How to get prescribed ADHD medication in the Netherlands, a guide based on real world success:
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@0xabad1dea As beautifully portrayed as it is, this seems somehow unrealistic.
An encounter with the Dutch medical system that doesn't feature being fobbed off with paracetomol?@KatS that happened a dozen times in phase one
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How to get prescribed ADHD medication in the Netherlands, a guide based on real world success:
1) spend over a year repeatedly trying to tell the GP that it’s not going well and you need help. This will not cost you money, only your precious finite time on this earth. It helps if you have a husband to drag you to the doctor when you’re at your lowest and argue with them
2) finally get escalated to a psychologist who takes a few months to be sure there’s definitely something wrong. She will recommend the GP to prescribe ADHD medication
3) Your prescription mysteriously disappears into the system. After several attempts to follow up that take months, and several confused phone calls from your psychologist to the GP, it turns out the GP refuses to authorize it because *shrug* reasons. Maybe if a psychiatrist also signs off on it?
4) You attempt to get an appointment with a psychiatrist. Every psychiatrist in the Netherlands is booked until 2034.
5) Finally, after a dozen rounds of pleading and nagging, you get a mysterious phone call from an unknown number. They give you an address and tell you to be there at 7 in the evening.
6) You find yourself at the door of a historic art deco mansion in the most exclusive district of Amsterdam. There is absolutely no indication that this is a medical practice. You ring the doorbell. Nothing happens. You wait nervously, and try again.
7) The door creaks open. An elderly man wearing crocs stands before you. He silently bids you follow him up a winding staircase to a parlor filled with a thousand thick and aging books in every tongue of the earth and perhaps a few also of the angels. They concern prophecy, and music, and poetry, and the apocalypse.
In a thin whisper of a voice barely to be heard, he asks your name, and where you were born. He slowly, very slowly, so slowly that you think you have died and this is purgatory, types this into a computer. It is in his lap because his desk is covered with strange devices beyond identification. 9) He tells you the prescription will be ready for pickup tomorrow.
@0xabad1dea I was lucky enough to be able to make use of my italian prescription here and convince my GP to prescribe me the same medication in the netherlands. however, switching to lisdex from medikinet was months and months of constant appointments which included a lot of pointless ones where we achieved nothing, some that led to getting my dose of medikinet halved, some that led to getting proposed to switch to xr+ir, and some that led to getting reverted to ir multiple times a day. the first time I tried to convince them to switch me over I had given up before I got anywhere, the second time I had enough stashed medication to be able to make it.
I guess the moral of the story is that persistence is the only way to achieve anything medically in this country and that the only accepted currency is time x_x -
@Monsieur_Lepetit it’s not limited to psychiatrists — the system as a whole is perpetually understaffed just enough that it clogs but doesn’t collapse entirely. If you have an urgent, life threatening problem, you will receive urgent care; otherwise waiting times stretch into months
@0xabad1dea @Monsieur_Lepetit Not even that is guaranteed tbh, especially if you're a more complex case. I almost got denied timely help for a suicidal depression because I required a psychologist with expertise in neurodivergence. Got put on a half year waiting list after already calling for months, only got what I wanted (a place in a practice that had space but no funding because of the fucked up funding system) when I went to the complaints department.
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How to get prescribed ADHD medication in the Netherlands, a guide based on real world success:
1) spend over a year repeatedly trying to tell the GP that it’s not going well and you need help. This will not cost you money, only your precious finite time on this earth. It helps if you have a husband to drag you to the doctor when you’re at your lowest and argue with them
2) finally get escalated to a psychologist who takes a few months to be sure there’s definitely something wrong. She will recommend the GP to prescribe ADHD medication
3) Your prescription mysteriously disappears into the system. After several attempts to follow up that take months, and several confused phone calls from your psychologist to the GP, it turns out the GP refuses to authorize it because *shrug* reasons. Maybe if a psychiatrist also signs off on it?
