BC Greens Plan = All BCers Can Access An ADHD Assessment. If

IF They can find a BC psychologist who is properly trained in ADHD, some are not.

IF their waitlist is not closed.

IF they can wait for x months for an ADHD assessment.

This is how BC residents can finally access ADHD assessments that the current BCNDP govt and the past BCLiberals governments constantly denied access to for most ADHD people in BC.

To be clear, this policy is NOT specifically on ADHD. But includes ALL Mental Health conditions.

 Early intervention in mental health care through expanded access to services and increased public awareness.

Include six visits to a mental health professional, such as a psychologist, under the Medical Services Plan (MSP), ensuring early access to mental health support for all British Columbians.

Build on existing anti-stigma campaigns by incorporating feedback from mental health experts, students, and people with lived experiences to promote understanding, respect, and care for people with mental health challenges. Page 14 of the BC Greens 2024 full platform.

With six visits a year to a psychologist, both adults and kids can be assessed for ADHD!

They’re going to start covering psychologists now, and, later, add other mental health professionals; none of the others can do an assessment for ADHD; only psychologists, doctors, psychiatrists and neurologists can do an assessment for ADHD, and only doctors and psychiatrists can prescribe medication for ADHD.

I hope people with ADHD in Canada, and in other countries ask their provincial or state politicians to stop discriminating against Mental Health conditions. And require parity in physical health and mental health.

To include at least six and ideally more psychologist sessions a month paid for under the government’s health plan. If they have one and if not seek parity with MH & physical health in private health insurance so people with ADHD and other Mental health conditions get diagnosed and properly treated.

We really could use an anti-stigma public health campaign for ADHD. So much ignorance and misinformation out there about ADHD, and it’s one of the reasons many people with ADHD avoid seeking an assessment for ADHD. They read or hear so much ignorance, hate and stigma about ADHD that they avoid an assessment for ADHD.

There are many other good ideas in the BC Greens Mental Health policies, I’d encourage you to check them out.

BC Greens have one policy mentioning ADHD in their platform only for kids. They have no policies for the majority of people with ADHD, adults.

Ensure that people with neurodiverse conditions,
particularly students, receive the support and
services they need to thrive in educational settings
and beyond.

Expand the discussion of accessibility to include neurodiverse individuals, such as those with autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia and Tourette’s.

Create environments that are inclusive of all abilities and accommodate the needs of all individuals, including those with down syndrome.

Why Is This BC Greens Six Psychologist Sessions Under MSP Policy So Important For ADHD Adults And Kids?

It’s massively important for adults and kids with ADHD because you can go into any doctor’s office in BC and, by and large, be safe in assuming that the doctor is properly trained in assessing to see if you have Depression or Anxiety disorders and most mental health conditions. You definitely can not assume that for ADHD. Some have no training at all on ADHD doctors tell me, and some have inadequate training on ADHD.

It’s often an impossible nightmare to find a competent ADHD assessment in ADHD-hostile BC, no matter which party is in charge.

As an adult ADHD coach who started and ran The Vancouver Adult ADD Support Group for 17 years and was on the board of CHADD Vancouver for the same time, I’ve heard enough horror stories of medical and therapeutic malpractice, ignorance, disinformation and stigma on ADHD experienced by BCers trying to get an ADHD assessment or get ADHD medications in BC that if I wrote them all down I’d have a book. Or two.

It’s so bad in the 3rd biggest city in Canada, Vancouver,  I’ve been emailing a list of doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists known to diagnose and treat ADHD in Metro Vancouver for two decades. Thousands of times. Because most doctors are not properly trained on ADHD, and their regulatory body, The BC College Of Physicians and Surgeons refuses to require they are.

For the college, their motto in practice is Do More Harm when it comes to ADHD.

Obviously, voluntary CME Courses on ADHD are not working. We need #MandatoryCMECoursesOnADHD

There are NO public adult or children’s ADHD Clinics in 4 of the 5 BC health regions, Fraser Health, Interior Health, Northern Health and Vancouver Island Health regions. All places where it’s even harder than Vancouver Coastal Health to get an ADHD diagnosis.

Vancouver Coastal Health used to have the Provincial Children’s ADHD Clinic at BC Children’s Hospital for decades. Sadly seems BCNDP killed it off and has some individuals who can diagnose ADHD bundled into outpatient psychiatry🙁

BCNDP has further reduced access to the only public Adult ADHD clinic in BC in VCH at Vancouver General Hospital.

In 2017, then BCNDP Education Minister Rob Fleming promised BC’s ADHD students that he would add ADHD as a category in special education so they can have accommodations for ADHD and IEPsForADHD. But he lied. So I and others did a campaign on that.

Find Out What BC School Board Trustee Candidates Said On #IEPsForADHD. Will They Help ADHD Students? 

See the IEPs For ADHD 2018 Election Results And More.

I hope BC Greens ask whoever wins this election if they will fulfil Rob Forked Tongue Fleming’s promise to BC’s ADHD students.

BC Greens are far better for people with ADHD than the BCNDP or BC Conservatives.

Here’s David Eby, Adrian Dix’s and the BCNDP’s plan for ADHD adults and kids in BC.

