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I took Ritalin all through grammer and high school. Obviously it helped me concentrate, but when I got to college, all I could think was "I'm not me, I am this

I took Ritalin all through grammer and high school. Obviously it helped me concentrate, but when I got to college, all I could think was "I'm not me, I am this drug." So I stopped taking it. I flunked out of college, I moved back home, I failed out of community college. Then I moved west, joined the dot com boom, got a great job, a wife, a spectacular career, and I've founded a non-profit. I am fairly certain that I don't have ADHD. Instead, I think that the real problem is that school is fucking boring as shit! I always loved working for money, since I was 13 and mowed lawns, but I always hated school because it was boring and I was ostracized. Today, I don't take anything for my so-called ADD. Frankly, I think it's all a buncha bullshit, and ADD is an excuse for teachers who hate their students. At the end of the day, ADD is just another personality quirk you have to learn how to manage. Drugging it into submission creates weakness in the sufferer. You know what cured my ADHD? Working from home.

DannyBee 14y ago
ADHD may be over-diagnosed. That does not mean it doesn't exist. If you could actually focus an function properly, yes, you probably don't have ADHD.
cdash 14y ago
So you were on a medicine and when you stopped taking it you failed out of school but its all just a bunch of bullshit?
- sneak 14y ago
  Don't forget "buncha" and "grammer"
- jeffdavis 14y ago
  What is the problem with that reasoning? Not liking and failing out of school is not a medical problem.
  - VonGuard 14y ago
    I never claimed ADHD/ADD didn't exist. I'm just saying I was called a prime example of ADD, and I was able to eventually control myself. I'm sure there are people out there that can't, but I'd personally wager that most folks who have ADD ADHD just need to find out where they fit in life, not take a drug that allows them to do something they otherwise couldn't. If it works for you, fine, more power to you. My real point is that calling someone broken because they are diagnosed with ADHD ADD is wrong, in my opinion. It's a character trait or flaw that can be useful if you find the right place for you. The right place for an ADHD ADD person might just not be in an office sitting at a chair all day. Maybe it's out running a trade show, or a frantic diner or store, or maybe it's being a professional gamer. Who knows? ADD ADHD doesn't mean yer broken and only fixable with drugs. You can find your own way in life, is what I am saying, and drugs are not the only option. Dropping out of school is the best decision I ever made, frankly.
cshimmin 14y ago
I don't think it's fair to conclude "some people just don't like school" => "ADD doesn't exist". I'm a graduate student working on my PhD in physics. Physics and astronomy are my lifelong passions, and is now my career. Nevertheless, my attention issues have prevented me from reading even a few pages of a textbook in a sitting. Isn't it just silly to not be able to sit and read about my favorite things. After dropping out of undergrad, and then eventually graduating by with pretty sub-par grades, I was diagnosed with ADD and started taking medication. At my current academic level, I can't squeeze by on just wit alone; it requires a lot of focus. What you're suggesting is that I should just drop my lifelong passion and head out Californee-way for some internet jobs.

DannyBee 14y ago

ADHD may be over-diagnosed. That does not mean it doesn't exist. If you could actually focus an function properly, yes, you probably don't have ADHD.

cdash 14y ago

So you were on a medicine and when you stopped taking it you failed out of school but its all just a bunch of bullshit?

sneak 14y ago
Don't forget "buncha" and "grammer"
jeffdavis 14y ago
What is the problem with that reasoning? Not liking and failing out of school is not a medical problem.
- VonGuard 14y ago
  I never claimed ADHD/ADD didn't exist. I'm just saying I was called a prime example of ADD, and I was able to eventually control myself. I'm sure there are people out there that can't, but I'd personally wager that most folks who have ADD ADHD just need to find out where they fit in life, not take a drug that allows them to do something they otherwise couldn't. If it works for you, fine, more power to you. My real point is that calling someone broken because they are diagnosed with ADHD ADD is wrong, in my opinion. It's a character trait or flaw that can be useful if you find the right place for you. The right place for an ADHD ADD person might just not be in an office sitting at a chair all day. Maybe it's out running a trade show, or a frantic diner or store, or maybe it's being a professional gamer. Who knows? ADD ADHD doesn't mean yer broken and only fixable with drugs. You can find your own way in life, is what I am saying, and drugs are not the only option. Dropping out of school is the best decision I ever made, frankly.

cshimmin 14y ago

I don't think it's fair to conclude "some people just don't like school" => "ADD doesn't exist". I'm a graduate student working on my PhD in physics. Physics and astronomy are my lifelong passions, and is now my career. Nevertheless, my attention issues have prevented me from reading even a few pages of a textbook in a sitting. Isn't it just silly to not be able to sit and read about my favorite things. After dropping out of undergrad, and then eventually graduating by with pretty sub-par grades, I was diagnosed with ADD and started taking medication. At my current academic level, I can't squeeze by on just wit alone; it requires a lot of focus. What you're suggesting is that I should just drop my lifelong passion and head out Californee-way for some internet jobs.