I'm not sure I agree with calling drugs a "crutch".
Nobody in their right mind would tell me that Singulair or Dulera is a crutch for my asthma. Nobody would call albuterol inhalers overprescribed or asthma overdiagnosed either. My allergist always has to tell me not to work my life around my triggers past a certain point too. Yet I hear it all the time about the Adderall and Vyvanse I used to take, and about ADHD. All. the. time.
I have pretty bad ADHD too. My parents didn't want to put me on any meds, so I learned all the coping mechanisms the hard and expensive way _and_ feel that I lost out on a lot of opportunities when I was younger as a result. It's the only childhood issue I still hold a grudge over. When I could finally do whatever I wanted, I felt like a huge burden was lifted with meds because I never stopped struggling with said coping mechanisms anyway. Including stuff like "take a shower" and "eat lunch" on my daily-todo HabitRPG checklist.
Unfortunately I'm trying to get pregnant and had to get off almost everything, so now I'm back to digging myself into a hole, getting frustrated with even my non-standard and fun life. If it wasn't for the fact that I have a partner to rely on, I probably would be telling my obgyn to go fuck herself about her judgment call regarding non-stimulant ADHD meds known to be safe. ADHD is a huge negative impact on my life, and I'd even qualify it as being worse than something potentially life-threatening like asthma >:P
Obviously not everyone is the same, and abuse is definitely a problem. That doesn't equate to a crutch IMO. Not to mention there's a million other problems in the way, one in the US being a lack of accessible and affordable quality health care so people with ADHD can easily get help with non-medication options...
I watched a talk by Dr. Barkley a while back and he had a wonderful way of phrasing it (paraphrased): "Suppose you had a person in a wheelchair who needed in your building. Would you build a ramp and then after 30 days take it down, saying 'Well, by now they should have figured out how to get into the building.' NO! It's a remedy for a handicap. Neither should you deny medication to someone with another kind of handicap when they need it."
After I let that sink in I suddenly didn't give a crap about the anti-pharma crowd. I have what I need and it helps me, so fuck 'em.
And yes, without it the daily routine isn't one. Completely there.
> After I let that sink in I suddenly didn't give a crap about the anti-pharma crowd. I have what I need and it helps me, so fuck 'em.
Unfortunately the anti-pharma crowd is actively making it more difficult for you to access your medication, by placing increasingly strict controls on access to Adderall and other Schedule II drugs, placing quotas on production (which cause medication shortages[0]), and other measures to 'combat overuse'.
Of course, the only people this actually hurts are people who need the medication on a daily basis and only use legal means to access it, whereas people who abuse/'overuse' it simply stock up ahead of time, or turn to the black market.
I suppose a "crutch" in that if you are ever forced to leave them, you can't function the same.
If you can control your ADHD off meds, then the meds would be considered a cruch (imo).
Not to slight you at all -- I wish I had meds even right now, because managing without them sucks. A lot.
But personally, I can't say I'd never want to be in a place where, as an adult, I have to learn to manage my life because I _can't_ take my medicine. I suppose I'm the opposite of you and am glad my parents had me learn to cope without medicine :-)
Good luck getting pregnant though. Why are ADHD meds considered unsafe when you're pregnant?
In that sense, yes. It seems to be used (and I initially read your comment in this way) in a negative/shaming manner too often, in the "you can theoretically walk so why are you using crutches" sense. There's always degrees of control, right? Everyone with ADHD can live without it, but for more serious cases the quality of life would suffer so much that it's a question if it's worth living without it. That's my grudge - mine is so bad and sucks up so much of me that I can't imagine getting to a point without meds. Then again I know that's a barrier in itself - it's hard to imagine having no end date for taking meds and coming to grips with the idea that some part of you is deficient.
It's also kind of funny to me to think of "why need an unnecessary crutch" for everything else because society loves doing it so much for psychiatric disorders but not much else. I got the same reaction from some people over taking antidepressants (my parents gave in then, because yay suicidal ideation). I think it's harder to understand and empathize with something that's often invisible or an extension of something that affects everyone. My rambly HN comments and commit messages with the 5 minute timer for hyperfocus that you don't see looks totally different from me looking pale and coughing a lot.
re: pregnancy: stimulants are considered iffy, hence why you also can't drink much caffeine - premature births, withdrawal (!), birth defects, and the like. My obgyn, my psychiatrist, and my PCP also like to err on the side of taking as little as possible - I'm also off TCAs for nerve pain, and had to switch nasal sprays and to lower potency topical steroids for dermatitis - so nobody will write me a prescription. So I can't even take Intuniv (non-stimulant, taken at night due to drowsiness, maybe an option for you? meant for children but my adult ADHD-specializing psychiatrist really likes it for adults), not just the Vyvanse I used with it. Meanwhile, the possibility of a fetus exposed to insufficient oxygen for even a moment is so terrifying to them that they're willing to put me on _more_ meds if I'm one of those women that get worse during pregnancy. After I just stepped down due to better control too, dammit. I'm also expressly forbidden from skirting around exercise, one of my biggest avoidable triggers. Risk management is funny.
Thanks though :D and best of luck to you too with your life in general. I planned months in advance to set up maximal coping mechanisms and read a gazillion ADHD help books in preparation for this. If you can cope okay even if not by choice I am super jealous. I'm having a mini breakdown every day. And of course I went over my timer for this comment. I feel like I can scroll the comments on this story and tell who has ADHD depending on how long their comment is. :P
Nobody in their right mind would tell me that Singulair or Dulera is a crutch for my asthma. Nobody would call albuterol inhalers overprescribed or asthma overdiagnosed either. My allergist always has to tell me not to work my life around my triggers past a certain point too. Yet I hear it all the time about the Adderall and Vyvanse I used to take, and about ADHD. All. the. time.
I have pretty bad ADHD too. My parents didn't want to put me on any meds, so I learned all the coping mechanisms the hard and expensive way _and_ feel that I lost out on a lot of opportunities when I was younger as a result. It's the only childhood issue I still hold a grudge over. When I could finally do whatever I wanted, I felt like a huge burden was lifted with meds because I never stopped struggling with said coping mechanisms anyway. Including stuff like "take a shower" and "eat lunch" on my daily-todo HabitRPG checklist.
Unfortunately I'm trying to get pregnant and had to get off almost everything, so now I'm back to digging myself into a hole, getting frustrated with even my non-standard and fun life. If it wasn't for the fact that I have a partner to rely on, I probably would be telling my obgyn to go fuck herself about her judgment call regarding non-stimulant ADHD meds known to be safe. ADHD is a huge negative impact on my life, and I'd even qualify it as being worse than something potentially life-threatening like asthma >:P
Obviously not everyone is the same, and abuse is definitely a problem. That doesn't equate to a crutch IMO. Not to mention there's a million other problems in the way, one in the US being a lack of accessible and affordable quality health care so people with ADHD can easily get help with non-medication options...