4) You attempt to get an appointment with a psychiatrist. Every psychiatrist in the Netherlands is booked until 2034.
5) Finally, after a dozen rounds of pleading and nagging, you get a mysterious phone call from an unknown number. They give you an address and tell you to be there at 7 in the evening.
6) You find yourself at the door of a historic art deco mansion in the most exclusive district of Amsterdam. There is absolutely no indication that this is a medical practice. You ring the doorbell. Nothing happens. You wait nervously, and try again.
7) The door creaks open. An elderly man wearing crocs stands before you. He silently bids you follow him up a winding staircase to a parlor filled with a thousand thick and aging books in every tongue of the earth and perhaps a few also of the angels. They concern prophecy, and music, and poetry, and the apocalypse.
In a thin whisper of a voice barely to be heard, he asks your name, and where you were born. He slowly, very slowly, so slowly that you think you have died and this is purgatory, types this into a computer. It is in his lap because his desk is covered with strange devices beyond identification. 9) He tells you the prescription will be ready for pickup tomorrow.
@0xabad1dea I managed to get a psychologist's diagnosis of ADHD in Germany in a walk-in session, no appointment, completely by luck and partly because the online form he usually gives as a preliminary is in German, and I don't down German very well, so he did the assessment then and there in English. That was in 2022.
Since then I've made a few attempts at getting a referral from my GP to bring to a prescribing psychiatrist, but I have yet to find one who is taking new patients and the German medic system is confusing to me.
Also, I'm anyway a bit nervous about taking those medications because I've a history of addiction issues with meth/amphetamine...
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How to get prescribed ADHD medication in the Netherlands, a guide based on real world success:
1) spend over a year repeatedly trying to tell the GP that it’s not going well and you need help. This will not cost you money, only your precious finite time on this earth. It helps if you have a husband to drag you to the doctor when you’re at your lowest and argue with them
2) finally get escalated to a psychologist who takes a few months to be sure there’s definitely something wrong. She will recommend the GP to prescribe ADHD medication
3) Your prescription mysteriously disappears into the system. After several attempts to follow up that take months, and several confused phone calls from your psychologist to the GP, it turns out the GP refuses to authorize it because *shrug* reasons. Maybe if a psychiatrist also signs off on it?
4) You attempt to get an appointment with a psychiatrist. Every psychiatrist in the Netherlands is booked until 2034.
5) Finally, after a dozen rounds of pleading and nagging, you get a mysterious phone call from an unknown number. They give you an address and tell you to be there at 7 in the evening.
6) You find yourself at the door of a historic art deco mansion in the most exclusive district of Amsterdam. There is absolutely no indication that this is a medical practice. You ring the doorbell. Nothing happens. You wait nervously, and try again.
7) The door creaks open. An elderly man wearing crocs stands before you. He silently bids you follow him up a winding staircase to a parlor filled with a thousand thick and aging books in every tongue of the earth and perhaps a few also of the angels. They concern prophecy, and music, and poetry, and the apocalypse.
In a thin whisper of a voice barely to be heard, he asks your name, and where you were born. He slowly, very slowly, so slowly that you think you have died and this is purgatory, types this into a computer. It is in his lap because his desk is covered with strange devices beyond identification. 9) He tells you the prescription will be ready for pickup tomorrow.
@0xabad1dea @confluency This sounds very close to my experience. Especially the 'all psychiatrists booked up' thing. Even with a pre-existing diagnosis, it took 3 full years to get into the queue for getting a medication prescription.
Does ADHD centraal still exist? It was a private facility that did a kind of 1 stop diagnosis and medication shop, but was seen as purely money making and medically dodgy. I never went but did recommend to parents of already diagnosed kids a few times.
1/2 -
@0xabad1dea I managed to get a psychologist's diagnosis of ADHD in Germany in a walk-in session, no appointment, completely by luck and partly because the online form he usually gives as a preliminary is in German, and I don't down German very well, so he did the assessment then and there in English. That was in 2022.
