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My therapist diagnosed me with ADD, I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of people. Turned out I don’t have that, but have childhood trauma. Trauma and ADD have a lot of similar symptoms. Once I started addressing the trauma, my symptoms went away.
Anxiety too.
For me it's the other way around. My ADHD caused depression and anxiety. Without the panic attacks, I wouldn't have gone to a therapist in the first place.
I’m not an expert but I believe that anxiety is linked to trauma - Ie: the family dysfunction is causing your anxiety and you were never taught healthy coping skills to deal with all of that…
"It's crazy how if you don't have any symptoms of a neurodevelopmental disease, you don't get hardcore stimulants for daily use as a child."
You can get good grades and still constantly get called lazy, be berated for not applying yourself more. Constantly wondering why no matter how hard you try to still somehow don't do any better than if you make no effort at all but whatever you still get good grades. Who cares if you leave all your assignments for the last minute and then finish them all in a panic the night before they're due. Or if you just crutch on way too many energy drinks because they're effectively the same thing as medication only way worse for you health wise because you have no concept of the fact that the reason you like them so much is they make your symptoms more manageable.
Also, you know that stimulants aren't the only treatment someone with ADHD gets right? When you know there's a problem that isn't just "you're lazy" you can learn coping strategies that are worthless to people without ADHD and therefore nothing you'll get yelled at to do by the adults in your life.
You can get good grades and still constantly get called lazy, be berated for not applying yourself more. Constantly wondering why no matter how hard you try to still somehow don’t do any better than if you make no effort at all but whatever you still get good grades. Who cares if you leave all your assignments for the last minute and then finish them all in a panic the night before they’re due. Or if you just crutch on way too many energy drinks because they’re effectively the same thing as medication only way worse for you health wise because you have no concept of the fact that the reason you like them so much is they make your symptoms more manageable.
I don't see how any of that relates. I mean, I see you're trying to argue that as the basis for a diagnosis of an attention deficit disorder, but what you've written is completely normal.
Seems like you're basing your reasoning on "well this speed I take actually helps me focus". Yeah? And the alcohol people drink make them drunk? That's what stimulants do they give you energy to help you focus.
Nowadays literally anything will net you a diagnosis for stimulants. It's crazy how easy it is for anyone of any age to get ADHD/ADD meds ie. Doctors pushed it on me as well, for years. Not when I was kid, because then this overprescription craziness wasn't a thing yet. But after 25 or so, constantly. I figured out my health myself. Did get tested several times by clinical psychologists, and it's crazy how generalised the questions are. I genuinely couldn't imagine anyone who couldn't at one time or another apply everything they said to themselves.
I also while at a place in which they suggested, read a brochure which was highly trying to convince that actually kids who use adhd meds are less likely to have problems with other substances in the future. I had plenty of time while waiting for my appointment, so I googled the source for the "facts" on that brochure. Turns out it relied on a study done on a hundred or so mice. I then googled the opposing view and researched whether it does make it more likely kids will have problems with other substances and found a study which was a following of tens of thousands of kids and showed a clear correlation, where yes, teenagers using methylphenidate and other adhd and add meds were more likely to have reported substance abuse issues later.
Like genuinely, call me out on this in 10 or 20 years. We'll see where it's developed. It's not like the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world have ever done anything illegal or harmful or purposefully pushed illegal drugs even to an extent to create a horrific drug epidemic.... riiiight?
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9339402/
Now I understand that adhd meds are far safer than opiates, so it's not that I'm griping about anyone using them if they feel they get help from them. But let's not pretend that there isn't very clear controversy on this issue.
Sure, as medicine develops, diagnosis of not so well known diseases increase. But if you look at the rate of increase of neurodevelopmental orders in general versus the rate of increase of ADHD/ADD diagnosis', it's really hard to explain how the one condition which is treatable by a pleasantly mild pharmaceutical (which imo is far better than caffeine as per physical effects, so I understand preferring it over energy drinks) and which just happens to be very popular recreationally over the world as well.
Or would you disagree?
