One of the big reasons I haven’t gotten diagnosed for ADHD yet is that I assume they’ll prescribe meds and that will create a concept called “meds” that others can bully me with. No one can tell you to take your meds if you don’t have any lol.
The other reasons are that it’s taken me decades to actually like myself and the thought of meds changing who I am is really scary. Then there’s the scary things that come with diagnoses. What if I get misdiagnosed? What if getting diagnosed leads to rights being removed? I have a friend who was diagnosed as bipolar and they immediately removed her driving licence. What if I go to a private clinic instead and they just feed me a bunch of lies so they can charge huge fees for consults and meds? It’s a minefield and I’m happy with the way I function and also, I’m generally a happy person living an nice life so why upset the apple cart?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
i’m not diagnosed, but i got prescribed dopamine and serotonin blockers to help with presumably stress-related muscle pain and depressive symptoms. “coincidentally” (thanks to a doctor who actually listens) those meds also dampen adhd symptoms.
in the past few months, it feels like i’ve become… more me. i use less time stuck in bad thoughts and decision spirals. i can actually look into the future instead of just focusing on what’s in my immediate vicinity. i can sit still long enough to actually do my hobbies, rather than getting up and randomly wandering every few minutes. i can put things in my head aside for later now.
i know this is trite, but if you worry about bullying, don’t. that’s also a symptom, a mental spectre that disappears once you get the right stuff in you. if you’ve spent decades with this, you’re old enough to know (logically if not emotionally) that bullying is pretty rare outside of the school environment. if you’re not being bullied now, becoming more comfortable with yourself is hardly something that would make it happen. and if it does happen, being more comfortable with yourself means you won’t care.
in short, meds don’t change you. they give you more time as you.