What we need are more vocational schools to give the "hyperactive" among us a realistic, career-oriented outlet.
~15 years later, and I have serious trouble with executive function, I am insanely easily distracted, I have trouble with emotional regulation, I was physically incapable of focusing on something that I did not enjoy for more than 10 minutes, ever. I have no idea how I got through college, heck, I almost didn't. In addition to all this, I was hyper, impulsive, and completely incapable of ever taking a second off, I couldn't relax, at all.
At some point, I saw ADHD somewhere, and I decided to take a more serious second look at it, "what actually is this thing?", and it resonated with me to the core. So after that, I pretty quickly got myself a diagnosis, and not much later I got a ritalin prescription.
I have barely any significant side-effects, I'm calmer, I can focus, I can talk to people without losing my train of thought during the conversation, I can relax better, I can take time to prepare my days and weeks; clean my room, make and follow todo-lists, continue work on a single project for more than a week, I could finally read books without going like "oh huh?!" to every single sound around me 10x a minute, etcetcetcetcetcetc...
My life is pretty terrible still for all kinds of reasons, but no, ritalin doesn't make me feel lethargic -- especially not if I take a slightly lower dose than I'm prescribed -- nobody forced this onto me, I'm not doing this for "compliance" or whatever, I'm not abusing this to be more productive or whatever weird Silicon Valley stereotypes there are about ADHD meds.
Ritalin helps me maintain a relatively stable foundation for my disturbingly disorganized life. It's not magic, and there are real downsides to it, but it really, really helps me very, very effectively.
Taking an antidepressant won't cut it for me, unfortunately. Although I do expect to get on them soon-ish, maybe it'll help a little.
It fixed my social anxiety and made me better at talking to people, which helped with all sorts of human-related problems. People enjoy my company in social situations, and I enjoy my family’s company (I didn’t really connect with many of them before). I used to think I couldn’t relate to people because I was autistic - maybe I’m on the spectrum, but now that I’m not scared of talking to people and am less of a bummer, I can be friends with all sorts of people.
Also made me less afraid to deal with a bunch of other things I needed to change. It makes things that seemed too hard to bother fixing, suddenly doable. Problems that I used to think of as “facts of life” have been solved.
Of course if you’re dying from a terminal illness or something it’s not going to fix that. And, different antidepressants work for different people, and it’s possible that none will work for you. But there are combinations like Remeron + Effexor (aka “California Rocket Fuel”) that are much more effective if the first attempt fails.
Your sister was on the wrong medication. I've never felt that way.
You're more easily molded into an economically productive little cog for the workforce.
Talking about Concerta/Ritalin. I actually asked to be taken off Vyvanse (more similar to Adderall) because it was a little bit too pleasant and disconcertingly similar to recreational substances.
People act as if the idea of a Ritalin zombie is the goal for ADHD medication. It’s not. I’m not going to deny that stimulants do make some people lethargic, but that’s the exception, not the rule.
Do you want to know what it’s like to take medication for ADHD? For the first time in my life I can make choices. I can choose to clean up my desk without something deep inside me rising up to stop me. I can sit down and read a book and not feel the tensions building up inside me until it feels like a rubber band about to snap. I can wait at a restaurant without feeling the need for stimulation itch over me. My mind no longer jumps from idea to idea until I get lost in my own head. I can speak without stumbling over words because my mind is three sentences ahead. I can read a paragraph and actually remember what I just read.
The notion that I’m just some lobotomized zombie shuffling to the strings of my corporate masters is frankly insulting to everyone that struggles to live a normal life with ADHD.
I’m not positive about adolescent applications but my ADD is treated well by Adderall/Vyvanse vs. Ritalin, as the active ingredients in Ritalin made me feel hyperactive and on the others I feel “normal.”
After stopping your course of medication did the original symptoms which lead to the diagnosis go away?