5 ms·

> In all honesty it is truly no different than being an alcoholic or a crack addict. This is an awful thing to casually throw out there in the faces of people

> In all honesty it is truly no different than being an alcoholic or a crack addict. This is an awful thing to casually throw out there in the faces of people who rely on ADHD medication to manage their ADHD.

whalesalad 3y ago
No it’s not. It’s the truth. If you can’t exist without a substance that is being controlled by an elaborate chain of pharmaceutical companies, federal drug enforcement regulations and highly expensive doctors that is being up shit creek without a paddle. What would you do if something like WWIII started and all non-vital drug manufacturing stopped? Or any conceivable scenario where suddenly these meds are not available. Everything is more fragile than you realize. Look at baby formula or other products that are produced by literally one single supplier. The system works until it doesn’t. So let’s pretend adhd meds cease to exist. What will you do? Give up on life and cry about it? You need to be prepared for any circumstance. Don’t get me wrong I’m struggling and I miss it constantly but I’ve also had to reset my mindset and expectations. People tend to adopt adhd as an identity but it’s not something that should be done. We all struggle to varying degrees with executive dysfunction and it’s silly to hide behind this crutch. Outside this high paced world people with adhd are just fine. But in this environment they are “disabled”
- LoganDark 3y ago
  Holy shit that was brutal, more brutal than it had any right to be. No, it's not fair to equate people treating their ADHD to crack addicts. Because treating ADHD and being addicted to crack are two different things. People treating their ADHD have an actual physical deficiency in their brain that takes away capacity to function, and this is a disability, no matter what term you do or do not use for it in "this high paced world". Usage of ADHD medication to address that deficiency is not at all the same as crack addiction. Because crack addiction is not addressing a deficiency, it's trying to add recreational pleasure to a perfectly normal and functional brain. ADHD medication is trying to avoid the executive dysfunction that ADHD causes. Which no, is not something that "we all struggle to varying degrees" with; ADHD is worse. For example my body literally will not move if I try to do something that I don't want to do. Even if it's something that I need to do, or something that will have dire consequences if I don't. I won't be able to move, even if I try. The signals just do not reach the rest of my brain. People with ADHD cannot just suck it up. They can't. You are being incredibly disrespectful and undermining a legitimate disability by acting like being dependent on ADHD medication is anything like being addicted to crack. If you can suck it up and live without it, fine, good for you. If you can just change your lifestyle to work around your ADHD, fine. But not everybody can do this. And it's not their fault if they can't. It's not their fault that they were born with a brain that is not working as it should. And it's not their fault for wanting to fix it. People who treat their ADHD don't want euphoria or pleasure or a fun time. They just want to live their fucking life without suffering from boredom and executive dysfunction and all the involuntary coping mechanisms that ADHD promotes. Keep your incredibly insulting views to yourself. Comments like this help no one.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- zamnos 3y ago
  You were born with a damaged brain. I'm very sorry, I was too. It sucks. If World War III starts tomorrow, you're right, I'm going to have problems. But a lot of people are going to have very many problems in that case. But World war III isn't going to start tomorrow, and catastrophizing about it doesn't help matters. It's not going to, but let's say it did, there's still all of the already manufactured drug sitting in factory, sitting in semi-trucks and cargo containers on ships and on pharmacy shelves. The enemy (whomever this theoretical enemy is) isn't going to target Adderall factories and semi-trucks with their guided missiles, and even if they did, you've still got the rest of this month's supply, so it's still not instantly a problem. We've got the mental equivalent of a person born missing their legs, so we need a wheelchair for the mind. With mind wheelchairs to make up for our missing executive function and other deficits, we can even sometimes outperform neurotypicals, but without it we're crawling on the ground with no legs. But having the wheelchair to use is so much better than crawling around on the ground. Now that we've found this wheelchair that enables me to have a job and a life that I actually want, I'm not going to throw it away just because someone could come along and steal it. That's mental! It's a lie that people with adhd are fine outside of our fast paced world. Can you imagine being a farmer with no executive function? How are you going plan ahead to grow crops so you don't starve over the winter. Can you imagine trying to plan a woolly mammoth hunt? Just how do you plan on killing the thing without executive function? Our brains would just be Step 1. Find woolly mammoth. Step 6. Eat woolly mammoth meat. You don't get to step 6 without figuring out the missing steps! We're not the only ones in this boat, and it sucks to be disabled, but we don't have the technology to fix our brains, so we just have to accept it. Just like those with hypertension have to live with needing heart medication, or diabetics need insulin, or rheumatoid arthritis sufferers need their DMARDs, or AIDs patients need their ARTs, or epileptics need their anti-seizure medication, or hypothyroidism sufferers need their synthetic thyroid medication. Hell, if gasoline magically disappeared, society would be fucked. Not sure if anyone is prepared for that circumstance. Because it's ludicrous. The world's gasoline won't magically disappear in an instant. Stop watching so many movies.
  - tstrimple 3y ago
    > If World War III starts tomorrow, you're right, I'm going to have problems. I don’t know. Chaotic environments seem to be where my ADHD mind operates best when not on medication. I’m by far at my most productive when shit is on fire and everyone is panicking and doesn’t know what to do. I don’t think most ADHD folks would need medication if it wasn’t for modern working environments. When I’m dragged into WW3, my inability to pay bills on time or my complete lack of ability to start putting together that architecture until the deadline is looming will no longer be my greatest weaknesses.

