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by silencio
4469 days ago
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My parents didn't want me on ADHD meds - which is hysterical because my father very obviously has undiagnosed symptoms of ADHD too - so I didn't get any and had to rely solely on behavioral techniques and societal pressure until I picked my own damn therapist. Me at 16 in college with dinky checklists compared to me at 25 right now with the same checklists and Adderall is like night and day. As much as I love my parents, I occasionally get angry when I think about what could have been compared to what happened because they didn't like the idea of me being on drugs (like I wasn't on other drugs). Not missed opportunities that were impossible to begin with, but a lot of reachable goals and dreams I had that I tried working my ass off towards and it just wasn't happening because I spent just as much time struggling with myself as I did working towards said goals. I'm trying to play catchup still, years later. I suspect there are some goals that I will never be able to do anything about now because there was some age/time component to it. Speaking of other drugs, there are plenty of them - yes, maybe even "dealt" by "drug dealer" doctors that are actually terrible - that significantly improve quality of life. Drugs are not inherently bad. It's a constant balance of whether or not the tradeoffs are worth it, that's all. Like right now I'm juggling 6-7 different meds and their side effects to fix my bronchitis+asthma right now because I do not want to end up in the ER or worse, dead. Is that so terrible? Am I a drug addict for not wanting to suffer when I have a choice to not suffer? Even if you want to label me as such, what, are you a firm believer in survival of the fittest? Because if we can keep people from suffering and dying, I would do it. Screw that fittest bullshit. |
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Giving a growing brain a psychoactive drug is serious business.
Also, of course, you are looking back with perfect hindsight. What if you'd had a serious adverse event, psychosis, or otherwise negative outcome? No one could have known, and that was a risk your parents had to weigh. In fact, your brain now is different than then. Perhaps your parents helped you to dodge a devastating bullet by withholding psychoactive drugs at a younger age.