ADD/Ritalin

[indjaseemun]

I have ADD and I would like to know if anyone with this condition was cured, what did you do to improve, and experiences with the drug Ritalin. I think this is extremely important, after all we have to be aware all the time. One cannot have ADD! If it does not have a cure the person can at least try to improve their condition.

I wanted to take Ritalin but if the symptons are going to come back after I stop taking it then there is no point for me.

I believe there are people here with ADD and even derealization. Derealization is a bizarre condition (but I think it is very old and common - it's just not very well known) in wich the world gains a dream-like quality, for lack of a better explanation, and it is related to ADD I think.

This is a serious topic about regaining sanity.

[My AIDS, Your Arse]

Do your homework on this supplement:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-theanine

This is an amino acid found in tea leaves. Apparently it's good for ADD/ADHD as well, but your mileage may vary.

[Dinaric Leather]

I have ADD and I would like to know if anyone with this condition was cured, what did you do to improve, and experiences with the drug Ritalin. I think this is extremely important, after all we have to be aware all the time. One cannot have ADD! If it does not have a cure the person can at least try to improve their condition.

I wanted to take Ritalin but if the symptons are going to come back after I stop taking it then there is no point for me.

I believe there are people here with ADD and even derealization. Derealization is a bizarre condition (but I think it is very old and common - it's just not very well known) in wich the world gains a dream-like quality, for lack of a better explanation, and it is related to ADD I think.

This is a serious topic about regaining sanity.

Ritalin just relieves some of the symptoms, the real cure is discipline. Derealization for most people is just the realization of the fragility of consciousness. I find derealizaton to be a positive mental state.

[Cargést]

ADD and ADHD are liberal-speak for "requires more stimulus than the average individual".  People are being diagnosed with it left, right, and centre, nowadays.  Still, if you feel that you have such a condition, then Ritalin is not a good idea.  A friend of mine was on Ritalin for a good four or five years, and it just left him lethargic and placid.  He stopped taking Ritalin about three years ago, actively set out to fix whatever condition he had himself, and is now a much more lively individual, while maintaining an ability to focus on things which aren't immediately exciting/rewarding/interesting/whatever.

[Andrew]

I have ADD and I would like to know if anyone with this condition was cured, what did you do to improve, and experiences with the drug Ritalin. I think this is extremely important, after all we have to be aware all the time. One cannot have ADD! If it does not have a cure the person can at least try to improve their condition.

I wanted to take Ritalin but if the symptons are going to come back after I stop taking it then there is no point for me.

I believe there are people here with ADD and even derealization. Derealization is a bizarre condition (but I think it is very old and common - it's just not very well known) in wich the world gains a dream-like quality, for lack of a better explanation, and it is related to ADD I think.

This is a serious topic about regaining sanity.

Ritalin just relieves some of the symptoms, the real cure is discipline. Derealization for most people is just the realization of the fragility of consciousness. I find derealizaton to be a positive mental state.

I experienced derealization once, for about a week, and it was one of the most terrifying things I'd been through.  I would agree though, that it really did give me first-hand experience of how little it takes to push someone over the edge.  Although I think it's much more strongly associated with anxiety and panic attacks than ADD.  I've never had anything remotely like ADD, but I do have pretty bad anxiety (would never medicate myself for it though).

[Examiner]

Derealization for most people is just the realization of the fragility of consciousness. I find derealizaton to be a positive mental state.

When consciousness overrides reality, then productivity will also suffer, especially when there's only one state of, what I would call constant intoxication.

[Anarcho hesh]

ADD and ADHD are liberal-speak for "requires more stimulus than the average individual".  People are being diagnosed with it left, right, and centre, nowadays.  Still, if you feel that you have such a condition, then Ritalin is not a good idea.  A friend of mine was on Ritalin for a good four or five years, and it just left him lethargic and placid.  He stopped taking Ritalin about three years ago, actively set out to fix whatever condition he had himself, and is now a much more lively individual, while maintaining an ability to focus on things which aren't immediately exciting/rewarding/interesting/whatever.

 

I feel like most of my generation has been subject to mind altering substances to make them more docile. Most of the upper middle class white kids i know have some crazy prescription for some wacky ass pill or sedative. It's a little unnerving to try to think about what the long term consequences of all these things will be. At least now bad parents can just blame there child's problems on a mental imbalance. These liberal guys might be on to something....

[Dinaric Leather]

I experienced derealization once, for about a week, and it was one of the most terrifying things I'd been through.  I would agree though, that it really did give me first-hand experience of how little it takes to push someone over the edge.  Although I think it's much more strongly associated with anxiety and panic attacks than ADD.  I've never had anything remotely like ADD, but I do have pretty bad anxiety (would never medicate myself for it though).

Dr. D. Leather has your prescription: Quit looking up justifications for your complacency in bullshit pyschology articles and discipline yourself. You are anxious, you don't "have" anxiety, thats modern speech subtly making it appear as though it's a condition in and of itself (aka "not your fault") and not connected to a spiritual issue. It's most likely you are anxious because you have undirected energy, which is why I suggest a heavy dose of discipline. If you can't figure out how to discipline yourself, join the military, there someone else will force discipline on you.