Cool story bro. Just say you don't believe that ADHD is real and we're all just addicts. You've clearly already made up your mind and you're cherry picking your sources to match your priors. There's not a damn thing I or anyone else is gonna say that is going to make you see that medication is an effective treatment option though it doesn't work for everyone.
Cool story bro, just admit that you don't have the resources to have this conversation instead of defaulting to garbage like that.
It's "cherrypicking", and no, I'm not. You're simply bought into the propaganda because you've never ever questioned this. You've made up your might and won't change it. I on the other hand, go with the evidence.
I'm sorry, English is my third language, is "overdiagnosed" synonymous with "fictional made up disease that's only covering addict scum"?
I'm a proponent for the legalisation of all drug laws. A very strong advocate for it. I'm no "you shouldn't take pills" prude. But like I said, I understand you get defensive about this because you don't have any sort of resources in terms of even being able to discuss what I've said and you think I'm calling you an addict. I'm not. Since you can't discuss this rationally, there's very little point.
Or perhaps I'm mistaken and you too have gone over the rate of neurodevelopmental disorders from around the world in the past 30-50 years (there's kinda poor data when you try to go back further), checked the rate of growth, averaged it out and noted that while they all grow as there's more access to doctors, there's an explosive growth with ADHD and ADD medication. A growth that is unlikely to be explained by anything other than someone pushing them more than is warranted. In other words overdiagnosing.
But I'm open to other alternatives if you have an explanation?
This is true for every psychological condition and has only tangentially to do with grades. There needs to be a burden of suffering (German: "Leidensdruck") in order for a psychological condition to be considered a "problem" that needs "fixing". As long as the the person doesn't have this and society doesn't force anything on that person (because for example they broke the law), there is nothing to act upon. This is also why some famous and/or successful people are crazy. The FBI has done some investigations into the concept of a the corporate psychopath, which can be successful managers, which are undiagnosed psychopaths.
PS: I am no expert
https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/the-corporate-psychopath
questionable correlation between the words "raw dogging" and the pfp. Having said that, this only applies to school, IRL, its shit.
To be clear, you think that's a gendered statement? What's next, you can't call a man a cunt or a woman a huge dick? Get over your weird rules and please for the love of god stop abbreviating ProFile it's not that hard to type letters and thats literally not the meaning of pfp.
what?
Your comment implied you think women cannot use the term raw dogging
uhhh....i was explicitly mentioning they CAN with her crossed eye tounge sticking out.
Just like how gambling isn’t a mental issue if you keep winning … strange isn’t it?
I don't have anything and I never will because I'm never getting tested. I did get "classified" and never had a fair chance at a real education. Even failure meant I needed to be in the program and every success showed how well the program was working. I grew up thinking I would only be a drag on other people. In high school, I decided to start feeling better about myself. Something those years of being removed from class so I could have meaningless conversations with the school therapist never could. I thought the school would support my efforts to fix my education, but I only got pushed down, told "I would be happier without the risk of failure", lied to about classes being full, withheld test results when I tried testing into better classes. I would like nothing more then to get the diploma revoked and seeing as how I never fulfilled the basic state requirements, I should be able to, but like with most things, the written law doesn't matter if no one is willing to enforce it.
Fuck my school. Fuck the "team building" exercises they made me do. Fuck the "opportunities" they provided for me.
As a parent of a child with ADHD, I'm cautious about using stimulant medication unless it's clearly the best course of action. My main goal is to help my child succeed, and academics is a big component of that.
I see many of my son's ADHD symptoms in myself, and I believe I may have also had/have ADHD. Despite this, I've been successful in my life. This personal experience makes me hesitant to automatically turn to medication as the solution for my child. I prefer to explore other options first, unless there's a strong reason to consider it, such as struggling academically.
When my son entered high school he became mature enough to participate in the decision-making process regarding his own treatment. Because of that it was easier for me/us to get him a prescription of Adderall and feel good about it as parents.
