Why do we never talk about medications for ADHD?
We will never procrastinate our responsibilities with anyone of our community
It's so hard for someone with ADHD to situate themselves or their projects within a defined scope. By nature, we are people who love to explore, to try new things. In other words, we are people driven by novelty. Since I first had the idea for the ADHD International Alliance about two years ago, I have never reached a point where I could say, "this is the main reason it exists."
This alliance reflects my personality with ADHD: it's full of the best intentions and dreams of uniting ADHDers worldwide to offer support, increase awareness, and so on. Everything aligns with the highest ideals, but it’s still too broad. There is certainly a concrete demand for rescuing pride among ADHDers and delivering a friendly message when this neurotypical world crushes us. I, Josh, just dreamed of doing something about it.
I didn't know exactly what that "something" was. I am not sure even as I write this. But I drew from my own experience and remembered that the concept of ‘planning’ for someone with ADHD is like traveling on an infinite journey to nowhere. So here we are, trying to discover every day what we are really doing and what we really want, doing everything while trying to build something.
Managing things in this disorganized way is probably not the most effective method. But I can't do it any other way, and it's better to have something to improve than to have never started anything at all. There's no improvement from nothing.
And here we are, every day building wonderful relationships and connecting people from all over the world, with or without ADHD, spreading a message of positivity, confidence, and strength. It may seem small, but it has become a special part of my life.
I said all of this to explain why we don't talk about medications in our community. As usual, I made you read several paragraphs just to give you context. If you have ADHD, you probably love offering context every time you say something.
Well…
We don't talk about medications in the ADHD International Alliance for several reasons. First, because I'm not a health practitioner, and I believe it’s a topic that should be discussed in a professional setting. Few classes of medications are subjected to such a high degree of disinformation like those indicated to treat the disorder we so much ntalk about. We love to make jokes and laugh at ourselves—this is the best way to handle the challenges we face. But this doesn’t mean ADHD isn’t a serious issue. On the contrary, it’s a very serious condition that can significantly limit those who have it.
The alliance is created by someone with ADHD for other people with ADHD, with the purpose of sharing experiences, not offering medical advice. This leads to the second point: discussing substances, dosages, and their effects outside of a medical consultation can lead to misunderstandings about the available treatments and spread information that can often be misinterpreted.
Third, we all know that some medications commonly used for ADHD carry strong potential side effects. A simple comment can sometimes induce someone with ADHD to try a substance that might pose a high risk for a comorbid condition they possibly have. For exemple, if we talk about someone that suffers with ADHD and high blood pressure, this is a case to be taken extra layers of consideration when opting for certain stimulants.
Lastly, there's a personal opinion on the theme: having tried several medications, I strongly feel that they are not such game-changers for people with ADHD. Feel free to disagree, but I think they don’t have the power to transform us. They do have an effect and are indeed necessary in many cases, for sure. But the change we really need—the change to effectively do things without procrastination—is something we create within ourselves by handling our habits, emotions, and sometimes making an expedition into our life history.
The message is that medications are not designed to save us. They are designed to help us find a way to save ourselves from whatever we need to address. It's possible that we take meds to combat procrastination, and end up boosting the procrastinating the same behavior we are trying to get rid of.
This is not a piece against medications, please understand that. It’s only a testament to why we don't talk about them in our ADHD alliance and why we feel it's not appropriate.
As a community under construction, we are open to everything—insights, experiences, viewpoints. Still, technical matters should be addressed by the respective professionals: your psychiatrist, neurologist, psychologist, or whoever has the ability to assist you in the safest and most effective way.
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