It’s that time of year where I begin to wrap up the ADHD blog until 2025, which gives me a chance to enjoy the festivities while also reflect on how I can continue to develop ADHD and Me in the future. So, the final blog article of the year will be released on the 19th of December (in just two weeks’ time).
I don’t know about you but it’s at this time of year I suffer with the world’s worst brain fog. Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D) seems to worsen a lot of my ADHD symptoms which means trying to get sorted and organised for Christmas leads to a lot of stress and overwhelm.
This causes me to think about the decision I made at seventeen years old, or rather the decision that got made for me, to stop taking ADHD medication. The reason for this is I fell through the gap between where ADHD went from being a child condition to somebody realising that it also affects adults. Of course, the professionals aren’t all to blame for this because it’s something I could have pursued with my doctor over the past many years but have simply chosen not to.
“I haven’t been medicated for my ADHD since 2005 and infact I’ve spent more time being unmedicated with diagnosed ADHD.”
ADHD gIRL
I go back and forth over the decision to be medicated for my ADHD and there are pros and cons on both sides. Medication may mean I get more done in a shorter space of time, it might mean I sleep better, or I achieve more. Yet I never liked how ADHD meds made me feel; like I wasn’t in control of my own emotions. This definitely isn’t the case for everyone, and I know plenty of people who thrive while medicated for ADHD. I’ve also done a degree unmedicated, sure it was hard, but I managed it, but then am I ultimately not allowing myself to reach my full potential by deciding not to take medication. You see how I go back and to?
I’ve always said medication as a treatment for ADHD is a personable choice either for a parent to make for their child, or for an adult to make about their own health. There is no one size fits all approach because there is no two people with ADHD who are exactly the same.
As I get older, I may decide to re-approach the subject of whether to be medicated or not, but for now I worry whether I would still be myself while on it? And for the last few years at least, I’ve grown to like who I am; ADHD and all.
For more information about the issues surrounding the decision to be medicated from a parent’s perspective, you can listen to the ADHD and Me podcast episode entitled ‘To Medicate or not to Medicate’ which is available here.
