Bad week, need help | ADHD Information
Lizzie,
Go for it Girl, You are the nurse i would like if i needed one.
"Congratulations"ON THE EXAMS
Thank you guys so much!!! I have just been having the week from you-know-where. I'm stressed, tired, and irritable lately. Not only am I moving but I have to finish my clinicals, work and study for boards. I am grateful for all the sweet, kind responses I got, you guys made my day! 
I have a small problem, hoping for answers. My S.O. feels that ADHD is a manifestation of our societies emphasis on having hectic lives. He feels that the only reason that I report such a dramatic increase in concentration is that I'm on a stimulant medication. He says that if you put anyone on stimulant medications they will have an increase in concentration and productivity. He says if you look at the symptoms of ADD they can fit just about everyone and anyone. He made me feel like I was just messed up. I found such conselation in the fact that I am not an idoit, I have a treatable condition and I feel so much better now that I am on medication for it. I said that my depression lifted the day I began Adderall and he said anyone's would and that stimulants are also mood elevators. I began to feel just like I did before I was diagnosed, confused and upset. I guess I just think that the way I am without medication just isn't normal. How could it be? I really don't think that everyone has to read the same paragraph 3 times to understand it, I think most people remember at least meeting someone else, I think most people may loose their keys, sunglasses, purse, on occasion but not all the time. He doesn't like the fact that I'm on drugs (he's a cop...) for an "overly diagnosed disorder". I have no idea why I'm letting this get to me (maybe because I let everything get to me) I know it helps me and when I'm on my meds I finally feel like the ammount of effort I put into things equals the results I get.
Story? Ok, I am like everyone else on this board, my high school grades sucked, failed a few as a matter of fact. Always been a bit slow on the uptake, and a poor tester. I took a big national test that predicts how you'll do on the NCLEX-PN (nursing boards). I got up early to take my meds so they would be working during the test. Guys, I scored so high I made a school record! Now it just goes to show what a difference taking my meds can make! SCHOOL RECORD PEOPLE!!! This was like getting an acadamey award. I couldn't believe it, I only told one person on my entire class, I'm still afraid it isn't true.
I guess I need some reassurance, TLC from those who understand, and a list of good websites that explain the effect of stimulant medication on the ADHD brain. I know he loves me, he just can't understand. He comes from a family that feels that illness of any kind is a weakness. I'm so frustrated! I told him how hurt his comments made me and he gave me a big hug and told me that he loves me no matter what and if I feel better on stimulants than he supports it, but that was after he allready had told me that everyone has ADHD symptoms. I guess I feel like if there isn't something wrong, then I'm just a lousy, lazy, highly irritable, moronic, alzhimers patient and I cannot live knowing that it's just many inherent "personality flaws" and unfixable or without reason.
God I ramble too much. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you to my web family for the support you give me and eachother. This board makes bad days better, it's good to know I'm not alone. 
But my "peers" still think I'm a nut case because making money is the only thing the world understands. If you don't make much; you are considered a loser. I'm an artist; so I'm wierd anyways (grin) The thing is that now; it really doesn't make a difference to me. If people don't want to be friends with me in my world; it's their loss. For the first time in my life; I can say that and be truthful. Adderall makes me feel "normal". It keeps me from feeling like an outcast in this world. So whatever people think; it doesn't matter. I'm free now to start my life regardless of what others want. You go for it! Grab life by the "cohones" and squeeze till it gives you what you want out of it. We're all cheering for you!
Congrats on the test results!lizzy,
Everyone does not have ADHD! If they did, the schools would be teaching in a way which was geared to educate us. I can guarantee that they don't. If everyone had it, we would be normal and never feel out of step with the rest of the world.
I have one thing to say which might not make you very happy. If you and your SO have kids, there is a very good chance that one or more of them will have ADHD. How will he handle that? Its something you have to think about if you are considering a future. If he isn't willing to recognize it as real, he could make your child's life a living H*ll. 
Your child may grow up being called all the things you have called yourself, but this would be a parent talking! I hated to bring this up but someone had to.
Congratulations!!!!! You did something fantastic! You would probably have scored high on the test but meds helped you focus so you could show everyone just who the real lizzy is! I am so proud of you! Way to go girl!
Lizzy, you have such a sweet and caring way about you that I know you will make a wonderful nurse! Now you can make your dreams come true! I'm happy for you! Barb
Heeeeey Lizzy!
I heard the same sh*t from my Psychiatrist. He started talking about societies in the jungles of South America and the Eskimos. By the time he was done I felt like I needed to counsel him! Just as many doctors and shrinks are just as nuts as the general population! Fine and dandy, I live in Jersey, not the Amazon or Arctic Circle. This guy does not make the distinction between "normal" modern stress and having a brain that changes channels on its own! He also made the remark "well if you think the medicine is helping, keep taking it".
I think it is very likely that throughout most of history when the vast majority of humans lived an illiterate subsistance agrarian lifestyle, people with ADD did not even know they had it. Wake up when the sun comes up, dig in the ground until it is dark, then pass out from exhaustion. 12 hours of hyperfocus on digging.
The numbers I have read are estimates that approx. 3% of the population have some form of ADD.
And is it overly diagnosed? Perhaps so. But that does not mean anything. As I wrote elsewhere, if you hospitalize 100 people for influenza but later discover 40 of them only had a bad cold, the other 60 still have influenza! Influenza is still real and those 60 still need treatment.
I am 45 and was just diagnosed. Trust me, not everyone in the world is like me. If they were, the airlines would not be flying and the stock marktet would be shut down! But we might have more fun.
Hang in there Lizzy.
Hey Lizzy,
No Problem! as an oldie i have been though a few crazy situations where circumstances left me drained, achy, and downright impossible to live with. all it would have taken was a Kind word, smile of recognition of the craziness i found myself in and it would have helped to ease the tension. I believe in the power of Hugs because for me to feel the embrace of a S.O. is a real Battery Charger.I decided that if it was of use, in future, i would encourage fellow humans in any way i could. So there!