.

It's not giving good timelines.

It's not ruling out any other things.

So it's giving this very skewed kind of thing.