ADHD Psychiatrist New York – Specialized Adult Care in the City That Never Slows Down
New York City Doesn't Forgive Attention Problems – But It Also Rewards Those Who Finally Get Answers
You can’t come up with a faster, harder or less forgiving city than New York. It’s very intense here. Whether you’re a financial producer in Midtown, a media worker in Chelsea, a lawyer in the Upper East Side or a tech professional in Brooklyn, being on, sharp, and enthusiastic is expected all the time, and during all the meetings.
When it comes to revealing and uncovering ADHD, New York City is a place for some adults to both be the worst and to be the best. It’s the same environment that brings about urgency (the brain of ADHD) and it ferociously highlights each and every weak point when urgency isn’t occurring. The project which had been completed at 2am before the deadline. You attended a meeting that you weren’t ready for, or arrived late. The lost e-mail conversation. A promotion to someone you know is as hard as working half as much.
You aren’t a major screw up just because the difference between what you can do and what you have done is a gap. It’s a pattern, and it’s a name.
John C. Shershow, M.D. is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist with over 25 years experience diagnosing and treating ADHD in adults that is practicing in Manhattan. His practice is adult-specific, individually structured and designed for the type of high-functioning, complex client that the city of New York affords to him.
The ADHD Patients Dr. Shershow Sees Most Often in New York City
Most people don’t experience adult ADHD the way they think it looks. Patients who end up in Manhattan, in Dr. Shershow’s clinic, don’t have a blatant dysfunction in mind. Many of them are finding success as you calculated, as measured by others. They are employed at higher levels. They are educated. They are driven. And they are slowly weary from the price of sustaining their energy levels in New York.
Dr. Shershow comes across the following types of presentations most frequently:
The masked high achiever. A life-long of ADHD traits have been concealed over the decades by intelligence, determination and late nights full of adrenaline. What were effective strategies in the classroom and early career are now taking strain as the responsibilities grow, accountability is less stringent, and expectations are more heightened.
The NYC professional with “anxiety.” What they are feeling is known as anxiety – and they know it is anxiety. And anxiety may well be present. But all that restlessness, the inability to finish a work and the racing thoughts that never seem to stop, the inability to get things done are telling me that maybe there is something I can’t get the anxiety treatment to address.
The creative or entrepreneurial adult. There’s a lot of vision and quite a bit of energy and original thinking, but the execution aspects are weak and increasing. There are no challenges with ideas. Follow-through is created through sustained, structured follow-through.
The adult is diagnosed in a different city or era. Years ago, they were diagnosed somewhere, perhaps another state or country, and began taking medication; then they went away from regular psychiatric visits. Today, symptoms reappear, or the once effective medicine no longer successfully counteracts the symptoms.
The person who just received a family diagnosis. A child, sibling or parent has recently been evaluated and diagnosed with ADHD. They sat looking at the report or in their evaluation room and saw themselves; today, decades of confusion are starting to make sense.
All these presentations are unique clinically. The approaches must be specifically tailored to the presentation of ADHD in each person – as it is unfolding right before them – not what it looks like in books, or what it looked like when he or she was seven.
What a Serious ADHD Evaluation Looks Like in a Manhattan Psychiatric Practice
Self-reported symptom checklists are never, and should never be, used as the threshold to diagnose ADHD. Especially in New York City, where there are significantly more highly educated individuals and often more self-aware, the evaluation based entirely on patient-reported screening is not enough.
Dr. Shershow’s evaluation process is clinical, takes a personal approach and is highly structured:
Longitudinal History Across Life Domains
ADHD does not begin at age 40. Now, the diagnostic picture involves seeing patterns of attentional, organizational, impulsivity and emotional activity across the lifespan and in the context of your school age performance and your current professional and personal context.
Functional Impact Assessment
Where and in what ways are you seeing symptoms interfere with performance at work, your ability to nurture your relationships, your ability to manage finances and your sense of control? An inventory of symptoms based on the absence of an actual functional impairment leads to incomplete clinical conclusions.
Differential and Co-Occurring Condition Evaluation
In New York adults, ADHD is typically not an isolated diagnosis. The most often occurring concurrent diagnosis is anxiety. Common others include depression, altered sleep patterns and subclinical burnout. The symptom profiles of these conditions are also generally similar and the use of treating an incorrect condition or a single condition when two exist does not have a significant effect on the outcome, so clinical differentiation cannot be overlooked. It is the starting point of the assessment.
