Question: Hi. I have a problem that i have had for maybe 3-4 years. I am 21 now. This problem could also be that i have it for life. I am not sure. I believe i have ADD/ADHD with depression. I have had a good childhood, my parents, friends are nice etc. Nothing traumatic. I believe this because i have alot of moodswings, tiredness, hard to focus. being emotional etc. When i was younger i used to have few close friends. I found it hard to be with people i didnt know well because i feel its hard to understand them. They might make jokes that i dont understand and talk in a way that doesnt make sense to me. I felt sad and lonely alot , but when i was younger i handled my emotions by watching tv and playing videogames all the time. I wanted to be with people but i felt anxiety , i felt wierd and addicted to video games. My childhood from a rational perspective was allright, but i feel there was alot of confusion in social interaction. On exams i allways got really bad grades, but not in classes where i was graded on like a test every week. But i could never get a above average score no matter how much i read. I have alot depression that come and go through my life , it has gone up and down but I can not remember my past in perspective. Since I was about 14 years, i visited the doctor often because I felt tired. Tired as in low mood, sluggish, low self esteem, low motivation to do things, , low energy and poor focus . All blood samples were taken and EEG scan . They found nothing. I continued then to live with this. Could barely get through the second year of high school because I felt tired, sensitive and tired all the time. At the end of this year I started exersizing because I thought that it was the cause of my fatigue + I was 20 kg too much. Through the summer I biked and i went down in weight. Felt better , but had so much energy that i felt i was not in control of, felt restless constantly and lonely. Cycled very long without eating and water. I still dont understand today where this energy came from. During my last year of high school i found out i was milk, sugar and onion sensitiv. I experimented alot with diets and if there was stuff i didnt tolerate, and my well being got better, but not perfect. The core isues were stil there.There was a period where i was sexually active and i felt as if every girl on the street was attractive? At the same time i was also very lonely and i would have slept with anyone just to feel better. I felt so unconcentrated, sad, irritated and just full of moodswings. Managed to get through the last year of high school . I made it through high school with an gpa of 2.4, but i really tried to get a better GPA, i just couldnt focus. I was not really social alot of the time, and i really wanted to focus on it, but i just couldnt remember what i was reading and i felt my memory was soo bad. I struggled with mood swings , unable to focus , sensitive and difficult to focus for a longer time. Even in social situations alot of the time unless its only one person.I wanted to quit school several times. Eventually I started to realize that there is something wrong with me , went a year at university , and i failed nearly all my subjects. I read a lot about ADD, bipolar disorder , depression , aspergers , etc. After been reading alot of this i came to a conclusion i had innatentive add and depression. This was because I had difficulty concentrating , sensitive, tired all the time , hard to talk to several people at once or if I did not know they them , quite irrational . Went to a Naturopath eventually managed to get something that made ??me work better , but I have to take the supplements every 3-4 hours, or the symptoms start coming back. I do function pretty well on these, but people say i am mellow and i sometimes find it hard to feel XXXXXXX and to be enthusiastic or excited. The supplements i got was Reishi, Cordyceps, which i combined with omega 3, multivitamins and amino acid complex, but since i have to take these supplements often and i dont feel they function well all the time i wanted to see if maybe a psychiatrist or someone could maybe help so i came here. I 've read a bit about Concerta , Ritalin , adderal and think that this is something that can help me through the day? How long will it take to get a diagnosis ? Where and how long are the diagnoses valid? Are they valid in other states/countries? How does this work? I am a norwegian citizen and i am currently in the US attending a non academical school, i will be returning in 5 months. I have health insurance that will cover me only in an emergency and not what i have which is chronic. In Norway ADD/ADHD treatment takes very long time because there is alot of waiting time between the appointments and medications for ADD/ADHD are very regulated. Much more than in the US. I believe if i get 12 hour medications like concerta i will have less problems , like i have with these supplements that last 3-4 hours or much less if i eat or drink something with too much artifical sugar or any milk. My body has problems processing alcohol because when i drink i feel like very bad, sad, tired and then afterwards its hard to sleep and the whole next day i feel tired and sluggish. Never any headache just sluggishenes and feeling really stupid. Is this normal? I usually feel a bit sluggish when i dont take my medication from my naturopath. I am afraid if i get treatment there they might not give me medication, i spend a year or more on it and they might just tell me to get a job thats not through university and thats not what i want. I have some academical ambitions that i feel that i want to achieve but i just cant because i have problems reading books for a long time without getting bored, frustrated, unfocused etc. I have spent alot of time on study techniques and i am so inneffecient that i believe medication at the moment is the only way to make me achieve what i want. I do have money to be able to pay for treatment in the us if the treatment isnt too expensive?. I have some money saved up from a job i had in the summer. I believe my problems are purely chemically in my brain and its not the circumstances around me. Currently i live in california and i wonder if i should visit a doctor or somekind of specialist ?And how long will the treatment take?