This is something that concerns me about the recent excessive self-diagnosing of ADHD I’ve been seeing people do in the US. I think our late capitalist system has us convinced that we need to be constantly focused and productive. Distraction is a disease. I worry that when our expectations of how a person should function begin to look unnatural and based on how humans function on something like Adderall, then we slowly begin to act like there’s something wrong with just being a normal person that takes their time living a more naturally paced life.
As someone with diagnosed ADHD (and finally on medication), I cannot emphasize enough, how much this view/attitude hurts those who probably have ADHD but are influenced by this attitude (including myself, as I now finally get my shit together in a relatively consistent way without being distracted by literally everything, after being unmedicated for 20 years…).
I even know a few who very likely have ADHD that share this view and don’t want to take medication.
Fine, everyone should obviously decide for themselves if they want to take medication (or any other drugs at that), but please don’t spread this attitude, it harms those who probably have ADHD but don’t get diagnosed and just think “that’s (my behavior) probably normal”.
Also it’s not just “being productive” in a capitalist system, but rather to get your life together (not forgetting important stuff, executive dysfunction etc. i.e. function better in society (impulsive behavior can be a problem sometimes)).
The shortage AFAIK is pretty artificial and caused by the DEA.
So I would rather “shit” on the failed War on Drugs than on those who self-diagnose on ADHD and take/“abuse” medication. Drug abuse is a different topic and omnipresent and a social blurred sense of reality with hard drugs like alcohol (it’s actually a harder drug than stimulants like Adderall…).
IMHO everyone should decide themselves what they take if it doesn’t harm others…
Non the less, if one suspects they have ADHD they should obviously talk to a (good) doctor to verify and check side-effects, probably different medication (for me e.g. Atomoxetine works better for executive dysfunction, and stimulants are good to keep the focus on one topic, while not being distracted (but doesn’t fix executive dysfunction that well)).
I don’t doubt that ADHD exists and that your experience is valid. But I also think we need to be really careful about our expectations. I know I don’t have ADHD. I can focus plenty when I try. Social media has shortened my attention span and made me prone to procrastination, but it’s definitely not something I am actively incapable of. Yet so many people have self-diagnosed me with ADHD.
I have at least one friend who in college landed a prescription for Adderall because he wanted to be able to get extra focus even though he knew he didn’t have ADHD. Later on he went off of it and managed to become a lawyer and made it look easy. This is someone who never struggled with focus. I knew him since grade school. His use of the drug was clearly abusive.
I get angry at people like my friend because I know ADHD is real. And I know his abuse of Adderall only makes more people out there minimize the existenxe of real ADHD. But just as you’re saying my rhetoric makes it difficult for people with ADHD, I think overdiagnosing hurts people without it. Like I said in my first comment, if I’m in a really competitive environment like a school and I’m going against people that are using a “performance enhancing drug” for focus, then our societal expectations for what I should be capable of are out of whack and I start to be expected to perform and focus like someone on Adderall.
There has to be a compromise between handing it out to everyone and refusing to give it to people who genuinely need it. I have no idea what that compromise looks like and I’m truly happy that people like you and another friend I have who genuinely has it are able to get their medication. But outside of the very real world of ADHD, I see it becoming a problem. My wife who has been able to write an entire PhD dissertation in a very normal amount of time and experiences far less distractability than most people I know regularly questions whether she has ADHD. It’s that state of mind where everybody thinks they have it that I worry about. We don’t need to all be on Adderall.
This is something that concerns me about the recent excessive self-diagnosing of ADHD I’ve been seeing people do in the US. I think our late capitalist system has us convinced that we need to be constantly focused and productive. Distraction is a disease. I worry that when our expectations of how a person should function begin to look unnatural and based on how humans function on something like Adderall, then we slowly begin to act like there’s something wrong with just being a normal person that takes their time living a more naturally paced life.
As someone with diagnosed ADHD (and finally on medication), I cannot emphasize enough, how much this view/attitude hurts those who probably have ADHD but are influenced by this attitude (including myself, as I now finally get my shit together in a relatively consistent way without being distracted by literally everything, after being unmedicated for 20 years…).
I even know a few who very likely have ADHD that share this view and don’t want to take medication.
Fine, everyone should obviously decide for themselves if they want to take medication (or any other drugs at that), but please don’t spread this attitude, it harms those who probably have ADHD but don’t get diagnosed and just think “that’s (my behavior) probably normal”.
Also it’s not just “being productive” in a capitalist system, but rather to get your life together (not forgetting important stuff, executive dysfunction etc. i.e. function better in society (impulsive behavior can be a problem sometimes)).
The shortage AFAIK is pretty artificial and caused by the DEA. So I would rather “shit” on the failed War on Drugs than on those who self-diagnose on ADHD and take/“abuse” medication. Drug abuse is a different topic and omnipresent and a social blurred sense of reality with hard drugs like alcohol (it’s actually a harder drug than stimulants like Adderall…).
IMHO everyone should decide themselves what they take if it doesn’t harm others…
Non the less, if one suspects they have ADHD they should obviously talk to a (good) doctor to verify and check side-effects, probably different medication (for me e.g. Atomoxetine works better for executive dysfunction, and stimulants are good to keep the focus on one topic, while not being distracted (but doesn’t fix executive dysfunction that well)).
I don’t doubt that ADHD exists and that your experience is valid. But I also think we need to be really careful about our expectations. I know I don’t have ADHD. I can focus plenty when I try. Social media has shortened my attention span and made me prone to procrastination, but it’s definitely not something I am actively incapable of. Yet so many people have self-diagnosed me with ADHD.
I have at least one friend who in college landed a prescription for Adderall because he wanted to be able to get extra focus even though he knew he didn’t have ADHD. Later on he went off of it and managed to become a lawyer and made it look easy. This is someone who never struggled with focus. I knew him since grade school. His use of the drug was clearly abusive.
I get angry at people like my friend because I know ADHD is real. And I know his abuse of Adderall only makes more people out there minimize the existenxe of real ADHD. But just as you’re saying my rhetoric makes it difficult for people with ADHD, I think overdiagnosing hurts people without it. Like I said in my first comment, if I’m in a really competitive environment like a school and I’m going against people that are using a “performance enhancing drug” for focus, then our societal expectations for what I should be capable of are out of whack and I start to be expected to perform and focus like someone on Adderall.
There has to be a compromise between handing it out to everyone and refusing to give it to people who genuinely need it. I have no idea what that compromise looks like and I’m truly happy that people like you and another friend I have who genuinely has it are able to get their medication. But outside of the very real world of ADHD, I see it becoming a problem. My wife who has been able to write an entire PhD dissertation in a very normal amount of time and experiences far less distractability than most people I know regularly questions whether she has ADHD. It’s that state of mind where everybody thinks they have it that I worry about. We don’t need to all be on Adderall.