Prior Treatment and Medication History
If the individual has received medication previously, for ADHD, anxiety, depression or any related condition, it helps a great deal to understand what has worked, what has NOT worked, and the reason for this – building a treatment plan that will work for you now is very important.
Collaborative, Plain-Language Findings Discussion
Dr. Shershow discusses clinical findings in a straightforward and easy to understand manner. At the end of the first appointment you will know what they found out, what they support clinically, and what your options are for the future and why certain options are being recommended.
In-Person in Manhattan. Telehealth Across All of New York.
Board-Certified Psychiatrist Dr. Shershow operates his private practice in Manhattan and offers adult telehealth for ADHD psychiatric services to patients in New York State including:
- Manhattan – Midtown, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Chelsea, Tribeca, Gramercy, Hell’s Kitchen
- Lower Manhattan – Tribeca, Rivertown, DUMBO, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Flatbush (WTC)
- Areas of severity: Queens – Astoria, Long Island City, Jackson Heights, Forest Hills
- The Bronx – Riverdale, Fordham, Pelham Bay
- Staten Island and the Upstate NY Region – via telehealth.
Telehealth visits provide the same high standard of care in the same efficient format as in person visits, and are especially well suited for adults with busy schedules, or a person who has already had a face to face evaluation or anyone who would like the convenience of a Telehealth visit that makes it easier for them to get as-of-consistent care.
Why New York Adults Choose Dr. John C. Shershow for ADHD Care
Among all the psychiatrists in New York, it’s not a doctor’s qualification hanging on a wall that sets the right ADHD psychiatrist in the city apart. This is clinical attention, a diagnostic standard, how to be attuned to what life demands of you in this city on a day to day basis.
Dr. Shershow is recommended by patients because:
- Board Certified Psychiatrist – highest psychiatric credentialing
- Specialty clinical focus – attention deficits and hyperactivity/hyperactivity disorder adults.
- Offers Manhattan practice and telehealth services throughout NYS
- Skilled in adult ADHD treatment for the NY metro area for over 25 years.
- No cookie-cutter assessment or treatment plan, Genuine evaluation.
- Successful drugs management – right drug, right time, right dosage
- Concurrent disorder of ADHD and anxiety, depression, and sleep problems
- United Healthcare out-of-network benefits accepted
- Metropolitan member of the American Psychiatric Association
“Professional and thoughtful in his practice; a good listener who is genuinely concerned for the best in his patients.” — Patient Review
ADHD Treatment Options for New York City Adults
But the right diagnosis is the first step and not the last. After evaluation, Dr. Shershow creates an individualized treatment plan based on your clinical presentation, lifestyle and the unique demands that you have in your work and personal life in New York.
Medication Management
If used correctly, ADHD drugs are one of the most clinically effective treatments for psychiatric disorders. Dr. Shershow prescribes every type of medicine, ranging from the initial prescription to dosage adjustments, and continues to adjust the prescription as times go on and the treatment’s effects are monitored. Any treatment program for medication management is not a “set and forget” protocol. It involves an ongoing process that is active and responds to your needs as they change.
Concurrent Anxiety and Depression Treatment
Dr. Shershow treats ADHD and anxiety and depression for the large number of adults living with ADHD in New York who have both conditions. Treating ADHD without addressing anxiety and depression, and/or the other way around, does often yield some improvement. More often, treatment is more effective and efficient when it takes into account all the active conditions.
Long-Term Psychiatric Follow-Up
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is an ongoing (chronic) condition among adults. On-going psychiatric care is not only about maintaining a prescription it’s about ensuring that treatment is fine-tuned as you change. The presentation and response to treatment of ADHD changes as a result of many life transitions such as career changes, relationship changes, aging, and new stresses in life. Sustained improvement comes from regular, planned followup.
Practical Behavioral and Structural Guidance
Neuroscience of your attention is actionable knowledge that can be applied clinically as you will know how your executive function system is different, and what kinds of environmental structures help to perform it. While the bookshell begins with useful information, Dr. Shershow uses it as a part of his psychiatric practice.
