It's amazing how much more functional we are as a whole when we're medicated
It's amazing how much more functional we are as a whole when we're medicated
I take Ritalin 10mg on a needs basis since I generally have functioned 'alright' into adulthood.
Just took one to get some work done today and it still amazes me how normal I feel about doing work once I'm medicated. Like there's no massive hurdle to even starting. No massive reluctance and task paralysis to fight.
Coming from a whole week where I've been procrastinating on whatever isn't urgent, suddenly it's so easy to just... do.
I also get incredibly chatty (hence the post, lol), but yeah. I can't imagine how life changing it must be for people who struggle even worse with executive dysfunction.
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There's something I strongly dislike about the idea of medication helping those with ADHD to function or making us 'normal'. I would argue medication allows us to cope within the constraints of a society that wasn't built for us or by us and (at least for now) will not accommodate difference to White, Western (capitalist) heteronormative values. We are required to work in order to live (and our value, therefore, comes from our ability to produce) and so we need to cope within that work which is often oppressive, controlling and othering.
I'm sorry if it seems like I'm trying to derail your post, it is not my intention, this is a topic I have been thinking a lot about for the past few weeks.
I have heard that ADHD is only a problem on modern society and in the past we were the hunters as opposed to the farmers. We needed the ability to hyper focus on the landscape and watch for threats but suck at farming as it requires long term effort.
That said, what is the alternative to being medicated if we have to live in this society?
For the first 39 years of my life I was a failure and only when medicated has my life improved infinitely.
This is exactly my point and the one I reject - you are a 'failure' because you could not cope in this world. Only when you medicated yourself were you 'improved'. The onus is put on you to change yourself to fit in, rather than for those in positions of authority in your life to make accommodations for you.
The only alternative I can think of would be coaching or therapy, but that will only get you so far in the Western world and really depends on what kind of stresses you have in your life. I am a psychotherapist but I do not believe my job is to help my clients adapt themselves into the moulds they have been given by society. I see my role as being someone who helps them see the restrictions imposed on them, how those restrictions have impacted them and how they can move on from those restrictions to a more fulfilling life. I could be talking about neurodivergence here, or gender, sexuality, race, whatever.
This takes me back to my point above, we are expected to adapt to society rather than society adapting to us. This is the same struggle that oppressed peoples have had since structured society began.
The absolute hubris of this post is astounding. Well done!
Are you going to explain what you mean? I don't understand what these forums are for unless it's sharing ideas? What is an appropriate comment for you? I don't get it. I come to this space to talk about thoughts because most people won't listen to them and I'm shot down by others in this community, that's shitty. You read hubris in my comment, I'm just sharing my thoughts.
Reference? This seems backwards.
I think, but I’m not sure, that the first place I heard about it was the podcast ADHD reWired.
you can do a lot with therapy alone supposedly, but not sure havent tried that yet
I don't hate my task paralysis because of society. I hate it because it stops me from doing the things I love. It's also the only thing stopping me from taking the steps to be medicated. You might personally dislike the phrasing of "normal", but try to consider how invalidating it can come across to say that I should learn to appreciate this part of myself instead of doing things to change it.
White, Western (capitalist) heteronormative
I feel like you have a bone to pick here. There are people with ADHD who are all of those things who still need medication to function.
I'm sorry if it seems like I'm trying to derail your post, it is not my intention
And yet here you are.
I agree. Society was not built upon accomodating the neurodivergent, and we've had to struggle a lot as a result. I've also thought about it a lot as well, so there's nothing wrong with that.
I spent a lot of time growing up wondering why I wasn't "normal", like everyone else. I grew up unable to socialise well with my peers and unable to keep up academically with the demands of my academic environment. I was always struggling to stay awake in class, or focus on a subject I desperately needed to learn. I had to drop out of the sciences because I was struggling horribly and my teacher treated me quite badly for my lack of ability to keep up.
I wonder now if I could've done better if my parents were aware of ADHD and had gotten me the help I very desperately needed, because my mother is still in denial to this day that I'm anything but normal, only lazy, selfish and inconsiderate. I was called a lot of horrible things because of things I couldn't control. I developed depression, but frequent therapy and counseling as of late has reduced how intense the mood swings are.
So, given a choice, I likely would've wished to be more normal in my own eyes.
When I went into university and met incredibly accepting and loving people, I really thrived. It's just sad that many like us have to struggle undiagnosed for such a long time, only to realise that with medication, managing our shortcomings would have been made so much more achievable.
I still spend a lot of my time unmedicated because I've come to accept and love myself, including the ADHD diagnosis that I got on my own last year. The diagnosis helped me find mechanisms that actually work for me, and I'm better off for that.
I am no less of a person in my own eyes, but the judgement of a society is a lot of weight to bear.
I’m sorry you had to go through that and it’s hard to not think of the what ifs, but I’ve done to realise that we can’t do anything about them so it’s not conducive to being happy.
I do feel like society is more accepting these days of people’s differences, at least in my experience and line of work.
Yeah the medication for all it’s pros has it’s cons too. I take methylphenidate XL 36mg. Which is the time released one which lasts all day. But I sweat so much now. I can be sat at my desk and feel literal drops hitting my side from my pits (eek) and thus I always wear a hoodie.
It has also wrecked what little appetite I ever had. Like I never really got the idea of food and I ate to survive, but now I even that is hard at times. I have resorted to taking medication earlier now though so we will see if that improves.
I guess you have to weight the pros and cons and see what works for you.