Nearly Had A Medical Emergency Today Because - And I Cannot Stress Enough How Little I Am Making This

nearly had a medical emergency today because - and i cannot stress enough how little i am making this up - a helicopter landed in front of an open grain silo while i was getting off my ship and i am deathly allergic to the wheat that said helicopters rotor blades proceeded to blast in my face at full force. the cosmic forces are plotting against me ass situation to be in

When you finally find out about your ADHD.

Here's the thing

You don't have to like everyone. Honestly, you don't have to like anyone. You can sit at home alone with your eight cats and your computer and just be content in that.

You don't have to be nice. You don't have to be altruistic. You don't have to be a social justice warrior.

But you have to be kind.

Kindness, I believe, is the most important thing, and it's also one of the hardest.

Kindness and niceness are two very different things. You can be nice without being kind, and you can be kind without being nice. I'll show you with an example.

You have a flat tire on the side of the road, and your phone is dead. You ask a passerby for help.

A person who is nice, but not kind, will tell you that they wish they could help, they really do, but they can't. For whatever reason. On a perfect day, when there are no other things going on, maybe they would be able to help, but they can't. They're so sorry, and they feel for you.

A person who is kind, but not nice, asks you what you were thinking, leaving the house without a fully charged phone, and then offers to call a tow truck for you. They might grumble, they might even not be the most pleasant person to be around, but they help.

Because that is what kindness is. And that is the difference. A nice person will lie about bad news, and a kind person will do what they can to soften the blow. Niceness is rose-tinted glasses. Kindness is a helping hand when a child scrapes their knee.

Online, there seems to be this obsession with goodness. You're a good person because you do this or you don't do this. If you think these thoughts or consume this media, you're not a good person, and that's the worst thing there is.

Maybe I don't know what "goodness" is, but I know that I will never be good by those standards.

That's fine. I'd rather be kind.

Coolest thing about lord of the rings? The king of horses shows up. It appears he is no different from all other horses

The pharmacy got some of my ADHD meds in!

After weeks!

I took ONE full dose and 20 minutes later was uncontrollably yawning and had to take a nap.

Stimulant meds are the first line, most effective treatment for ADHD, being remarkably effective in 70-75% of people with ADHD.

People with ADHD do not get high from their stimulant meds.

Becoming relaxed after taking them for the first time or after a long time off them is a sign that they are working and is an indicator that we DO have ADHD, though most doctors don't seem to know that this happens. We relax because we are closer to a normal state than we were, initially our bodies literally respond with relief.

Again. That is not what you would call even remotely a "high". Unless you are one of those awful people who believe naps are a crime.

They make our brain chemistry more normal, not less.

For those they help, we genuinely need them. Yes, both children and adults. It's fine to take them. It should not be a controversy (nor should ADHD itself be as controversial as it sadly is).

Medicating us does not lead to abuse. We are not addicts in waiting. Treating us as such is repugnant. (And treating addicts like shit is repugnant as well.)

Forcing us off medication with no support does, however, cause serious problems and can lead some people to seek them through illegal avenues, which is dangerous. Also understandable. The medical profession blames us and does not take responsibility for their part in this situation, even though they should.

We have every right to use whatever means works best for us free of censure, disapproval, and overzealous gatekeeping. If that's stimulant meds, so be it.

More respect for us please.

Especially now as we are facing rolling shortages of meds for the next few weeks or months. Your ADHD friends are struggling. Be patient.