Is ADHD Medication JUST Trying To Make Us Like Everyone Else?

As a long term sufferer with anxiety and depression, I was always on last resort terms with medication. I have always had my difficulties but always thought that the solution was to get to the root cause and treat the problem from there (turns out ADHD is the route cause of my troubles). For most of the drugs I have taken, I have had a lot of short term and long term negative effect from taking them, which aren’t easy to fix. Ibuprofen and antibiotics wrecked havoc on my stomach and for years I am still trying to treat this. The pills I got given just covered up some of the problem and didn’t treat it in any way. Don’t even get me started on what the contraceptive pill did to me.

With this back story and trying to heal my imbalances naturally, or whatever you wish to call them, it has been a very long and difficult, but necessary, process. I vowed to never take medication again unless it was to save my life. I could feel so emotionally low, overwhelmed and frustrated but I wasn’t going to touch medication for these issues unless I felt like killing myself. I believe that it is way overprescribed and just a way for pharmaceutical companies to make money. They were evil corporations. People get sick, they go to the doctors, they give them pills, they feel a little better but then these pills bring about more symptoms and more illness and end up killing them. It is certainly true for chemotherapy. You take a drug that has the potential of curing your cancer, with the added side effect of possibly giving you more cancer. But you take the cell altering drug because you are scared and you don’t want to die and the risk is worth it because you have death staring at you, so incredibly close that you can’t see past it. Or that is what I imagine it to be like. At the same time I also imagine that you gain a lot of gratitude for being here right now and you want that to continue and you will never be ungrateful for having this life again. Or so I imagine.

I thought all of these things until I was diagnosed with inattentive type ADHD. Most of my issues suddenly made sense and over a few weeks I began to understand myself a lot better. At first, medication scared me and I felt like I had to try the natural route but after reading a lot of comments from people who live so much better lives on it, I decided it was time to save myself, however cliched that sounds. When questioning whether I wanted to be guided with fear or with love, I ultimately chose love. I decided that I would try my hardest to always chose love because for a long time, fear was my driving force. I deserved my best chance.

ADHD is a neurological condition and I hated reading comments online about how it wasn’t real because I kind of believed them. Of course it is real because doctors have put a group of symptoms together and have given it a name but wasn’t it just a group of personality traits?

‘I’m not a fan of medication. The entrepreneur is not supposed to be focused. Is medication trying to make us focused or is it just trying to make us like everybody else?’ Cameron Herold, a Canadian business coach.

It was comments like this, which put down the use of medication as treatment, that fired me up. I believed that they were correct because it fitted in with my ‘natural is best’ mentality. It was pretty much my ego telling me that you will be the better person not choosing medication.

‘People claiming ADHD doesn’t exist do not have it or simply are in denial about symptoms.’

I soon realised I was in denial. I only thought that it wasn’t ADHD or that medication was not the route to go when I felt like I wasn’t suffering or struggling. When I was in a lot of emotional turmoil over how stupid I felt constantly losing things in plain site, mixed with being overwhelmed in a crowded area with so much going on, I felt like I wanted it - but at the same time I felt like a failure in life and that I should just accept that.

I was struggling with daily life - the mundane tasks were so hard. People with ADHD find it hard to use executive functions and to self regulate. ADHD is an explanation for the way I feel but at one stage I made it an excuse, and I’m ashamed to say that it made me feel good to think like that. I put the blame that I couldn’t function well entirely on something out of my control and something I should just leave as is, which now doesn’t feel completely right. I needed to get out of that mindset because it was holding me back so much.

I began to realise that this way of thinking was just my perspective and that I could choose to keep this one or I could consider choosing another. So, I continued to do research. I found some interesting comments basically they were talking about how in the UK it is really hard to get diagnosed as an adult on the NHS and most end up going private, which costs hundreds of pounds. The ironic thing is that it is often really hard for people with ADHD to manage finances. I have tried budgeting many times and have failed to keep up with it - I mostly just forget I was doing it or sometimes just don’t care. We can also be impulsive with money so end up spending more than we are bringing in. Also many people with ADHD have trouble with school and work. Isn’t this ironic?

Some of the natural ways suggested of treating ADHD are exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet and meditating regularly. Do you know how hard it is for someone with ADHD to keep up any kind of routine that involves these things? I’ve kept up meditating a lot more than exercise and diet but this is only because it gives me a few minutes of peace from the endless scattered thoughts in my brain and you literally just have to sit there, do nothing and close your eyes. Even though it helps a little, the ADHD symptoms can still get bad and when they get bad it can be a lot easier to get off track with meditating, and claim it isn’t helping.

After reading many comments of people in an ADHD Facebook group say that they would struggle so much if they came off their medication and didn’t want to go back to how they were before going on it, it had me thinking why was I continuing to allow myself to suffer?

