Faking ADHD – Time Magazine

[Anonymous]

I can only laugh when I read comment about how ADD/ADHD if fake and that is just a bunch of hype to get people to buy drugs. A few months ago I would probably agree. But the thing is, most people who say its fake don’t have it. So they really can’t put a legit statement in the first place. ADD/ADHD is very real. I had to find out the hard way. I do agree that we should not give are children drugs because they are still developing and its to hard to tell the difference anyways. I was one of those kids. And my mom took me off Ritalin after just two days because I was a zombie. She just couldn’t see me like that. I lived a very happy childhood. I did ok in high school and had strait A,s my freshman year. But like most I thought high school was dumb. And just showed up to pass the test. I served In the military for 5 years and really never had a problem because I always had someone tell me what to do. If anything I was really good at what I did. But now I’m in collage and want nothing more than to make my father proud (RIP) and my mom proud. Plus to prove something to myself. Amped and ready. I started school. I have no problem understanding the lessons or info. I have trouble sitting still, keeping my mind on one topic, and just finishing things I started. I hate to fail and will never give up. But I knew I couldn’t do it alone. So I got help. After learning everything I could about ADD/ADHD, I had to come to the hard conclusion that I might really have this stupid thing. At first I was like really that BS that I had in grade school. I have no problem that i’m wrong, but have a big problem saying there is something wrong with me. But after watching myself slipping everyday and have the feeling like I had no control or that I’m a complete failure, I had to see someone for help. I have been working with my specialist for a month now. I don’t feel any different than before. I am just able to control my mind better. And now am getting A’s again. There are so many thing that play a role in why ADD/ADHD is taken out of hand. It’s not just bad parents or crappy doctors. But kids making excuses and people not knowing the difference. Plus all the people who think its fake. One of the reasons it took me so long to get help is because I thought it was fake too. But after trying anything and everything other than drugs. Diet, sleep, working out, study groups and even supplements. I can honestly tell you that the disorder is there. I respect the opinion of others, even if they think its fake. Without people like you we would just beleave anything we heard. But please try to understand that its not something you want to be labeled as. Its something you have to live with. And for me it has its good sides. I just have to deal with the one bad side thats all. Thank you everyone

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[Anonymous]

nicely done noblemt……..

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[Curlymoe115]

I think the problem with this is that most doctors themselves are not well educated about ADHD. So how can they accurately diagnose something they know very little about. You go to the doctor with the self diagnosis in hand. He remembers his checklist of ADHD symptoms (as they pertain to children) and if you spout a good story you are diagnosed.

But if you are not actually taking the medication for a medicinal reason then like other posters have said you are like any other drug abuser. You are not buying weed from the local high school kid you are buying non-needed medication from the pharmacy. Drug addict is a drug addict. Just like homeless people buying mouthwash and airsprays to drink the alcohol because they can’t afford to buy high grade liquor. Or smokers heading to the local cigarette smuggler to get cheap smokes. But what it doesn’t address is the other side of the coin about the people who are faking it, those that are faking pain so they can sell Oxy for $10 a pill, or Ritalin or any other stimulant drug that people find a high.

But for those of us who actually have ADHD and have found their way to this website there is a significant impairment that is in some way impeding our quality of life. Now there is a spectrum of suffers from the mildly to the severely impaired. Many with a number of co-morbids. There is not a blood test or brain scan to definitively define ADHD. Because ADHD refers to a neurological disorder of the brain. How it impairs my thinking could and is completely different then other suffers. DH also has ADHD but his symptoms are different.

So what does this article actually say to us. If you are paid $45 bucks could you fake some symptoms enough to pass a test. And that ADHD suffers as a whole are actually much more abled then disabled. Look at the number of truly gifted people out there who actually have ADHD. What will this article actually mean for the truly afflicted? Not alot. Most doctors go by checklists of symptoms and try to guess what this actually is. How many doctors have told a patient they have one thing that only after they have treated the patient for this, it turns out they actually have something completely different. My mother was told she was suffering from heart disease. Her fingers were swollen balls on the end of her fingers, she had shortness of breath and a myriad of other things. Because of her insurance at work she had a chest xray every year. Finally after a few months of traditional treatments she was sent for a blood test that detected a few anomalies. Then she was sent again for chest xrays. Turns out she had stage 4 lung cancer. She was then given 3 months to live. Only looking back at the old xrays were they able to see the tumor as it developed for 10 years. Luckily she lived for almost 5 years. My niece was told that the pains in her legs were growing pains. Even though she ended up curled up in a ball every night and was taken to the hospital for shots of Demerol they dismissed these things. Finally after the 6th time of these visits they did a blood test. Came back with an anomaly. She had Ewing Sarcoma bone cancer. She was 13. Does that mean that every time your doctor diagnosis someone it is wrong. Certainly not. But as these cases demonstrate something that presents one way can turn out the other. The same with people with ADHD.

There are going to be people diagnosed that don’t have it, and people that are not diagnosed that do. Whether that is one in 4 as the article claims who knows. It is a guesstimate of statistics. It is not precise. Did the people that spout this statistic for this article or The Clinical Neuropsychologist article that it is based on have hard analysis to back up these numbers. 25% of people that are diagnosed have been exposed as frauds. Really. How many family physicians have time to do a follow up with their patients. How many would bother. When I went to my psychiatrist for depression he prescribed meds. I was diagnosed with 10 mental illnesses based on the testing. Then the next visit was to analyze how the meds made me feel. On a scale of 1-10 how would I rate my happiness since starting this or that med. Did there seem to be any side effects. In a 6 month period I was prescribed no less then 12 heavy duty meds. I have many bottles of these meds in my cupboard. Some unopened because my medical plan paid for 3 months of these meds. But the pharmacy would not take these meds back, nor could I donate them to others. So instead of just flushing these they sit in my cupboard. So finally I stopped taking meds altogether. When I asked about actually treating the illness not the symptoms I was rebuffed and stopped seeing the doctor. His office was piled with patient files. His desk was stacked with files precariously balanced on top of other piles of paper. He didn’t remember me until he found my file and read through to his last report. So if he didn’t remember me how could he treat me. This is a professor at a teaching medical school teaching other psychiatric students on how to clinically diagnose people like us. He didn’t recognize my ADHD as one of my illnesses probably because he doesn’t recognize his own.

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[Anonymous]

wow….noblemt your story sounds just like mine. My mom took me off of ritalin because i was a zombie too, spent time in the military and then college as well. Are you an medical tech.?

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[Anonymous]

Not medical. I was and Hydraulic engineer for Rotary and fixed wing aircraft for the 5 years I serving in the Corp. And for school I am still yet to decide. First I wanted to continue with engineering. But now I am starting to look and Psychology. Still deciding. I had a question for you Bornrebel. And you don’t have to answer. Did you ever experience any head trauma growing up? I ask because I have been reading about a link between the two. And I have been 4 rear end crashes. And some Sport injuries. Was wondering if the ADD/ADHD might get worse because of it.

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[Author]

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