Since then I've made a few attempts at getting a referral from my GP to bring to a prescribing psychiatrist, but I have yet to find one who is taking new patients and the German medic system is confusing to me.
Also, I'm anyway a bit nervous about taking those medications because I've a history of addiction issues with meth/amphetamine...
@theWeaver @0xabad1dea
I guess you would need a decent psychiatrist to make sure with that one. AFAIK, not all the classes of stimulant drugs are meth-adjacent.But possibly, those problems you had were you trying to self-medicate.
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@0xabad1dea @confluency This sounds very close to my experience. Especially the 'all psychiatrists booked up' thing. Even with a pre-existing diagnosis, it took 3 full years to get into the queue for getting a medication prescription.
Does ADHD centraal still exist? It was a private facility that did a kind of 1 stop diagnosis and medication shop, but was seen as purely money making and medically dodgy. I never went but did recommend to parents of already diagnosed kids a few times.
1/2@0xabad1dea This is the place: https://adhdcentraal.nl
and this is the investigative journalist article through which I found it:
https://fondsbjp.nl/publicaties/in-de-adhd-fabriek-is-de-diagnose-binnen-een-dag-gesteld/
@confluency -
How to get prescribed ADHD medication in the Netherlands, a guide based on real world success:
1) spend over a year repeatedly trying to tell the GP that it’s not going well and you need help. This will not cost you money, only your precious finite time on this earth. It helps if you have a husband to drag you to the doctor when you’re at your lowest and argue with them
2) finally get escalated to a psychologist who takes a few months to be sure there’s definitely something wrong. She will recommend the GP to prescribe ADHD medication
3) Your prescription mysteriously disappears into the system. After several attempts to follow up that take months, and several confused phone calls from your psychologist to the GP, it turns out the GP refuses to authorize it because *shrug* reasons. Maybe if a psychiatrist also signs off on it?
4) You attempt to get an appointment with a psychiatrist. Every psychiatrist in the Netherlands is booked until 2034.
5) Finally, after a dozen rounds of pleading and nagging, you get a mysterious phone call from an unknown number. They give you an address and tell you to be there at 7 in the evening.
6) You find yourself at the door of a historic art deco mansion in the most exclusive district of Amsterdam. There is absolutely no indication that this is a medical practice. You ring the doorbell. Nothing happens. You wait nervously, and try again.
7) The door creaks open. An elderly man wearing crocs stands before you. He silently bids you follow him up a winding staircase to a parlor filled with a thousand thick and aging books in every tongue of the earth and perhaps a few also of the angels. They concern prophecy, and music, and poetry, and the apocalypse.
In a thin whisper of a voice barely to be heard, he asks your name, and where you were born. He slowly, very slowly, so slowly that you think you have died and this is purgatory, types this into a computer. It is in his lap because his desk is covered with strange devices beyond identification. 9) He tells you the prescription will be ready for pickup tomorrow.
@0xabad1dea wow, that is a ride!
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How to get prescribed ADHD medication in the Netherlands, a guide based on real world success:
1) spend over a year repeatedly trying to tell the GP that it’s not going well and you need help. This will not cost you money, only your precious finite time on this earth. It helps if you have a husband to drag you to the doctor when you’re at your lowest and argue with them
2) finally get escalated to a psychologist who takes a few months to be sure there’s definitely something wrong. She will recommend the GP to prescribe ADHD medication
3) Your prescription mysteriously disappears into the system. After several attempts to follow up that take months, and several confused phone calls from your psychologist to the GP, it turns out the GP refuses to authorize it because *shrug* reasons. Maybe if a psychiatrist also signs off on it?
4) You attempt to get an appointment with a psychiatrist. Every psychiatrist in the Netherlands is booked until 2034.
5) Finally, after a dozen rounds of pleading and nagging, you get a mysterious phone call from an unknown number. They give you an address and tell you to be there at 7 in the evening.
6) You find yourself at the door of a historic art deco mansion in the most exclusive district of Amsterdam. There is absolutely no indication that this is a medical practice. You ring the doorbell. Nothing happens. You wait nervously, and try again.