One particular post, titled, ‘Why successful people with ADHD refuse to take their medication’, took my focus. It wasn’t because of the actual post though, it was the comments written at the bottom to it that did. Below I list a few of the comments from the site. The link to the post is here.

“People were saying until recently that dyslexia does not exist. It is dated and ignorant to state there is no such thing at ADHD. Worse, it is harmful as sufferers will not be given the knowledge or tools to manage their condition, and like dyslexics of old, face a life of under achievement, low self esteem and all the misery that follows.” Leanda de Lisle

Gina Pera’s comments were my favourite and they are well worth a read if you aren’t sure about ADHD.

“Wow. Why would there be any stigma against taking medication, when media outlets write things like this:

"This also applies to the only two well-known British people brave enough to admit taking the meds”

Admit? And you used the word twice in one paragraph. You admit to a crime. You don't admit to taking a legitimate medication for a legitimate neuromedical condition.

I'll let you in on a little secret: ADHD is not ADHD unless there is impairment in life. That is essential to the diagnosis. Impairment—in employment, education, relationships, driving, and myriad other aspects of self-regulation.” Gina Pera

“I just wanted to chime in that medication doesn't affect our value as people. You can still be a good, successful, compassionate person while taking medication. I don't think coming off a medication -- or refusing it in the first place -- represents success or superiority.

Quite the contrary, perhaps you have learned, as I have, that medication opens the door to creating the good behaviors and habits we've yearned for all our lives. And in turn, being able to stick to better diet, exercise, and organization habits really allows us to thrive. Medication is only a piece of the puzzle. Perhaps the first step, and an important one, but it's not as though it's a cure-all. There's still much work to be done.” Jaclyn Paul

“While I cannot speak about children with ADHD/ADD, I can speak about myself as an un-diagnosed-child and now 50+ year old adult woman diagnosed recently. The life I have lived up until last week was one of immense struggle, futility, misdiagnosis', and extreme, progressive negative judgment from all those around me - for over 4 decades. It is my experience that people claiming that ADHD/ADD does not exist, do not have it or simply are in denial about symptoms they're experiencing. It is only through failure for over 4 decades in spite of extreme efforts to succeed long-term with futile results did I finally concede to being professionally tested by a licensed specialist. Now, perhaps I may enjoy the successes so the rest of the world seem to enjoy with half the effort put in to their lives as I have mine.

I did not want to be tested. Yet, the pain and patterns of my life demanded that I do or decide to finally take drastic self-medicating measures through alcohol to ease symptoms, frustrations, and progression of the disorder. I was Zen Buddhist for double-digit years meditating and had to finally stop when the suicidal thoughts and feelings of failure persisted as each year progressed. Now that I am receiving proper treatment, the meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy actually are tools that work. Those who truly have it and strive to be normal deserve respect and kindness.” Bunny Slippers

I found many of these comments to be empowering and helpful in deciding to take medication. I was prescribed 10mg of Strattera, to increase slowly over time. I see my doctor again in three weeks. After researching, this seems like an unusually small dose to start with but I told him I was worried about side effects and he also diagnosed me with moderate inattentive type. I struggle on a day to day basis so I hate to think what those with severe ADHD go through.

Overall, I have learnt that life doesn’t have to be difficult. I was making it extremely hard for myself to cope with my issues and to accept treatment. A little shift in perspective gave me some clarity with how much easier it could be. I’m not saying that everyone should take medication but I am saying you should listen to all sides before making a decision about it. Of course there are dangerous side effects that can be caused from taking them long term but isn't there a risk every time you get in the car to go out for the day or every time you take paracetamol or your cold remedies. Okay poor examples, but I just want to try to dissolve the stigma around taking medication just a tiny little bit.

I have started the medication today and within an hour I was feeling sleepy and this increased over time, until I couldn’t really do much but lie down. At about four o’clock I started to regain energy. I have been feeling spacey and really relaxed, as if stoned. I also feel like my movements and thoughts have slowed down. My anxiety has reduced incredibly over such a small dose. I have read that the side effects will dramatically decrease over a couple of weeks to a couple of months. Although, I am seeing positive effects already, these could be just a placebo effect or a result of the drowsiness. I also intend to purchase a CBT workbook. I will keep this blog updated with my continued efforts in treating my ADHD.

Sources:

All quotes listed were taking from this page: https://health.spectator.co.uk/why-successful-people-with-adhd-refuse-to-take-their-medicine/

Also worth a read:

Why do people feel the need to tell people not to take antidepressants? Ellen Scott

Anxiety disorder: Medication has helped me so why are we afraid of it? Violet Fenn

https://totallyadd.com/blog/the-best-thing-said-about-adhd-medication/