whalesalad 3y ago

No it’s not. It’s the truth. If you can’t exist without a substance that is being controlled by an elaborate chain of pharmaceutical companies, federal drug enforcement regulations and highly expensive doctors that is being up shit creek without a paddle. What would you do if something like WWIII started and all non-vital drug manufacturing stopped? Or any conceivable scenario where suddenly these meds are not available. Everything is more fragile than you realize. Look at baby formula or other products that are produced by literally one single supplier. The system works until it doesn’t. So let’s pretend adhd meds cease to exist. What will you do? Give up on life and cry about it? You need to be prepared for any circumstance. Don’t get me wrong I’m struggling and I miss it constantly but I’ve also had to reset my mindset and expectations. People tend to adopt adhd as an identity but it’s not something that should be done. We all struggle to varying degrees with executive dysfunction and it’s silly to hide behind this crutch. Outside this high paced world people with adhd are just fine. But in this environment they are “disabled”

LoganDark 3y ago
Holy shit that was brutal, more brutal than it had any right to be. No, it's not fair to equate people treating their ADHD to crack addicts. Because treating ADHD and being addicted to crack are two different things. People treating their ADHD have an actual physical deficiency in their brain that takes away capacity to function, and this is a disability, no matter what term you do or do not use for it in "this high paced world". Usage of ADHD medication to address that deficiency is not at all the same as crack addiction. Because crack addiction is not addressing a deficiency, it's trying to add recreational pleasure to a perfectly normal and functional brain. ADHD medication is trying to avoid the executive dysfunction that ADHD causes. Which no, is not something that "we all struggle to varying degrees" with; ADHD is worse. For example my body literally will not move if I try to do something that I don't want to do. Even if it's something that I need to do, or something that will have dire consequences if I don't. I won't be able to move, even if I try. The signals just do not reach the rest of my brain. People with ADHD cannot just suck it up. They can't. You are being incredibly disrespectful and undermining a legitimate disability by acting like being dependent on ADHD medication is anything like being addicted to crack. If you can suck it up and live without it, fine, good for you. If you can just change your lifestyle to work around your ADHD, fine. But not everybody can do this. And it's not their fault if they can't. It's not their fault that they were born with a brain that is not working as it should. And it's not their fault for wanting to fix it. People who treat their ADHD don't want euphoria or pleasure or a fun time. They just want to live their fucking life without suffering from boredom and executive dysfunction and all the involuntary coping mechanisms that ADHD promotes. Keep your incredibly insulting views to yourself. Comments like this help no one.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
zamnos 3y ago
You were born with a damaged brain. I'm very sorry, I was too. It sucks. If World War III starts tomorrow, you're right, I'm going to have problems. But a lot of people are going to have very many problems in that case. But World war III isn't going to start tomorrow, and catastrophizing about it doesn't help matters. It's not going to, but let's say it did, there's still all of the already manufactured drug sitting in factory, sitting in semi-trucks and cargo containers on ships and on pharmacy shelves. The enemy (whomever this theoretical enemy is) isn't going to target Adderall factories and semi-trucks with their guided missiles, and even if they did, you've still got the rest of this month's supply, so it's still not instantly a problem. We've got the mental equivalent of a person born missing their legs, so we need a wheelchair for the mind. With mind wheelchairs to make up for our missing executive function and other deficits, we can even sometimes outperform neurotypicals, but without it we're crawling on the ground with no legs. But having the wheelchair to use is so much better than crawling around on the ground. Now that we've found this wheelchair that enables me to have a job and a life that I actually want, I'm not going to throw it away just because someone could come along and steal it. That's mental! It's a lie that people with adhd are fine outside of our fast paced world. Can you imagine being a farmer with no executive function? How are you going plan ahead to grow crops so you don't starve over the winter. Can you imagine trying to plan a woolly mammoth hunt? Just how do you plan on killing the thing without executive function? Our brains would just be Step 1. Find woolly mammoth. Step 6. Eat woolly mammoth meat. You don't get to step 6 without figuring out the missing steps! We're not the only ones in this boat, and it sucks to be disabled, but we don't have the technology to fix our brains, so we just have to accept it. Just like those with hypertension have to live with needing heart medication, or diabetics need insulin, or rheumatoid arthritis sufferers need their DMARDs, or AIDs patients need their ARTs, or epileptics need their anti-seizure medication, or hypothyroidism sufferers need their synthetic thyroid medication. Hell, if gasoline magically disappeared, society would be fucked. Not sure if anyone is prepared for that circumstance. Because it's ludicrous. The world's gasoline won't magically disappear in an instant. Stop watching so many movies.
- tstrimple 3y ago
  > If World War III starts tomorrow, you're right, I'm going to have problems. I don’t know. Chaotic environments seem to be where my ADHD mind operates best when not on medication. I’m by far at my most productive when shit is on fire and everyone is panicking and doesn’t know what to do. I don’t think most ADHD folks would need medication if it wasn’t for modern working environments. When I’m dragged into WW3, my inability to pay bills on time or my complete lack of ability to start putting together that architecture until the deadline is looming will no longer be my greatest weaknesses.