7) The door creaks open. An elderly man wearing crocs stands before you. He silently bids you follow him up a winding staircase to a parlor filled with a thousand thick and aging books in every tongue of the earth and perhaps a few also of the angels. They concern prophecy, and music, and poetry, and the apocalypse.
In a thin whisper of a voice barely to be heard, he asks your name, and where you were born. He slowly, very slowly, so slowly that you think you have died and this is purgatory, types this into a computer. It is in his lap because his desk is covered with strange devices beyond identification. 9) He tells you the prescription will be ready for pickup tomorrow.
@0xabad1dea This is not the first story I have heard of this being a problem in NL. IIRC @tanepiper was challenged on meds and existing diagnosis.
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How to get prescribed ADHD medication in the Netherlands, a guide based on real world success:
1) spend over a year repeatedly trying to tell the GP that it’s not going well and you need help. This will not cost you money, only your precious finite time on this earth. It helps if you have a husband to drag you to the doctor when you’re at your lowest and argue with them
2) finally get escalated to a psychologist who takes a few months to be sure there’s definitely something wrong. She will recommend the GP to prescribe ADHD medication
3) Your prescription mysteriously disappears into the system. After several attempts to follow up that take months, and several confused phone calls from your psychologist to the GP, it turns out the GP refuses to authorize it because *shrug* reasons. Maybe if a psychiatrist also signs off on it?
4) You attempt to get an appointment with a psychiatrist. Every psychiatrist in the Netherlands is booked until 2034.
5) Finally, after a dozen rounds of pleading and nagging, you get a mysterious phone call from an unknown number. They give you an address and tell you to be there at 7 in the evening.
6) You find yourself at the door of a historic art deco mansion in the most exclusive district of Amsterdam. There is absolutely no indication that this is a medical practice. You ring the doorbell. Nothing happens. You wait nervously, and try again.
7) The door creaks open. An elderly man wearing crocs stands before you. He silently bids you follow him up a winding staircase to a parlor filled with a thousand thick and aging books in every tongue of the earth and perhaps a few also of the angels. They concern prophecy, and music, and poetry, and the apocalypse.
In a thin whisper of a voice barely to be heard, he asks your name, and where you were born. He slowly, very slowly, so slowly that you think you have died and this is purgatory, types this into a computer. It is in his lap because his desk is covered with strange devices beyond identification. 9) He tells you the prescription will be ready for pickup tomorrow.
@0xabad1dea Fun fact, once you are diagnosed with autism or ADHD in the Netherlands, you need doctor to approve your driving license when it comes up for renewal. Was big shock. Much pissed.
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@0xabad1dea Fun fact, once you are diagnosed with autism or ADHD in the Netherlands, you need doctor to approve your driving license when it comes up for renewal. Was big shock. Much pissed.
@0xabad1dea Like I passed my driving test just like everyone else before I was diagnosed!!!
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@0xabad1dea Fun fact, once you are diagnosed with autism or ADHD in the Netherlands, you need doctor to approve your driving license when it comes up for renewal. Was big shock. Much pissed.
@SecondUniverse @0xabad1dea
Yup. And medical aid won't refund you for the consultation. Because it's "not compulsory". Fuckwits.BUT - according to Mediant (in 2025), you don't need to disclose this when you apply for your driver's licence.
I managed to get autism group therapy without having to get a diagnosis. And this was one of the questions that came up and they checked it. -
and then the final, crucial step is to come home to Odin
amused by how many people are replying/quoting with, like "yeah it's the same here, it sucks" without commenting on the visitation from the angel attempting mortal guise
my fault for not opening with that I guess
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amused by how many people are replying/quoting with, like "yeah it's the same here, it sucks" without commenting on the visitation from the angel attempting mortal guise
my fault for not opening with that I guess
@0xabad1dea you're clearly assuming that heavenly visitation is a rare occurrence when in fact, in many smaller european nations, it is quite common
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amused by how many people are replying/quoting with, like "yeah it's the same here, it sucks" without commenting on the visitation from the angel attempting mortal guise
my fault for not opening with that I guess
@0xabad1dea I suspect Odin is the one indispensable element here.
