as small as a world and as large as alone

11:30am August 29, 2014

pervocracy:

madeofpatterns:

matesprit:

apersnicketylemon:

People with ADHD do not become zombies, sheep or any combination of the two on medication. We really don’t. STOP fearmongering the medication that helps us function and stop refusing to treat children just because some fool on the internet with no medical background said it would turn your kid into a zombie.

but at the same time please do not shame people like me that feel like ADHD medication takes away from our personalities and makes us feel bad because not everyone reacts to medication the same way and for a lot of people it may not help and at the end of the day it should be the choice of the person with ADHD whether or not to pursue medication. the decision shouldn’t be made by an asshole on the internet or parents or people who are “just trying to help” and should be made by the person who lives ADHD because ultimately they’re the only ones who’ll know whether or not it’s helping them. please respect children with disabilities and allow them to make their own decisions.

both of these.

*insert name of every other psychiatric medication here*

There’s also another dimension to this, which is that sometimes people really are making tradeoffs.  Like, the meds I take for my depression have significant side effects.  In addition to physical things, my emotions are altered by the medication and not always for the best.

But my options are “emotions altered by medication” or “emotions altered by depression.”  Being totally unaltered isn’t on the table.  So yes, my medication is taking away from my personality, and I’ve decided that’s still better than being depressed.  I don’t have to believe that depression meds are harmless to decide I’d rather be on them.

(And this goes in reverse, that someone can decide to take the tradeoff of not taking medication even though their condition really does hurt them.)

I guess what I’m saying is pretty obvious, but I sometimes feel like it’s underrepresented in both sides of this discussion.  Medical interventions usually involve making a tradeoff of some kind, not just deciding whether the intervention is good or bad.

My psychiatrist had very severe ADD.  So severe that there was no way he could finish a sentence, let alone hold down a job, when he was off his meds.  But he felt like the meds did fuck with his personality in ways he didn’t like.  So what he’d do is he’d take them during the week, and then go off them during the weekends.  And because he had that experience he was a lot better than most shrinks at empathizing with patients who had to be on meds they didn’t like.

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