it's a REAL FUCKING DISORDER. deal with it.

The BBQ Pit
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This rant is not directed toward anyone specific on these boards (but it could be). Trust me, if you’re worried that I’m bitching at you, then I’m not, because you’re at least sensitive enough to sense that you might be insensitive. No, I’m talking about the fuckheads that I have to deal with on a regualr bases.

After reading Darwin’s Finch’s post in GQ (which was, by the way, entirely well-intentioned. i have no issues with him), I started thinking about this society’s mentality toward ADD/ADHD. And I got really pissed. Most people either don’t have a problem with it or don’t vocalize their problem, which doesn’t bother me too much. A lot of people don’t like the idea of a disorder characterized by a short attention span–I mean, that’s just a behavior issue, right? Yet most of these people keep their thoughts to themselves, realizing that they don’t really know much about it and might feel differently if they knew someone with ADD/ADHD.

But when I think of the asinine 1%, that stupid minority whose questions I have to answer all too often, my blood starts to fry.

I never hear these things. But I know they’re being thought.

YOU DON’T THINK I HAVE A LEGITIMATE AILMENT. YOU THINK I’M LAZY. YOU THINK I’M NOT WORKING HARD ENOUGH.
Well, fuck you. Who are YOU to judge MY situation? Are you INSIDE my head? I don’t care about your anecdotal evidence. I’m glad your second cousin is better off without her Ritalin. Just do me a favor and tell her to give you a swift kick in the ass.

YOU THINK I’M THE VICTIM OF AN OVERMEDICATING TEACHER, PARENT, OR PSYCHIATRIST.
Fuck you some more. Who are YOU to make judgments about MY parents? Jesus Fucking Christ. I’m the one who wanted to get tested for ADD in the first place. On top of which I have to deal with a father who, like you, just think’s I’m lazy. Of course he shut up when he saw my GPA go from under a 2.0 to over a 4.0. Maybe you should do the same.

YOU THINK I GOT INTO COLLEGE/GOT A JOB/GOT SPECIAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF MY 'DISORDER.'
Fuck you long and hard with half of a broomstick. (And you know where the broken end is going.) I don’t want to HEAR your affirmative action rant. I got into college on my LAURELS, goddamnit. I got a fucking 1550 on my SAT, a fucking 35 on my ACT, and I did it without any extra time. I could have if I wanted to. And now you’re making ME feel guilty because I sound like I’m showing off? Why should I have to rattle off some test scores to convince you of ANYTHING?

YOU THINK I’M ON SOME MAGIC PILL THAT MAKES ME ALL BETTER.
Fuck you to hell. As I’m talking to you I’m nauseated and slightly dizzy. On top of which I’m tired, but when I close my eyes they pop right back open. My stomach is growling but the thought of food makes me sick. Look up ‘SIDE EFFECTS’ in any motherfucking dictionary. I don’t LIKE the idea of taking a pill every morning for the rest of my life just to feel NORMAL and FUNCTIONING. I do it because it’s better than the alternative.

YOU THINK I’M PSYCHOLOGICALLY DISTURBED OR OTHERWISE UNSTABLE.
I wish I were, so that I could give you the beating that you deserve. It’s not a psychosis. It’s a chemical imbalance in the brain that I take a pill to correct. No more far-fetched than my mom’s thyroid medicine or any other pill that millions of people take daily. If I look unstable it’s because I have to put up with YOU.

As if having ADD weren’t enough, I have to deal with people like you. I’m not learning impaired. I don’t have behavioral problems. I’m smart, I’m creative, and all my chromosomes are in full working order.

So leave me alone. Jesus, go read a book or go to a website about ADD/ADHD. There are fucking millions of them. There’s no excuse for you to be so incredibly ignorant about something that LEGITIMATELY affects millions of people for every moment of their lives. And as much as I love being used as an example of poor parenting/affirmative action gone wrong/overmedication/any sort of trend dealing with what you think is wrong with society, I’ve got better things to do than be made to feel like I’ve done something wrong.

Now excuse me. I have to go to lunch and pretend I enjoy it.