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amused by how many people are replying/quoting with, like "yeah it's the same here, it sucks" without commenting on the visitation from the angel attempting mortal guise
my fault for not opening with that I guess
I too got my ADHD meds from a wizened old figure who somehow cuts through red tape like it's nothing. Less sure about the angel part, more just he stopped caring about the consequences
@0xabad1dea -
amused by how many people are replying/quoting with, like "yeah it's the same here, it sucks" without commenting on the visitation from the angel attempting mortal guise
my fault for not opening with that I guess
@0xabad1dea I just read through the experience.
I'm glad the old croc wearing man was there for you.
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How to get prescribed ADHD medication in the Netherlands, a guide based on real world success:
1) spend over a year repeatedly trying to tell the GP that it’s not going well and you need help. This will not cost you money, only your precious finite time on this earth. It helps if you have a husband to drag you to the doctor when you’re at your lowest and argue with them
2) finally get escalated to a psychologist who takes a few months to be sure there’s definitely something wrong. She will recommend the GP to prescribe ADHD medication
3) Your prescription mysteriously disappears into the system. After several attempts to follow up that take months, and several confused phone calls from your psychologist to the GP, it turns out the GP refuses to authorize it because *shrug* reasons. Maybe if a psychiatrist also signs off on it?
4) You attempt to get an appointment with a psychiatrist. Every psychiatrist in the Netherlands is booked until 2034.
5) Finally, after a dozen rounds of pleading and nagging, you get a mysterious phone call from an unknown number. They give you an address and tell you to be there at 7 in the evening.
6) You find yourself at the door of a historic art deco mansion in the most exclusive district of Amsterdam. There is absolutely no indication that this is a medical practice. You ring the doorbell. Nothing happens. You wait nervously, and try again.
7) The door creaks open. An elderly man wearing crocs stands before you. He silently bids you follow him up a winding staircase to a parlor filled with a thousand thick and aging books in every tongue of the earth and perhaps a few also of the angels. They concern prophecy, and music, and poetry, and the apocalypse.
In a thin whisper of a voice barely to be heard, he asks your name, and where you were born. He slowly, very slowly, so slowly that you think you have died and this is purgatory, types this into a computer. It is in his lap because his desk is covered with strange devices beyond identification. 9) He tells you the prescription will be ready for pickup tomorrow.
@0xabad1dea In China, it's kind of different. People directly go to specialists without GP gatekeeping, and psychiatrists are more than happy to prescribe medicine.
On the other hand, I feel that the state of art is severe behind and the awareness of neurodivergence is almost non-exisited. For example, many people's understanding of autism seems to still be "children who cannot function at all." Further, a lot of practitioners still believe in psychoanalysis and similar BS
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@0xabad1dea In China, it's kind of different. People directly go to specialists without GP gatekeeping, and psychiatrists are more than happy to prescribe medicine.
On the other hand, I feel that the state of art is severe behind and the awareness of neurodivergence is almost non-exisited. For example, many people's understanding of autism seems to still be "children who cannot function at all." Further, a lot of practitioners still believe in psychoanalysis and similar BS
@lesley I do get the impression that the stereotypical Chinese attitude towards health problems is “there’s a pill for that!”
The stereotypical Dutch attitude is “there’s an inner sense of will and fortitude for that. Take a beach holiday if you’ve run out”
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@lesley I do get the impression that the stereotypical Chinese attitude towards health problems is “there’s a pill for that!”
The stereotypical Dutch attitude is “there’s an inner sense of will and fortitude for that. Take a beach holiday if you’ve run out”
@0xabad1dea@infosec.exchange @lesley@mastodon.gamedev.place
we must find the mythical place of "take this pill and also go on a beach holiday"