[nothingnowhere]

I have ADD and I would like to know if anyone with this condition was cured, what did you do to improve, and experiences with the drug Ritalin. I think this is extremely important, after all we have to be aware all the time. One cannot have ADD! If it does not have a cure the person can at least try to improve their condition.

I wanted to take Ritalin but if the symptons are going to come back after I stop taking it then there is no point for me.

I believe there are people here with ADD and even derealization. Derealization is a bizarre condition (but I think it is very old and common - it's just not very well known) in wich the world gains a dream-like quality, for lack of a better explanation, and it is related to ADD I think.

This is a serious topic about regaining sanity.

My experience, your mileage may vary: I was "diagnosed" with ADD when I was younger because I didn't pay attention in school (too busy, you know, thinking) and I was "disorganized" because I didn't care about doing my homework. I took medicine for it that succeeded wonderfully in ruining my sleep schedules and making me depressed. As I grew older and stopped taking medicine for it, I realized that I have a very active mind. I take in and analyze information rather quickly, which can be a positive or a harmful thing depending on how I control it. I found that by disciplining myself and my mind through meditation and awareness expansion (learning to turn off your brain and open up more fully to your senses and direct experience) I now have more focus than the vast majority of people I encounter.

My advice from that: Stay away from drugs that dull and ruin your brain; learn to control it instead.

[JewishPhysics]

I wanted to take Ritalin but if the symptons are going to come back after I stop taking it then there is no point for me.

The point of taking something like Ritalin for ADD / ADHD is to help manage the symptoms so that you can learn to deal with your issues more easily.  There is no 'cure' for ADD, but you can essentially live a normal life / learn to live with it.

There's also the issue of making sure you actually have it before treating it.  This is probably one of the most over-diagnosed conditions there is.

[Mindtraveller]

I find derealizaton to be a positive mental state.

I would tend to agree, however there are circumstances in which derealization is about the last thing you'd want. Piloting an aircraft or in combat, for instance.

I have ADD and I would like to know if anyone with this condition was cured, what did you do to improve, and experiences with the drug Ritalin.

My mother teaches 1st grade. She always prefers that parents seek alternative treatments for the condition before prescribing them to Ritalin. Such alternatives include dietary changes, like cutting red food dye and high fructose corn syrup and processed food in general; as well as physical activity like sitting on a yoga ball at their desk so they exert excess energy by balancing. Although she tells me that the ADHD (ADD is an outdated term) children do experience a profound increase in ability to concentrate on the drug, IMHO it suppresses creativity and emotion and turns children into little robots.

I think this condition is by and large the result of modern lifestyle. Excessive time spent in front of a flickering screen, not enough time outside, a diet of mostly synthetic slop. Of course some kids are more hyperactive and spontaneous than others due to genetics, but the lifestyle factors exacerbate what otherwise would be a manageable affair. The pharmaceutical companies capitalize on this by pedaling these quick fix stimulants guaranteed to make your child sit still for 8 hours. Parents fail realize that these drugs are hyper-addictive and abusable (Ritalin's pharmacological action mimics that of cocaine; Adderall is just meth-lite) and that the younger kids start taking them, the more likely they'll need to continue to purchase a product for the rest of their lives just to be productive.

[rapidshare]

Ritalin just relieves some of the symptoms, the real cure is discipline.

In my experience, most of modern medicine is symptomatic treatment.

[aquarius]

I believe there are people here with ADD and even derealization. Derealization is a bizarre condition (but I think it is very old and common - it's just not very well known) in wich the world gains a dream-like quality, for lack of a better explanation, and it is related to ADD I think.

Derealization (the world doesn't feel real to the person) as oppose to depersonalization (the person feels they aren't real but the world is) is a perceptual disturbance and has more to do with psychosis or dissociation than ADD/ADHD. Maybe you're just a deep thinker.

[wood]

I experienced derealization once, for about a week, and it was one of the most terrifying things I'd been through.  I would agree though, that it really did give me first-hand experience of how little it takes to push someone over the edge.  Although I think it's much more strongly associated with anxiety and panic attacks than ADD.  I've never had anything remotely like ADD, but I do have pretty bad anxiety (would never medicate myself for it though).

Dr. D. Leather has your prescription: Quit looking up justifications for your complacency in bullshit pyschology articles and discipline yourself. You are anxious, you don't "have" anxiety, thats modern speech subtly making it appear as though it's a condition in and of itself (aka "not your fault") and not connected to a spiritual issue. It's most likely you are anxious because you have undirected energy, which is why I suggest a heavy dose of discipline. If you can't figure out how to discipline yourself, join the military, there someone else will force discipline on you.

The military worked for me, I supposedly had AdD, use it as a means to an end though.. the GI bill pays 100% of your school and pays you the housing rate for an E5 with dependents which is around $1,000 a month.

[Andrew]

I agree with your diagnosis "Dr. D," but considering that you don't know me or anything about my anxiety, how can you presume that I don't have some kind of genuine medical condition?  Surely you don't believe all anxiety in every person who has a problem with it stems from lack of discipline, right?  You can't honestly believe there is nobody that has an actual genetic mental defect causing such things.  I'm not such a person; I readily admit that I lack mental discipline, though I disagree with your solution of joining the military.  It would work for people in some countries, but I live in the United States, and could never come to terms with the fact that I'd be fighting to spread consumerism, globalism, and McDonald's culture to the entire globe.