[geeks] RE: [rescue] OT: ADD - MOVING to geeks

[Beth Roberts]

Dwight Wallbridge wrote:
> > If you think you have a medical condition, see a doctor and have
> > them find some sort of diagnosis.
> > Otherwise, it's pointless speculation.
>
> I do not have the $1,500 to be tested to see if I still fall under the
> ADD label. It is not a medical thing unless you are a kid, and even if
> they did diagnose me as that and tried to prescribe something, if the
> prices are anything like they were when I was first diagnosed($2 a pill)
> I wouldn't take medication even if ordered.

Sounds to me like medical insurance would come in handy, to pay for
diagnosis & treatment if that is what you so desire.

One thing corporate jobs have going for them is that the insurance is often
pretty good. (Mostly kinda sorta, if you're lucky).

Of course mental stuff is really, really complicated, and the perfect pill
[tm] hasn't yet been invented. But you may find that a little trial and
error could give you a leg up on your situation and on how you feel
day-to-day.

Some of the SSRI's can be pretty fantastic in their effects, at least at
first. Everything has its limitations, of course. What I'm getting at is
there might be a chance that you could benefit, at least for awhile, and
that you could use that time to better tailor your life (job, school,
hobbies) to a more satisfying situation.

There are always tradeoffs, and different formulations work for different
people because we've all got different brains (and for bipolars like me,
seasonal changes are common - whee!).

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking "It's All My Fault Because I'm
Just Not A Good Enough Person" (been there, done that), when the truth is
much closer to a chemical imbalance, similar to what diabetics have to deal
with. (I wonder what they thought of diabetics in ages past? Sinners
possessed by demons when they went into sugar-shock comas?)

> > It is easy to break. All you have to do is stop doing it.
>
> Like I said, easier said than done. That is like telling a crack addict
> to stop, or a smoker to just quit. Habits are hard to break, that is why
> they are habits. I am trying to break my habits, the many of them I
> have, but they are long held habits and not easy to be rid of.

Exactly. It all looks so damn *easy* to people on the outside, doesn't it?

That's a big part of the hell of it.

Another part of the hell of it is that some of the people closest to you,
the ones who ostensibly give a shit and even love you, will say the most
hurtful things, even as they think they're being "helpful".

"Oh, just pull yourself together."
"Don't take everything so *personally*, geez."
... and on and on...

I'll shut up now.

-Beth