Schedule an ADHD Evaluation With a Manhattan Psychiatrist
Anyone who struggles to focus, is inconsistent, or finds that there is a long distance between their intentions and their output is having issues with their career, their relationship, or their quality of life in New York – does not have to solve this thing by herself.
To schedule an appointment for an evaluation for adult ADHD and psychiatric care, call Dr. John C. Shershow, M.D. in New York City.
Frequently Asked Questions – ADHD Psychiatrist New York
Q: What is the difference between an ADHD psychiatrist and an ADHD therapist in New York City?
A psychiatrist is a licensed medical doctor, trained in diagnosing psychiatric disorders, determining co-occurring disorders, prescribing and managing medication. Dr. Shershow is a Board Certified Psychiatrist who offers a comprehensive clinical evaluation, diagnosis and medications as the foundation of continuing psychiatric care. While therapists and counselors are helpful and of great value, they cannot be licensed to diagnose or prescribe. A psychiatrist is the first port of call if you have been taking drugs to treat an illness – or if you’re not sure you should be taking them.
Q: I live in Brooklyn / Queens / the Bronx — do I need to come to Manhattan in person?
Not necessarily. Dr. Shershow has 25 years of experience and provides psychiatric services for children with ADHD via telehealth to adults in NYS. Over 300 patients in the five boroughs and beyond are treated using telehealth, especially for long-term follow-up. Whereas possible, a face-to-face initial evaluation is recommended, other established patients may telephone.
Q: I think I have ADHD but I also have a lot of anxiety. Can both conditions be treated at the same time?
Yes, it’s absolutely necessary to treat both disorders simultaneously for most New York adults with ADHD who are experiencing anxiety. Control of one is not worthy of the effort because control of the other may be required to achieve interest in one. Dr. Shershow has worked with this presentation extensively, and will design a treatment plan from the start that takes into consideration the entire clinical picture.
Q: How is adult ADHD in New York City different from ADHD elsewhere?
The clinical condition remains unchanged. The difference lies in the situations in which symptoms appear, are treated, and likely not even recognised. Prior to the development of the current model, New York’s professional culture (urgent timelines, external accountability, pressure to perform) was a potential trigger for ADHD in some situations, while it could present an outlet to alleviate symptoms in others. Many adults in the city have good crisis alert systems, but not good administrative skills or are weaker in lower stress situations. This “context-dependent functioning” is an important feature of ADHD in adults that should be part of a New York clinical assessment.
Q: Can I get an ADHD diagnosis in New York if I have been managing my symptoms for years without treatment?
Absolutely. For many of the adults, diagnosed as having ADHD for the first time by Dr. Shershow, years of management have taken place, with sometimes mixed results. If not diagnosed on time, this would not take away any clinical validity or the potential effects of proper diagnosis. Regardless when it occurs, knowledge of the drivers underlying your usual symptoms over years and treatment planned for your current lifestyle can really make a difference to you and yours.
Q: What happens if my ADHD medication stops working as well as it used to?
The effects of the medications may also change over time from changes in life circumstances, stress, sleep habits, body weight gain or development of co-existing diseases. But when a medication that has been used previously seems to be less effective, that is not a symptom that medication is not effective for you, rather it is a clinical sign. A thorough review and modification of your medication plan (if needed) is the next step.
Q: Does Dr. Shershow treats adults who were diagnosed with ADHD as children but have not had ongoing psychiatric care?
Yes. Some adults with childhood ADHD find their way to Dr. Shershow just because their care was disconnected – maybe because they left school, moved to a new city or, unfortunately, because they didn’t follow-up on their appointment. It’s always helpful to do an evaluation because the presentation of adult ADHD often is different from the presentation in childhood and treatment recommendations evolve. It’s easy to get back into psychiatric treatment regardless when you have not been in treatment.
Q: Does Dr. Shershow accepts insurance for ADHD care in New York?
Dr. Shershow is out-of-network for United Healthcare. Of course, patients can usually get reimbursements from their insurance for out-of-network psychiatric care. Documenting is provided to support out-of-network claims for the office. Specifics of coverage will be different for each plan, so please be sure to check with your insurance provider regarding your “Out of Network” benefit amount before your initial appointment.
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. “