Edit: since it seems to not be clear, my son is on ADHD meds and has been for the past three or four years. We talked to him about it and he prefers taking the medication and has had input in the dosage that he's taking.
Unsolicited advice incoming:
Help your kid get a diagnosis ASAP and try to find a medication that works. The drugs are just a tool, but your kid won't know whether they help without trying them.
At some point, they may find themselves unmedicated and down in an ADHD hole — having the diagnosis and knowing which medications may help is crucial to dig out of the hole.
Sorry, if it wasn't clear, he has a diagnosis of adhd and he's on meds.
Counter point.
The medication worked. Suddenly i could pay attention and my grades went up. And those where the main “problems” adults perceived.
My parents where skeptical about medicine first but opted to try because the backlash people gave me for lacking an attention span was affecting me hard. They ultimately believed they where doing the right thing.
I slowly become less social then i already was, lost my appetite, stopped feeling many emotions in general and eventually sank into a deep twisted depression.
I was unable to understand it was the medicine doing this. I was unable to communicate any of it properly because i thought what i was (not) feeling was just normal life and puberty. It was not.
I know and respect that those drugs can help some people. But they completely destroyed me, afterwards it took many years of controversially self medicating with cannabis to restore my original self and feel my emotions properly again. (The mail reason I started was because i read it could be used for adhd/autism and my first experience left me feeling normal and able to take public transport without suffering intens social anxiety)
I fully agree on your diagnosis part though. And i al also not saying medicine cant be the correct tool but its definitely not a clearcut choice.
The lack of emotions is awful. Going to family events or friends parties and it might as well feel like I'm at the grocery store. People tell funny jokes and I make a weird mouthy smile to pretend I'm normal.
They might make it easier to do work you otherwise would not want to do, but the cost is absurd in my opinion.
Seriously. Get them meds and a proper therapist ASAP who has a clue about ADHD. While their brain is still plastic you can train it early with the hope of having a future where coping mechanisms are already there and potentially reducing or getting off their meds entirely. Once you are an adult, it is over. Opportunity lost and time to learn the hard way.
He's on meds (has been for 3 or 4 years), and he has an ADHD diagnosis... What's the therapist for? I haven't seen any actual issues that warrant a therapist, what are you thinking I should be watching out for?
Right now he's doing pretty good in school, he's a little less social than I would like, but that's nothing new. Other than that, he seems a sharp well-rounded kid without any behavioral or emotional issues.
Couldn't think of the word, but not a "talk" therapist. Behavioral or cognitive therapist. Basically, they fill in the gap that medication doesn't and can reduce your dependence on medication later in life. They give you strategies on how to handle the emotional dis-regulation, motivation issues, lack of dopamine, etc. You don't need to be in "rough" shape, or have a really bad case, or anything like that. Medication only helps so much, so getting those strategies in early can make a big difference. Even as an adult it can help and may be something you want to pursue yourself. Half the battle is understanding what behaviors you exhibit is due to ADHD.
I wish I had been diagnosed early in life and got the help I needed, but with the stigma, poor family, and lack of healthcare, I never had a chance. I missed the part where they are a teenager. Please don't assume they are fine because everything looks good on paper, so to speak. Best thing is to present the option and continue to support them and yourself.
I hope you don't take any of this as me saying you are a bad parent or anything like that. I don't mean it that way. I am really passionate about it and a lot of the stigmas against medication has done a lot more harm than good.
I suspected i had adhd when i was 16, begged my mom to go to a psychologist. The psychologist told me i was playing too many video games ಠ_ಠ
Many of us played video games because we lacked any social structure in our lives. TV and video games make people feel like they aren't alone, even when they are.
Its just my opinion but I think you can remedy that by creating a supporting social environment for the whole family to be part of, regardless of what hobbies someone's into.
Edit to add: I didnt mean to imply you should go do this, its just what I think helps prevent the issue.
Yea im 23 now, 2 years ago i decided to go to behavioral health and got actually diagnosed with adhd.
