> In short, I'd encourage you to continue addressing your ADHD symptoms with ever-improving self discipline, personal habits, and healthy lifestyle choices. The medication is part of a treatment regimen, but it shouldn't be the entirety of one's treatment regimen.
No, no, no, no. As someone who suffered remarkable mental turmoil over my inability to focus, despite reading books about it, asking everyone for help with my problems, just no, I hate this kind of puritanical thinking, it's exactly this kind of thinking which adds to the stigma of ADHD medication. The very first _day_ I took the medication I knew I'd stumbled upon something monumental. And then I realized that all those years of struggle in school and college, they were all for naught.
The only right answer is: see a psychologist if you think you have a problem, and get medicated if you and your psychologist feels you do have a problem.
> In reality, you may have benefited greatly by spending your formative years teaching yourself coping mechanisms and learning good study habits before introducing ADHD medication.
Nope. It just shit on my self-esteem and resulted in depression because I thought I was just not cut out for the things I wanted to be able to do.
>> The medication is part of a treatment regimen, but it shouldn't be the entirety of one's treatment regimen.
> No, no, no, no.
I'm sorry you struggled, but I think you misinterpreted my post. I never suggested that people must go medication-free, or that therapy is the only option.
The point is that optimal medication treatment still requires effort to learn healthy habits, facilitate self-discipline, and improve one's ability to focus.
If you need medication to begin that process, so be it, but taking medication shouldn't mean that you neglect the self-improvement aspect of this. The medication can be a springboard, but it's a mistake to give up on self-improvement and hope that medication can do all of the heavy lifting.
GP seems to be arguing that medication is absolutely appropriate as part of a solution. You seem to be vehemently arguing that medication was critically important for you. There’s probably less contradiction than it appears you’re arguing.
No, no, no, no. As someone who suffered remarkable mental turmoil over my inability to focus, despite reading books about it, asking everyone for help with my problems, just no, I hate this kind of puritanical thinking, it's exactly this kind of thinking which adds to the stigma of ADHD medication. The very first _day_ I took the medication I knew I'd stumbled upon something monumental. And then I realized that all those years of struggle in school and college, they were all for naught.
The only right answer is: see a psychologist if you think you have a problem, and get medicated if you and your psychologist feels you do have a problem.
> In reality, you may have benefited greatly by spending your formative years teaching yourself coping mechanisms and learning good study habits before introducing ADHD medication.
Nope. It just shit on my self-esteem and resulted in depression because I thought I was just not cut out for the things I wanted to be able to do.