its not a waterson, but it makes a valid point that many of us who have been given medication for ADD/ADHD recognise.
i was a bit unique. i wasn't diagnoised until i was 17. while everyone else in my generation got diagniosed ADHD for being a bit squermy in class one day, for some reason they didn't every see it in me.
anyway, during my mothers quest to 'fix' me, we ended up going to yet another shrink, who often worked with kids with ADD. after the first session with me he tells my mom 'errr, i don't what to seem like i am just matching her up with my specialty, but have you ever gotten her tested for ADD?'. he was honestly amazed that it had never occered to anyone before that.
especially after i was tested.
the results read like 'duh'
anyway, the first thing the docters did was put me on ritilin. which worked. everyone was amazed. i got my work done and i was a lot less snappy and distracted.
i hated every minute i was on that drug. i actually felt boring (which is much worse then being bored, which i had plenty experance with)
funny enough, around the same time, i talked with my naighbor David, who also has ADHD. He had been taken off ritilin when he was about 10 years old, as his doctors were conserned about developmentel stuff, and had, at 15, been put on wellbutrin. he expressed the same sentiment.
its like having your personality turned off.
yes, you can function better and people tend to like you better in most situations, but the effects can be very disturbing for the person on the drugs.
when i was about 22, i asked my docter for a new prescription. you can actually work ritilin so that you don't have to take it every day. my plan was to take it on days i had to work and then not take it on days i could just be myself. i did take it for about two weeks, and then i stopped. for me the benifits just couldn't outweigh the effects.
