ADHD Treatment in New York – Expert Psychiatric Care for Adults
Living in New York with Untreated ADHD Is Harder Than It Needs to Be
New York City is a city of speed. Expectations are never ending at work, in your career, in your personal life. That’s pressure that most can handle. Undiagnosed or under diagnosed ADHD in adults can be like running a race where everyone has been ahead of you and you can never catch up.
You work hard. You are intelligent. High stakes are placed on performing well. Yet deadlines keep getting missed, conversations keep drifting, projects keep building up and the voice in your head keeps asking why can’t you just get it together?
Effort isn’t the answer. It’s neurological – and it’s treatable.
John C. Shershow, M.D. is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist in Manhattan with 25+ years of experience treating ADHD in adults. Dr. Shershow provides the breadth of individual, expert psychiatric care that the fast-paced environment of New York demands, whether it is a formal diagnosis for the first time or you are looking for more consistent and thorough psychiatric management of a condition you already know you have.
Why Adults in New York Seek ADHD Treatment – And Why So Many Wait Too Long
High functioning adults abound in New York, having spent years trying to manage their ADHD symptoms by sheer willpower, late nights, and complex workarounds, without even knowing there was a name for what they were feeling.
Many adults who eventually seek an ADHD evaluation in New York City describe years of:
- Although it is clear that he/she is smart, the reason for these labels is scattered, inconsistent or underperforming work.
- Being late, missing appointments, or failing to keep appointments, even with much effort to stay on top of things.
- Getting off to a flying start and slowing down before completing the project
- Mentally fatigued with tasks that other people can accomplish in a fraction of the time
- Working in high-pressure, demanding career settings such as finance, law, media, and tech
- Ignoring what they were facing as personal failures instead of acknowledging them as problems
This lag time is not uncommon and can have serious consequences. Adults with ADHD have reduced career success, relationship problems, financial difficulties, and increased anxiety and depression. Treatment and evaluation by a competent ADHD psychiatrist in New York is not a privilege. For a lot of grownups, it is the one procedure that is the most clarifying.
ADHD Diagnosis in New York: What a Real Evaluation Looks Like
Choosing to get an ADHD diagnosis in New York is important and deserves an important process. A five-minute checklist or a digital symptom screener is NOT the basis of Dr. Shershow’s evaluations.
A thorough ADHD evaluation by Dr. Shershow will involve the following:
Detailed Psychiatric and Medical History
Knowing your entire picture, including how attention, organization and impulse control have influenced your life at school, at work and in relationships.
Exploration of Current Functional Impairment
Right now, how are your symptoms interfering with your work? Your relationships? Your finances? Your sense of self? It is here that you get a picture of what is going on in your life, and not just a checklist of symptoms.
Differential Diagnosis
Often, New York adults have multiple conditions. Symptoms of anxiety, depression, chronic sleep disruption and burnout can all mimic the symptoms of ADHD. These are easily differentiated clinically – the wrong treatment will not help and may be harmful.
Review of Prior Treatment History
If you’ve had medications prescribed to you before or you’ve attempted behaviour change without success, it is important to understand why so that you have a treatment plan that is a good fit for you and your lifestyle.
Collaborative Discussion of Findings
Dr. Shershow explains his clinical findings, rather than in clinical jargon, but in simple, direct language that will make things clear to you about what is happening and what the choices are.
In-Person & Telehealth ADHD Care in New York
Dr. Shershow maintains practice in Manhattan and provides care for adults across NYC (Midtown, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Chelsea, Tribeca, Brooklyn communities) and statewide (via telehealth).
With telehealth ADHD treatment, Dr. Shershow can help New York adults who:
- Difficult work schedules that require in-office visits
- Do not live in Manhattan but require the expertise of a specialist there?
- Would rather have appointments at home than in an office
- Have already had a face-to-face consultation and are in regular psychiatric follow up
ADHD telehealth psychiatric services, like telepsychiatric evaluations, diagnosis and counseling, and medication management, are provided at the same quality and rigor as face-to-face services. It has become a widely accepted and accepted common practice in New York State.
What Makes Adult ADHD Different in a City Like New York
Not all psychiatrists are able to deal with adult ADHD in a New York setting. The symptoms can be hidden for years within the city’s professional culture: Adrenaline, deadlines, high-energy settings to stay focused. So that pressure performer can totally melt down when the pressure’s on, and totally fall apart when the pressure’s off during the quieter times, during administrative work, or when the external structure is stripped away.
Common problems that Dr. Shershow encounters in his New York adult patients include:
- The competent, high-performing professional that does not do routine follow-through but does when the deadline is tight.
- The creative individual who has great ideas, but lacks the ability to follow through with the task.
- The career change or grad student who has not had ADHD recognized in a more structured setting, but is now causing major problems.
- Adults diagnosed late when they were a child’s diagnosis for ADHD prompts recognition of the same traits in the adult.
- Cases of adults with ADHD who are having concurrent anxiety or depression symptoms, with a need to be clinically differentiated.
A different clinical approach is necessary for each type of presentation. The subtle aspects that Dr. Shershow’s practice focuses on are for the benefit of the adults.
Why New York Adults Choose Dr. John C. Shershow
It is important to consider the right choice of an ADHD doctor in New York City, as the consequences of this choice are quite great.
