Today I have to pick up my ADD medication. I'm very happy with this, because if they work as my psychiatrist told me it should solve all my problems with school. But even though I'm very happy that those problems will be gone, I still don't feel right about having to take medication.
Since I started pre-university secondary education (highest stream in the educational system of the Netherlands) I've felt like I've been born in a society that doesn't fit me, I've always had the feeling that they asked so much of me. I've always been told that I was smart enough but I just couldn't concentrate. But the society always wins, because I won't get a job without education. So I can't live up to my potential without taking medication because there's simply no system that resolves around people like me.
I know that's "just the way it is", but taking medication (for whatever "mental illness", as society calls them) seems so wrong to me. I know it's simply a problem that comes with intelligent beings, but it's just somthing I can't get out of my head.

I'm not sure how it is with other people but for me, don't think that medication will solve "all" your problems. It will help in a way where it will allow you to help yourself. Think of it as a door opener, it will open the door for you but the rest is still up to you.

When I was first put on concerta, I thought the same way at first. While it's only been my first week on it, I still have the same problems to deal with but this time I can actually see my way through it. Before it was all static, now the picture comes in a little more clearer.

Perhaps someone else that has been on add medication for much longer could chime in with their thoughts - as it is like I said, I've only been on it a week so far.

-s

I don't expect it will solve all my problems, I just hope it it will :)

And I don't really have many problems outside of school, so if it'll help me do school with slightly more ease I think I'll finally be able to enjoy everything I have. School really costs alot of energy, and my psychiatrist told me that that should go away. And maybe I don't have much motivation now, but I think that if the medication will work that I'll be motivated enough, I really want to finish my school.

I understand a lot of what you said in your previous post, but as far as the medication making everything all better...it does to a point....especially at the beginning, but then it's more of an opening and you have to make the effort to walk through the door.

Like me and studying...the medicine works great....as long as I pick up the book, but if I don't make the effort to look at the book than it's all for not
I don't expect it will solve all my problems, I just hope it it will :)

And I don't really have many problems outside of school, so if it'll help me do school with slightly more ease I think I'll finally be able to enjoy everything I have. School really costs alot of energy, and my psychiatrist told me that that should go away. And maybe I don't have much motivation now, but I think that if the medication will work that I'll be motivated enough, I really want to finish my school.

The medication will increase your focus immensely :)

But you have to be the one who actually gets started on the task that you want to focus on. :)

Also...

If you just have inattentive symptoms without any hyperactive ones, the medication will make you feel rather euphoric the first couple of times you take it, until your body gets used to the dosage.

Fraser

[QUOTE=Maxiemonster]but taking medication (for whatever "mental illness", as society calls them) seems so wrong to me. QUOTE]

Sometimes I don't like the idea of needing to take medications. I wonder if I am just weak, like people who need to get high on drugs or alcohol to cope with everyday life. Well, that is not the case.

ADD is not a mental illness in the sense that you can't think rationally. It is a set of symptoms that have a biological cause.

If you have allergies, you gladly take medicine daily to relieve the symptoms. It is the same with ADD. Many people disagree with that because the problem is related to the brain. They would think differently if they had to live with ADD.

I have been on Straterra and Ritalin for about three years and wouldn't want to be without it. Life is much better now. As for what other people think, I don't care. It's my life.

My advice is to take the medication religiously for a period of time, say six months. Then evaluate whether you want to continue. I suggest writing about your symptoms and problems and how you are dealing with them. Later you can look back at where you started and get a good feel for how the medication has helped.

I'm not sure how it is with other people but for me, don't think that medication will solve "all" your problems. It will help in a way where it will allow you to help yourself. Exactly how I feel! It would be great if I could take a pill that solved all of my problems... but in reality, that cannot happen. Many problems are just hardwired in the brain... maybe because you learned them as a response to other things or because your brain just developed that way. Not all mental problems can be treated with a reuptake inhibitor.

I find that Concerta gives me added motivation to try harder... meaning I can get more done. It doesn't do a thing with focus or concentration but I suppose that's ok, because I can make up for it by being able to try harder. This last semester was the first time EVER in my life that I actually sat down and studied for final exams. I have NEVER done this.. not in high school and not in college. I feel like I didn't learn much while I studied, but who cares? Maybe if I keep trying to study then one day my memory will get better.

Concerta helped me to study... but that's all it did. When studying, I still distracted myself by talking to friends and jotting down random ideas. But that's ok...

Exactly how I feel! It would be great if I could take a pill that solved all of my problems... but in reality, that cannot happen. Many problems are just hardwired in the brain... maybe because you learned them as a response to other things or because your brain just developed that way. Not all mental problems can be treated with a reuptake inhibitor.

I find that Concerta gives me added motivation to try harder... meaning I can get more done. It doesn't do a thing with focus or concentration but I suppose that's ok, because I can make up for it by being able to try harder. This last semester was the first time EVER in my life that I actually sat down and studied for final exams. I have NEVER done this.. not in high school and not in college. I feel like I didn't learn much while I studied, but who cares? Maybe if I keep trying to study then one day my memory will get better.

Concerta helped me to study... but that's all it did. When studying, I still distracted myself by talking to friends and jotting down random ideas. But that's ok...
Yes, you are right.... medication wont just feed the information into your brain and make it stick.

When you live with unmedicated ADD for so long (which everyone does until they are diagnosed) It has a really bad effect on your short term memory because it doesnt get the chance to develop like it does with non Adders.

And when you finally do start taking meds.... althrough it makes you more motivated and more positive and wanting to do better..... your memory wont just suddenly recover.... it takes time for your memory to recover from all those damaging years of being unfocused with unmedicated ADD.

When you live with unmedicated ADD for so long (which everyone does until they are diagnosed) It has a really bad effect on your short term memory because it doesnt get the chance to develop like it does with non Adders.I suppose this makes sense. When I was much younger, my memory was a lot better. It was actually normal. As I got older I put myself through hell by always challanging myself. I've relying on my working memory so much that I've probably fried it. I take advanced mathematics courses (since I am a mathematics major in college) and I still try doing it all in my head. It's damn near impossible when you have the working memory span of 3 to 5 bits of information (one bit might be one digit, one word, a single spatial object, etc) while the average person can remember 7 bits. It's amazing the kinds of mathematics I can do with horrible memory. I WISH I had drugs to fix my memory. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen. The best that I can hope for is that I figure out a way to declutter my brain and pray that my working memory improves.

I'm pretty sure that a lot of ADHD symptoms are caused by poor working memory. If the amount of information that you can hold in your WM is very low, it's very hard to get the right peices together to formulate new ideas and thoughts. If this is the case, than drugs are not going to help this.