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ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

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Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#111

Post by hopia »

remote_phone wrote: post #86

ADHD is not a disease. It’s a collection of symptoms that have been arbitrarily grouped together. My son’s psychiatrist who was diagnosing my son for ADHD said that it’s psychiatry’s dirty little secret. Back in the 60s or 70s ( I can’t remember what he said) people were starting to notice that kids were having behavioral problems, trouble focusing etc. So what they did was collect a group of symptoms, and then arbit…

Yeah it may be very hard to discover the actual biological mechanisms in neurological disorders particularly.

But not diagnosing anything would also not resolve the problem for the patient, if there really are specific symptoms.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#112

Post by Philadelphia »

grahamburger wrote: post #110

Any advice for parents of kids who seem to exhibit some of these traits? My oldest son is in 3rd grade and is probably not exactly neurotypical. He really excels at some things (reading) and really struggles with others (handwriting, behavior/following directions.) I've heard horror stories from folks who feel like they were diagnosed and treated too early as well as too late. For folks here with those experiences -…

I wasn't diagnosed until my 30's, and I wish I had been when I was young. So many things that were impossible for me as a kid are manageable now, and I missed out on a lot.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#113

Post by ohbleek »

FisDugthop wrote: post #10

Thanks for mentioning that not everybody responds well to Ritalin. I was medicated with it while in grade school, and it was not pleasant; the school nurse would check my mouth to make sure I took the pills each morning, because I would spit them out otherwise. To this day, I am not interested in taking medication for my mental health.

I can't take Ritalin. I get mood swings and suicidal ideation. Adderall, however, changed my life. Have you tried other medications?

I also find that a vegetarian diet, low in carbs helps a lot for me. But I can' t keep to it very well without the adderall unfortunately.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#114

Post by RankingMember »

remote_phone wrote: post #86

ADHD is not a disease. It’s a collection of symptoms that have been arbitrarily grouped together. My son’s psychiatrist who was diagnosing my son for ADHD said that it’s psychiatry’s dirty little secret. Back in the 60s or 70s ( I can’t remember what he said) people were starting to notice that kids were having behavioral problems, trouble focusing etc. So what they did was collect a group of symptoms, and then arbit…

Quibbling with the classification is missing the forest for the trees here, I think. It's a chronic condition that requires some kind of treatment to be dealt with. People have the same kind of quarrels with defining alcoholism or drug addiction as a disease, but we have limited time on this planet and we can argue about labels or we can spend that time instead trying to address the actual concerns.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#115

Post by monadgonad »

saaaaaam wrote: post #108
ashildr wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now could you explain away major depression using the same logic?

You can yes - in fact, I was listening to “D for Diagnosis” on BBC Radio 4 last night. The show title was “Ever Changing Labels” and a psychiatrist made the point (3’20” into the programme) that what we call “depression” in DSM-V has 9 symptoms and if you have 5 out of those 9 symptoms you are diagnosed as having “depression”. But in reality 5 out of 9 gives a huge number - 15,000+ - variations. So there is no one fo…

> But I’m reality 5 out of 9 gives a huge number - 15,000+ - variations. So there is no one form of “depression”

And? Do you know how many different kinds of cancer there are? We're talking about psychogical disorders that affect people's minds and personalities, of course their presentations are going to be very different. That doesn't make them not real or mean it's not useful to group them together. Diagnosis guides treatment, and most depression responds to the same treatments. You're fallaciously assuming that because there's not a single biological marker for named psychiatric conditions that they don't exist. That's not how any psychiatrist sees it.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#116

Post by noodle_face_ »

viklove wrote: post #100
Mirioron wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I don't understand is - why is it a problem that somebody performs better on medication? Life isn't sports or a game. It's not a competition. Shouldn't people be happy that someone else can keep their life together? That's less of a burden on society. > Ever spent a day off staring at a wall dreading the possibility that you might waste a day until you realize the sun has gone down? That sounds silly and boring.…

> It's not a competition. Are you kidding? Life in a capitalistic economy is _absolutely_ a competition.

Life itself is competition...

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#117

Post by RankingMember »

s_y_n_t_a_x wrote: post #89
RankingMember wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know this, but I take my medication as rarely as possible because I hate the comedown, appetite suppression, and tolerance building that occurs. It sucks, but I had a feeling there was some long-term downside like this. Hopefully lessening frequency to occasional use also lessens the likelihood of what you describe.

Cannabis definitely helps the irritability and loss of appetite. But ironically it helps me even enough as a cure on it's own. I no longer take or need stimulants.

I've tried it but never got anything but crazy anxiety for my troubles. Maybe I'll try something light on the sativa and heavy on the indica sometime.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#118

Post by ashildr »

nicoburns wrote: post #72
RankingMember wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know this, but I take my medication as rarely as possible because I hate the comedown, appetite suppression, and tolerance building that occurs. It sucks, but I had a feeling there was some long-term downside like this. Hopefully lessening frequency to occasional use also lessens the likelihood of what you describe.

This. I will always advise people to avoid medication for ADHD and major depression if they possibly can, not because I have a moral problem with it, but because I've yet to find one case where it was sustainable long-term. (bipolar/schizophrenia/BPD are a different matter. Quite possibly because the medications aren't stimulants).

What a beautiful advise, it remembers me of two friends with major depression who stopped taking their meds and thus will not have a bad long term experience with their anti depressants. One committed suicide last year, one the year before. Oh, I hear you say that they only should have stopped taking them “if they possibly can”. I’m sure their families now know that they possibly couldn’t. I would appreciate if you could work that into your future medical horoscopes...

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#119

Post by Philadelphia »

sys32768 wrote: post #99

I was diagnosed in my 30s in part by the T.O.V.A. test, which gave me surprising insights. The hardest part of the test for me was to stop pushing the button when it told me to. It's hard to describe how difficult that was for me. By the end I distinctly recall the familiar sense I had in school of feeling dumb, inadequate, and frustrated. In the T.O.V.A. results I was normal range for Inattention and Reaction Time.…

Try other medication. It took me a few years, after being diagnosed in my 30's as well, to find something that helped without side effects.

Re: ADHD, a Lifelong Struggle (2018)

#120

Post by cirno »

Mirioron wrote: post #19
munk-a wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's another weird factor. Ritalin is an upper and it's stigmatized to take an upper - either your performance, judged by coworkers, will be equivalent or below theirs and the stimulant is seen as the only thing keeping you in your job (which can get super depressing internally) - or, if you're doing well in your position, it can breed internal and external doubt as to whether your performance would just be normal…

What I don't understand is - why is it a problem that somebody performs better on medication? Life isn't sports or a game. It's not a competition. Shouldn't people be happy that someone else can keep their life together? That's less of a burden on society. > Ever spent a day off staring at a wall dreading the possibility that you might waste a day until you realize the sun has gone down? That sounds silly and boring.…

> Shouldn't people be happy that someone else can keep their life together?

There are entire large groups of people in this world who feel the need to drag other people down with them. Some of them are extremely good at it. Pray you never attract their attention. It's a nightmare.

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