Patients choose Dr. Shershow for reasons that go beyond credentials:
- Board Certified Psychiatrist – highest certification for psychiatric disorders such as ADHD
- Adult-focused practice – his specialties are focused on the nature, disruption, and treatment of ADHD in adults
- Located in Manhattan, with telehealth services throughout New York State
- Individualized evaluation – no assembly-line assessments or templated treatment plans
- Expertise in managing medications – accurate, monitored, and responsive to your needs
- Provides out-of-network benefits with United Healthcare coverage accepted
- Member of the American Psychiatric Association
- Established reputation within the New York/New Jersey psychiatric community
“In a professional and thoughtful manner, a good listener genuinely wants the best for his patients.” – Patient Review
If you are looking for a psychiatrist in New York, you will have no trouble finding one. There is a big lack of psychiatrists who have a solid understanding of ADHD and who are patient centered and want to make a difference.
ADHD Treatment Options for New York Adults
After a precise diagnosis, Dr. Shershow creates a tailored treatment strategy for your ADHD that is tailored to your clinical, lifestyle, and work needs. There is no one template to follow, as no two adults have ADHD in the same way.
Medication Management
Medications (both stimulant and non-stimulant) can be a significant milestone for many adults. When used carefully, by a well-trained psychiatrist, modern drugs used to treat ADHD are among the most effective of all psychiatric medications. Dr. Shershow is responsible for prescribing, titrating and continuing medications as needed based on how you respond.
Ongoing Psychiatric Follow-Up
The management of ADHD is not a stand-alone event. Regular checkups with a licensed psychiatrist help you continue the treatment that is best for your current needs, and adjust treatment when life changes.
Management of Co-Occurring Conditions
If you experience anxiety, depression or sleep issues in addition to ADHD, Dr. Shershow treats all these conditions concurrently, not separately. It’s hard to see how treating one and ignoring the other will yield long-term improvements.
Guidance on Behavioral Strategies
In addition to taking medication, knowing how your brain functions and creating structures that work with it is an important component to long-term ADHD management. Dr. Shershow applies the practical advice in his clinical practice.
Take the First Step Toward Clearer Thinking
You don’t have to deal with ADHD without support if you are struggling to function, focus, maintain relationships or feel like you’re in control of your own life.
Dr. John C. Shershow, M.D. is currently accepting new patients for ADHD evaluation and treatment in New York.
Frequently Asked Questions – ADHD Treatment New York
Q: How is adult ADHD different from childhood ADHD?
An ADHD adult is not the stereotypical kid. Internal restlessness, mental overload, and inability to control attention to complex, self-directed adult tasks are more often evident than physical hyperactivity. Adults often also have years of coping strategies that may camouflage symptoms and this is even more critical than in children, for which clinical evaluation is essential.
Q: I function well at work most of the time. Can I still have ADHD?
Yes – and this is particularly true of high-achieving professionals from NYC. Not all symptoms of ADHD are apparent. They may work well in a high-stimulation and deadline-driven environment, but they often find themselves working very hard in a lower-pressure environment, in administration, and in personal or relational settings (because urgency is a stimulant for the ADHD brain). Having normal functioning in some areas doesn’t mean that a child doesn’t have ADHD.
Q: What is the difference between an ADHD psychiatrist and a therapist who treats ADHD?
A psychiatrist is a licensed medical doctor who has undergone training to assess neurological and psychiatric issues, make clinical diagnoses, and prescribe drugs. As a Board-Certified Psychiatrist, Dr. Shershow can provide full diagnostic evaluation, treatment plans and manage ADHD medication as part of ongoing psychiatric care. Therapists and counselors are good, but they are not licensed to prescribe.
Q: Do I need a referral to see Dr. Shershow?
No doctor’s referral is necessary. The office can be called directly for a meeting of the initial consultation. It is helpful, but not required, to bring medical and/or psychiatric records to the first appointment if they may be relevant.
Q: How long does ADHD treatment typically take?
In adults, ADHD typically is a chronic condition that requires continued psychiatric care instead of a fixed treatment plan. Once the initial visit and diagnosis, most patients are seen regularly to follow up on the treatment response, make adjustments to the treatment as necessary, and to deal with any co-occurring conditions. There are some patients who can achieve a stable, well managed condition relatively early; others who need more extended psychiatric follow up.
Q: Can ADHD medication be prescribed via telehealth in New York?
Federal and New York State regulations have significantly changed over the past few years and influence the management of ADHD through telehealth. Dr. Shershow performs a comprehensive medical screening prior to prescribing any medication, following the standards and regulations in effect. He will go over what is clinically appropriate and legally supported during your consultation.
Q: What if I have already been diagnosed with ADHD but want better treatment?
Many adults who arrive at Dr. Shershow’s office have already been diagnosed with ADHD and had some experience with medication, but they feel it is not effective enough, perhaps because the medicine is not the best fit, follow-up care is not scheduled or delivered, or the ADHD is not being treated in conjunction with other co-occurring problems. An extensive re-evaluation and treatment review can help a lot even with a diagnosis already established.
Q: Does ADHD treatment in New York work differently if I also have anxiety or depression?
It is very common to have ADHD in addition to anxiety or depression and it does affect the treatment approach. Some ADHD drugs may exacerbate anxiety in some people, while others may help them with both. The symptoms of depression and ADHD can overlap and sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between the two. Dr. Shershow has a long history of treating these co-occurring presentations and creating comprehensive treatment plans that take these presentations into account.
Satisfied Patients
“Professional and thoughtful in his practice. Good listener. Genuinely wants the best for his patients..”
“I could not have asked for a better first visit with Dr. Shershow. He was kind, funny, intelligent and cared about my medications and what plan was best for me. “