Stories of an ADD Adult

Half the time when I read articles about adult ADD, I end up disgusted with what the writers have to say.

An article in Wired Magazine by Evan I. Schwartz describes adult ADD:

Adult ADD is marked not only by a short attention span but also by a multitasking mind. Anxious to avoid boredom, those afflicted are constantly scanning their environment, searching for all things captivating.

I am completely disgusted with this characterization.

I am never anxious to avoid boredom. In fact, I am rarely ever bored. Most things are fascinating and interesting to me. I don’t remember the last time I was bored because it was probably sometime during middle school, many years ago.

If I don’t have things in front of me to think about, I have millions of ideas in my head to play with. I have so many ideas for projects that I don’t have time to even start all of them.

I constantly think of business ideas and companies to start. If I could only settle on one or two ideas and make them work, I would probably be a millionaire.

My problem is that I jump from idea to idea. My problem is NOT that I suffer from extreme boredom and need interactive media coming at me from every direction to satisfy my bored mind.

I am tired of reading news stories about college kids staying up all night on ADHD drugs. I am sick of hearing about it on TV as well.

There is so much attention given to the abuse of stimulant medication. The media just loves these types of stories. They love scandals, and they love being the heroes who expose the wrongs of our society.

Unfortunately, most people listen to these types of news stories without really understanding the full issue. People think of medications such as Ritalin and Adderall as overprescribed drugs that are abused by college students, rather than as real medications that actually do help so many college students pay attention in lectures and maintain good enough grades to graduate.

Strattera is one medication that I have never taken. It really does sound promising, because I’ve always worried about the fact that Ritalin is a stimulant.

I guess it just would feel better not to be taking a medication that has so much stigma. I am trying to think of other reasons, but I can’t really come up with any right now.

I always feel like I have to hide my Ritalin when I take it. I take it in the bathroom, where no one’s looking, or at home in private, but I do everything to hide the prescription bottle in my purse when I’m in public. I don’t want anyone to know. I’m also scared because people use Ritalin as a drug, and if others knew I had it, they might try to steal tablets or something.

Maybe that’s just paranoia. I don’t know.

I think I would probably do the same with Strattera, but I wouldn’t feel so worried about carrying it around with me. As far as I know, people don’t use it as a drug. My guess about this is that since it often takes 4-6 weeks to feel the resulting effects, people who want to use it actually get a prescription the honest way and actually do need it for real reasons.

People looking to get high probably wouldn’t get anything out of Strattera, I would imagine.