Here’s John Rustad’s BC Conservatives plan for ADHD Adults and kids in BC.

Not a single word on ADHD in the BCNDP or BC Conservative platform.

It’s not just the BCNDP that has harmed BCers with ADHD. BC Liberals like BCNDP have constantly discriminated against the human rights of BCers with ADHD in diagnosis, treatment, education etc., when in power.

See my tweet on then BC Liberal MLA, Libertarian Kevin Falcon’s ADHD misinformation and stigmatization tweet during his failed BCLiberal leadership race which he lost to Christy Clark from a Vancouver Sun Twitter chat during the race, January 18, 2011.

11 years later in 2022 Falcon became the leader of the BC Liberals, and renamed it a generic meaningless name BC United, then Kevin Falcon ran a disastrously incompetent campaign, ended up polling lower than the BC Greens & in the end knifed all his candidates in the back, withdrew their nominations Aug 28th, 2024 less than 2 months before the BC election, destroyed his party & endorsed far right extremist conspiracy kooks and racists, BC Conservatives.

The party Falcon claimed he would never endorse because they were too extremist and full of far right conspiracy theories.

So now in this BC election only choices are BC Greens, BCNDP, BC Conservatives and a small number of ex BC United MLAs and candidates running as independents.

We might have a minority govt; if so, I hope BC Greens require acceptance of their mental health plan, specifically the six free sessions with a psychologist per year under MSP as part of the deal.

ADHD is not a concern at all for most political parties. See my post. How Much Do Federal Liberals, NDP, Conservatives And Greens Care About ADHD? The only thing that will change is that you find ways to politely explain why they should care about ADHD and what actions you want them to take.

If ADHD people don’t, no one else will. No one else cares about us to take action.

I’d suggest asking them to require ALL doctors to have #MandatoryCMECoursesOnADHD So they can stop underdiagnosing and misdiagnosing us and competently diagnose us.

Check out this video of BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau announcing the BC Greens Mental Health Care Platform

Getting a competent diagnosis for ADHD in BC can be difficult to impossible unless you have the money to pay $300-$600 for a private nurse practitioner, and $80 each visit to them to adjust your ADHD medications (usually takes several visits). Or far more from an ADHD assessment from most psychologists if you don’t have extended medical.

Thanks to Health Minister Adrian Dix and the BCNDP government defacto privatizing ADHD diagnosis and treatment to privatized Nurse Practitioner online clinics via BCNDP human rights violations and negligence and violating their own laws.

For a variety of reasons, the vast majority of BCers with ADHD do not complain to their MLAs or reporters about how badly governments.

The BC College Of Physicians and Surgeons discriminate against our human rights regarding ADHD diagnosis and medical treatment, and left-wing, and right-wing BC violate the Canada Medicare Act & BC Medicare Protection Act on ADHD assessment and medical treatment.

That is why it is so important that people with ADHD, and their family members should call your MLA and politely explain why they should require that ALL BC doctors have mandatory CME Courses On ADHD.

BCNDP government refuses to require all BC doctors to take mandatory CME Courses on ADHD so they properly assess and treat us like the vast majority of BCers with depression and anxiety disorders etc, can expect.

Vs underdiagnose, misdiagnose us with depression and anxiety, etc. or the smallest problem but biggest media and social media coverage, overdiagnosis. ALL 3 require mandatory CME Courses on ADHD for all BC doctors.

ADHD Misdiagnosis Due To Medical and Therapeutic Ignorance and Malpractice.

28% Of Referrals To A Mood Disorders Clinic Had Undetected ADHD.

ADHD Was Also Diagnosed In 22.6% Of Patients Referred To The Clinic For Treatment-Resistant Depression.

Only 5% Of Adults Have ADHD. Misdiagnosis Of ADHD As Anxiety & Depression Are Huge Problems.

Undetected ADHD was present in 34% of Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) patients. 

The number of referral diagnoses (P,0.001), failed medications (P=0.002), and past SSRI failures (P=0.035) were predictive of undetected ADHD in TRD.

Conclusion: Undetected ADHD may be more prevalent among TRD patients than previously thought.

In addition, TRD patients are more likely to present with psychiatric comorbidity than non-TRD patients.

Screening patients with depression for the presence of ADHD and chronic anhedonia/low hedonic tone may help identify patients with TRD and undetected ADHD and improve treatment outcomes.

Low hedonic tone and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: risk factors for treatment resistance in depressed adults.

I think, given the huge rates of misdiagnosis of ADHD as Depression, Dysthymia and Anxiety Disorders, it should be part of the mandatory medical and therapeutic protocols to automatically screen people with Depression, Dysthymia and Anxiety Disorders for ADHD.

Public ADHD assessment and medication is better for ADHD people than private assessment.

There are problems with BC’s (and some other provinces’) privatized Nurse Practitioner ADHD assessments and medication prescription and adjustment thanks to Adrian Dix and the BCNDP’s refusal to allow Nurse Practitioners who are trained to assess and treat ADHD to bill MSP for an ADHD assessment or medical treatment.

Even if you are rich enough to afford it, if you have too many comorbidities or coexisting conditions, they have been known to refuse to diagnose you. Not profitable enough?