I Chose Not to Medicate My ADHD — Here ’s Why

A white room. The day I was diagnosed, they brought me into a (not kidding) white room with a metal table. There was a machine at the head of the table. The machine kind of reminded me of a shrunken MRI scanner, but I didn’t have much of a chance to study it.   I laid down, and they put wires all over my head and my chest. The wires were gooey (“How am I going to get that out of my hair?”). Mom had kept me awake for most of the night, so when they told me to go to sleep, and I was out like a light. I was eight years old. Mom had resisted getting me tested, despite my teachers pushing for it. I was easily distracted, day-dreamed, and (let’s face it) I was a weird kid. Mom didn’t want to try to “diagnose” what she believed was simply boredom. Yet, my behavior didn’t change. I began disliking school, and had a hard time keeping up. I would go to the back of the classroom to read for undetermined amounts of time. Whoops, I just missed a good chunk of the math lesson. Again. It turns out, when they put those wires all over my head, they were actually testing me for petit mal seizures. Instead, it was good ‘ole ADHD.   Medication merry-go-round, or The Joy of Side-Effects. They began medicating me when I was 10. I wanted the meds, because I thought that taking this pill would make me a good student. I started on Adderall. I immediately felt motivated and productive. For a few days. Then the side effects came in: anorexia, insomnia, mood swings. I was in a...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: ADHD and ADD Alternative and Nutritional Supplements Children and Teens Medications Personal Students Success & Achievement Academic Achievement Attention Deficit Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Mood Swings Motivation Scho Source Type: blogs