People who never took the adhd meds, how is your ability to cope with stress?

[bilbogates98]

AHDH people who've never taken adhd meds, how is you ability to cope with stress/pressure?

Do you deal well under pressure, do you deal with it very poorly? Do you pretty much fall apart?

An example would be working under pressure, do you perform significantly worse then your non-adhd peers?

[LoudSigh]

It depends on the situation. If the pressure is deadline-related and I am doing something that I'm generally good at, then I usually perform better, as long as I'm able to work on my own in a quiet place.

If you're talking about social pressure, that's a different story. I generally find a way to mess up somehow.

[kettish]

Depends. I did very well in extremely stressful situations, battlefield medicine and waitressing. But put me in a room with a bunch of people I know and ask me to give a presentation? Nope. Ain't happenin'.

Or, if there's a due date on an assignment that I don't understand, that probably isn't happening either. :P

[headsamess]

I'm quite good at helping out others, when the problem isnt effecting me and I have more time to think.

I can fall apart when its my problem, making hasty decisions, trying to escape the easiest way out, sometimes making things worse perhaps trying to gain attention for help.

[Rusty32]

Pre-med i did great, i dont think i was capable of understanding consequences. post-med i haven't really been put in those predicament

[roseblood]

It's really hard for me to fight back tears when I'm stressed and under pressure. I also enter a cycle of negative thinking and imagining things that upset me, impossible to control, so I can stay that upset for much longer than most people. I can cry for hours! So yeah, I have no ability to cope with stress at all.

[andyum]

Pre-meds, I often needed the stress of a deadline or situation to get me motivated to work my best. I am guessing I needed the adrenaline rush to get me going. So far on Adderall, I get the same type of motivation but I am, oddly, calmer in my approach.

[cwatca]

On or off meds I find that I don't cope well if I'm under pressure or stress

[kwalk]

man your bringing me down memory lane. When I was off meds at school I did really well atfirst and I did even more than expected because I cared about what I was doing (creative stuff). The stress was bad even in the beginning but I tried to handle it and keep myself sane. It worked at first and being around positive people was better, but eventually I got burned out and could only pass one class. I joined this site then and that didn't help either as I discovered how much of my life was effected and started getting anxiety/ panick attacks.

[Imnapl]

Tips like these help.

[RedHairedWitch]

I do pretty good. But I have always avoided a high stress lifestyle and workplaces. I am also my own boos. So stressful situations are not so common that they "pile up". Its nice to be a tree-hugging hippy!

Meditation, yoga, hiking, biking, living on acerage surrounded by trees, breathing excersices and stuff are very helpful to me as well.

Hmm so is avoiding people who are high stressed all the time themselves, I'm picky about who I surround myself with.

I'd rather be poor and happy than sucsessful and stressed, but not everyone makes that choice.

[kwalk]

this is a really good thread- It's nice to know how stress is handled even on meds and to prepare or remind ourselves that we're not superman and can't take on the entire world.

[γ-quantum]

Originally Posted by bilbogates98

Do you pretty much fall apart?

ha, i was looking for ways to desribe what i feel when stressed, and i think this fits it perfectly.

i cant handle stress at all... not 'bad stress' anyway.
if its good stress - like, an interesting appointment, e.g. an MRI scan of my brain - i can handle it very well, even though i have to get up 3 hours before i can leave, so i have enough time to 'get ready' and it will end up in some stress because i will be late, but... yeah, it's 'good stress'.

as for bad stress... having to take this constant noise from people around me, not knowing if i can find a flat i can afford to move into it, and out of this poohole... and even the thought of having to move all my stuff... it really stresses me in a bad way. i could freak out about it, but i dont know WHAT to do, really. nothing helps. no screaming, no running, no ignoring, no crying, no... no nothing. i dont know how to handle it at all, so i just end up feeling complete despairation.


edit: oh yeah, im not taking and never took any adhd meds so far.

[Imnapl]

Medication really helps me deal with stress, even though I spent more than forty years learning ways of dealing with it. Medication was the missing link and I am often complimented on my coping skills at work.

[kwalk]

may i ask imnapl what you do to deal with stress?