I realize that this is just a vent post about living with ADHD, but it contains so many untruths that I have to clean up with it.

People with ADHD aren't lazy. If we were lazy, we'd be having fun. But we aren't having fun. We have a different brain structure and neurotransmitter levels that make it difficult to muster up motivation for things and to concentrate on things. This includes things that are supposed to be fun or relaxing. So we're actually worse at being lazy than the average neurotypical.

We aren't inconsiderate either. In fact, we're often overly considerate to the point we develop rejection sensitivity or social anxiety. Parents, teachers, colleagues force us to adapt to their ways of doing things. We have to mask constantly. It's exhausting as hell.

And we don't have to be fuckups. We can finish an education, hold down a job, have healthy relationships, and lead happy and fulfilling lives. But we do need therapy, possibly medication, and most importantly, acceptance and support from the people around us and society as a whole.

https://corteximplant.net/objects/02863f00-729a-439c-aaf5-9923ec9b1b26

Methamphetamine is only prescribed for ADHD treatment in the US, as far as I can tell. And even there, it's only a second line treatment. Methylphenidate, lisdexamfetamine and combinations of amphetamines such as adderall are more commonly used. Many people self-medicate with stimulants like caffeine. So the connection between ADHD and meth is mostly a meme.

@schratze it’s probably that people read the meth- in methylphenidate or the amphetamine in lisdexamphetamine and jump to racconclusions

Personally, I vehemently disagree with ADHD being framed as a disease. It's a way in which your brain is different. Is it a disease if you have longer legs? Is it a disease if you have shorter fingers? Is it a disease if you have a different hair color?

No, obviously not. These things can all pose challenges. Those challenges don't exist in a vacuum. They're a result of the interaction between your differentness and society as a whole.

I've talked to other people though who do experience their ADHD as a disease and who would want to get rid of it, if such a thing was possible. So that's another thing: we aren't all the same. Our experience with the condition differ, and so do our views on it.

@schratze also "incurable" accepts the framing that ADHD is a "disease", and treatment isn't "meth" (as in "methamphetamine"), it's either methylphenidate (note the distinct lack of "amphetamine" after the "meth") or lisdexamfetamine (note the lack of "meth" before "amfetamine").

@schratze the three are in the same class of drugs although, from what i gather, both methylphenidate and amphetamine have worse highs than meth for recreational use?

@schratze and we love meth

@daswarkeinhuhn @amberage yeah, I wanted to address that but I couldn't fit in the first post anymore. See the followup :)

@schratze Thanks. I don't even have ADHD and this stung for me to read. It seems so unkind. And while people can say whatever they want about their own conditions, this does have the potential to do a lot of collateral damage.

Thanks for addressing that, and I hope it didn't harm you.

@bright_helpings thank you. It didn't harm me, it just annoyed me enough to write this

@charlotte what do you mean by class of drugs? CNS stimulants? Yeah. So is caffeine

I don't think methylphenidate is chemically related to methamphetamine. Lisdex is metabolized into dextroamphetamine. Adderall has like four different amphetamines in it.

@schratze The neurodiversity framework has helped me to contextualize my ADHD and be mild to myself. Which helps (a bit) towards not feeling miserable from it, which should be like the main goal. Being productive, or artistic, or whatever, are possible side benefits, not goals by themselves. But it's often framed that way, which just makes it another recipe for misery, just more sparkly.

@delafin yeah. I've tried therapizing myself into being productive and functional for years, and all it gave me was a debilitating anxiety disorder. Now that I'm working on accepting myself the way I am, performing less and focusing on my own well being, all of a sudden I feel a lot better and I'm also a lot more functional and productive

@schratze Yes. I know the phrase sounds quaint these days but it's a social construct. Diseases are defined by being dysfunctional. One's brain being wired in such a way isn't inherently dysfunctional, it only is in the context of the specific mode of production (to employ a Marxist term here) we live under.

@anarchiv Chapman, in Empire of Normality, also makes this point and states that the capitalist pressure to conform with production is only increasing (thus making more people 'abnormal')
@schratze

@anarchiv Although I've always kinda liked the idea of the experience of dysfunction as being the defining element of mental 'illness'. There's space there to acknowledge that, yes, it's partly because the way our society and economy are structured, but we still have to live in it, how can we find ways to deal with that. It's not just figuring out how to make people productive members of society, but just personal functional within that society. Not sure if I'm getting my point across here, lol.
@schratze

@delafin @schratze You I'm catching your drift. Sure, there's that too. It's like all the flaws with the social theory of disability. Like, if you're blind, some aspects of life WILL always be more difficult, you can't just jot it all down to social factors.

@anarchiv @delafin yeah. I've seen the claim before that mental illnesses just wouldn't exist under communism, which is just hilarious nonsense. You can image the type of person to make such a claim.

@schratze @delafin Well, I've seen the actual claim misrepresented a lot.

@schratze @charlotte idk a lot about organic chemistry, but i do know that meth- and methyl- are not exactly the same thing.

@burnitdown @schratze they both indicate a methyl group in this case

@charlotte @schratze
'worse high' is very subjective but methylphenidate is quite different anecdotally than the other two. you won't hear much about it being used recreationally

amphetamine and methamphetamine are similar but not identical. meth is more intense and taxing on the body. but if you take a high dose of amph it's gonna be closer to those effects

both of those are commonly used recreationally and otherwise