Thus endeth my first rant. Wow, that was easy. :smiley:

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Right on.

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Allow me humbly to suggest that you are being medicated for the wrong disorder.

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ADHD has the unenviable position of being over used. There are individuals who truly have it and are helped by medication. There are also individuals wha have been told they have it when they really don’t. The over diagnosis has peeled back much of the legitamacy.

There are far, far too many of the latter. It dulls society. I understand your rant. But too many of us have seen the bad side of a medicated kid who doesn’t need it. (I tutored a brilliant little boy who was just bored in school…and thus medicated to his gills.)

Both him being on meds and you being told you shouldn’t be suck.

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Dude, that was so good, that I…Hey! What was that?!

Sorry, was I talking?

Seriously, I’m with you 100%.

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I was thinking the same thing Manny. . . . ummm. . . . what was we talking about again?

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Mr. Lyllyan has ADHD. It makes life…interesting, chaotic, confusing. Our son has been diagnosed with ADHD. His way in the future bride to be better well believe in it, or she is in for one hell of a ride. I think a big problem is that parents won’t actually investigate and educate themselves, and that is why you see so many kids lined up outside the school clinc for their daily dose. We (well, I, Mr. Lyllyan keep getting distracted by shiny objects) explored every avenue before giving in to medication. But I am still looking for alternatives. I am with you 100%! Oh, BTW, studies have shown that the majority of ADHD sufferers have a higher than average I.Q.

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I’m not trying to say that every case of ADD is legitimate any more than others say that NO case of ADD is legitimate. I understand just what you’re talking about, Medea’s Child.

Manhattan, it you’re suggesting I’m paranoid, then I’d have to say you’re wrong. I tried to make it clear that most people aren’t assholes; it’s just the stupid 1%. If I were paranoid wouldn’t I think that EVERYONE is out to get me?

I can tell when people think these things. They never say them, because they don’t want to be overtly rude (even though they’re assholes. figure THAT out.), but I can tell with the questions they ask. “So you’re, like, on Ritalin? Does that stuff actually work? Have you ever tried not using it and seeing if you’re better off without it?” I know what they’re hinting at. But these people are very few and far between, thank god.

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I think manhattan’s post was not entirely serious.

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That crossed my mind. But I decided to cover all my bases.

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Oh, but you can’t. All your base are…are…damn, I can’t even say it.

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Andrew - I am with you 100%. I know people who’s children suffer fron ADHD. It makes their life and their child’s life a living hell at times. I care for an individual who has been correctly diagnosed with ADD, his life is a difficult one.

I agree that there is only a small percentage of assholes out there and that there is also that small percentage of people who are real fucking jerks when it comes to this issue.

It doesn’t take many of either group to really piss one off does it?

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Well, for someone with an “attention deficit” Mr. Dupont has displayed a very nice, tight focus in his rant.

My sympathies, Andrew, for having to go to extraordinary effort to, as you put it, be normal and function. It’s salt in the wounds to then have people put down your legitimate and hard won accomplishments.

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applauds

When I was first diag’d, and begain trying various meds I got many of the responses andrew mentioned, plus “You’re just not trying hard”, “You think a magic pill will make your life perfect…well, it won’t!” etc.

And this was as an adult, from adult friends (most of which, I’ve kept, despite that).

Anyway, I’m sick of hearing the “It’s just an excuse” crap too. Thanks, andrew!

Fenris

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Woah! ADD boy! Melllooooooow mellllloooow. :smiley:

You are by far the most successfully medicated ADD afflicted person I have ever experienced, which is not saying alot, considering that Punxsutawney Phil sees more daylight than I do. But anybody who gets a 1550 on their SAT’s and maintains a 4.0+ GPA is nothing short of a genius in my eyes.

Congratulations.

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What, a 4.0 isn’t esteem-bolstering enough for kids these days? I thought grade inflation was fucking bad enough when I graduated from Georgetown U., considered a good school, with a 3.3 - and was in the bottom half of my class. At this point, someone who get’s a 3.3 is probably given at graduation a towel to wipe the drool of his face and a one-way ticket to a group home.

