Attention Deficit Disorder
Medication
Don't get me wrong – attention
deficit disorder medication does make some
positive changes. Almost everyone knows that we live in a pill
happy society nowadays, but few people are willing to take
actions to change this. People bemoan the overuse and misuse of
prescriptions, yet when they go to the doctor they want pills
almost every time. In some ways, this is understandable. When
you're sick, you want to be treated.
Being told that you will get better with time or
with changes in your lifestyle is not as reassuring as being
told that a simple pill can make everything better. Yet
ultimately, by using medicine when other solutions might
suffice, we fail to address the underlying problems.
I got an attention deficit disorder diagnosis when I was
about 13 years old. I had been having troubles in class, and my
parents brought me to the doctor. He did what most doctors did
back then – and what most doctors still do.
He gave me attention deficit
disorder medication. There are many different
attention deficit disorder medications, but Ritalin is still by
far the most common. My parents were anxious for a quick
solution, and my doctor thought that he had found one.
Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple.
It helps you to study and focus, calms you down, and takes
the edge off of anxiety. Nonetheless, it also has some pretty
bad side effects. Anyone who has taken Ritalin will tell you
that it makes them feel stoned.
You feel disconnected from your surroundings and unable to
concentrate on more than one thing at a time. Although there
are new attention deficit disorder medicines nowadays, almost
all of these have the same unfortunate side effect.
An even bigger problem with attention deficit disorder
medications is that when they are used, no other steps are
taken to fight the ADD. The doctor was quick to write a script
for attention deficit disorder medication, but he never
bothered to send me to someone who could help me with my study
skills. You see, giving someone with ADD a pill doesn't
immediately fix things.
It helps us to concentrate, but they still have the same
problems with organization and time management that they did
before. There would be no problem with people using
attention deficit disorder
medication in addition to other kinds of
treatment, but usually it's one or the other. Like
thousands of other sufferers of attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, I never got the help I
needed.
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