Pretty rough to be dumped into adult life dealing with all that, hope things are going better! Always helps me to remember that even the best of us make tons of mistakes every day. Not sure why little phrases can have so much power though.
Same with autism. It wasn't until I had my master's degree in math and teaching high school at age 39 that it ever occurred to me that I was autistic. A colleague and I had a mutual student, and he told me that he thought she might be autistic and that he was going to refer her to the school's diagnostician for testing.
So I found myself curious about the symptoms of autism, because Rain Man was my frame of reference. I researched the symptoms in the middle of a Geometry team meeting, and everything I read had my sitting up further and further in my seat, until I just blurted out "Oh my GAWD...?!" My colleagues asked what, and I said "Y'all...I think I might be autistic?" They looked at one another quizzically, like they were shocked at my personal revelation. One of them replied, "Wait...you didn't know?!" I said, "....what, you DID know?!?" She was like "Yes! We all know that about you! You seriously didn't know? 😂" HELL NO I DIDN'T KNOW!
I immediately called my mom on the phone to tell her that I thought I might be autistic. "Yyyyyeah...your dad and I always thought you might be." HOLY FUCKING SHIT MOM WTF?????? 😲😲😲WHY DIDN'T YOU EVER GET ME TESTED?!? "Well, you always made such good grades that we just didn't think it mattered that much.
I have since been diagnosed with ASD Level 1, and I think back a lot on my life lived. I marvel at how much easier my life would have been if I hadn't had to develop all of these coping mechanisms myself. I did well in school despite my autism. I earned two degrees despite my autism. I hold down teaching jobs despite my autism. The biggest problems I've had in my life, though, have been personal relationships. I can't imagine how much richer my life might be right now had I known all along how to exist as a self-aware autist in a neurotypical world.
A friend of mine got diagnosed first with add and then autism in her 60s. She felt relieved because she finally understood herself.
My diagnosis was based on a number of tests. One such test was related to speeded processing, basically how quickly a person's brain analyzes things and makes decisions. It required me to look at a series of pages (one at a time) featuring a particular design for about six seconds or so, and to then identify on the flowing page the same design from a group of four, five, or six similar designs (there were more to choose from as the test went on). If I got one wrong, I'd have a second chance to choose the correct image. Two wrong answers in a row and the test would be over.
I was told at the beginning to not feel bad if I didn't finish the test because no one ever does. Well, I did, and very quickly. I made one mistake on one picture, but I'd had it narrowed down to two images, so I was able to quickly recover when I made that one mistake. After a while, after every correct answer, the doctor's eyes became wider and wider, until I finished and she just said, "Welp...that was THAT test!"
When I got my test results, it had me well into the 99.9th percentile. Upon informing me of this, she asked me "Does this surprise you?" to which I replied no, not really. I've always felt like I think WAY more quickly than the rest of the world. And it is both a boon and a burden. It serves me well and will continue to do so in the post-apocalyptic times to come.
But it's also caused me to queer relationships because I don't think about things before speaking sometimes, and - as an autistic person - connections with others are sometimes few and far between. So having confirmation now that my brain really does work this way helps me feel empowered enough to work on myself and that tendency to think/act/speak too quickly, because the relationships I have with people are immensely important to me.
That last bit reads like Weird Al doing a Madonna sendup
Haha, I raw dogged it until I was 23, horrible grades only
I'm 42 and got diagnosed less than a year ago. Still haven't found meds that actually work, but at least I know and have developed new coping mechanisms.
I’m a few years older and also wasn’t diagnosed until my late 30s.
Welcome to the world of mental health medication. It’s a complete fucking mystery to even medical “professionals” which cocktail works for you, until you give it a shot.
On more than one occasion I’ve heard, “Try this one, if you don’t want to kill yourself or anyone else, it’s probably a good one to use. Otherwise, we can switch to another one with even worse side effects and see how that goes. How does that sound?”
Good luck! It’s a long journey, at least in my experiences.
Fortunately got Prozac dialed in after a bad experience with Paxil many years ago. I'd rather the anxiety be better and the ADHD not. Thanks and same to you.