I mean, fucking Christ, how inane is this?! I probably interview one person a week looking for work here - and it’s not worth looking at their transcripts - they’re utterly meaningless. “Oooh, we can’t give Tommy a B+ - he’ll be scarred for life.”

Fuck that shit.

Sua

P.S. Manny, that was fucking hilarious.

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Amen.

I have ADHD and it’s a total bitch when people say it doesn’t exist. Worse, are the yahoos who say it’s caused by tv and computers. THAT really irks me to no end. What the FUCK?

And Ritalin does NOT make you a zombie, okay fartknocker? It is a STIMULENT! It stimulates the area of the brain used for concentration. It doesn’t make you act like you just had a lobotomy, fuckwad.

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Which honestly is a good thing. Many people are being diagnosed that aren’t ADD/ADHD and being medicated incorrectly because many other issues can be present.

Now Andrew Dupont, before you get on my case, I am ADD, diagnosed when I was 15 (I will be 33 this month.)

The problem is that a teacher mentions the possibility and in the last 10 years, people are misinformed and are running their kids to the pediatrician and getting medication for kids that have other issues because the typical family doctor is not trained to properly diagnose ADD/ADHD.

I have told people over and over on this board and I will say it again. Proper diagnosis, by a psychiatrist that specializes in ADD/ADHD is in order. Children and adults should not be looked at for a small amount of 15 minutes and the diagnosis be handed a prescription…I was 15 (yes 18 years ago before ADD/ADHD was a “popular” diagnosis) and was put through a day full of testing.

Oh and for those that deny the idea that ADD/ADHD exists, believe me it does, I have suffered from it all my life and a little pill is not the end all to our issues, it’s an aid much like glasses are on people with sight problems. It’s not a magical pill (Adderall, Ritalin, etc…) as there are a lot of life skills that are still very difficult to attain like remembering to take your pill, like remembering to make that appointment or other seemingly simple tasks. Many tasks like reading a book can be a venture in staying awake or having to read the same paragraph over and over again for it to make sense, even if medicated. The medication aids in concentration and frustration. The medication does not make the ADD/ADHDer high, it helps the brain calm and be able to focus slightly better than without it.

For some of us ADDers, Ritalin works but only to a point. Me, I have been without it again for a year and a half and my world is not what I would call ideal. When I am on my Ritalin I actually feel like doing things.

Oh and for those that don’t know it, ADDers can hyperfocus, it’s a contradiction but we can. Sit me down in front of the computer creating some graphics and what seems like a few minutes is in actuality a few hours.

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Not meant to be inflammatory (despite the forum), but given that nobody here is reading anybody else’s thoughts, how do we really know what’s “real” and what’s not.

I have a lot of really weird ideas, I get depressed, I have trouble staying focused, I get listless, etc. but how do I know I’m really substantially different from anyone else? Similarly, I have a lot more trouble staying thin than a lot of other people I know, but maybe they’re just exerting more effort. My knees hurt a lot, but I don’t worry about whether the people around me believe that – I just talk to my doctor and see what he can do for me.

In the end, I don’t think we can overanalyze these things – we just have to deal as best we can with the cards we’re dealt. If there’s medicine we can try that helps us with something, then great. If there’s not, we have to cope in other ways.

As for ADHD in particular, my encounters haven’t been particularly positive (though it’s not like I’ve conducted any scientific research). I dated an ADHD guy for about 3 years once, and he used it like a crutch. He was addicted to his disorder and obsessed with what was and wasn’t possible for him, despite any evidence to the contrary. The same held true for two of his friends who were similarly diagnosed. It was like a cult identity, and it almost seemed like they wore their ADD as a badge of honor and strutted it in front of anyone who would listen.

His sister, who was also diagnosed ADD, took her Ritalin and didn’t otherwise get caught up in it. She ended up going a lot further and being a much more interesting person.

Sounds like you’re doing pretty well in spite of your ADD, so why all the anger? We all have problems, and I’m glad to hear you’re managing yours.

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See, outlets like this are why I don’t have anger. :smiley: I get pissed sometimes because people throw salt in my wounds, as one poster put it. This whole thread has made me feel better.