Should I start taking ADHD medication? Will it effect my personality or creativi!

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If I were you I'd be careful about medicating, not because I doubt your symptoms, but because it takes much of your creativity away, and you're still doing OK despite it. You say yourself how how you get decent grades and have a circle of friends.

To have ADHD is both a blessing and a curse, and you can't have one without the other if you decide to medicate. The creativity in ADHD is because you have a really wide attention span, instead of a narrow focused one. This is why people with ADHD find more connections with ideas, concepts and the like. They have a great ability to solve unusual problems, and to use their creativity for writing or the arts and even when they're joking around, they come up with all sorts of stuff, that others wonder, how did they think of something like that?

The back side of the ADHDers attention is that they struggle with the straight and narrow, infuriating themselves and others in the process. They make stupid mistakes while their minds away on something else, and many times, simple can't focus to hear what's important no matter how hard they try and people think that it's just down to pure laziness and not caring about what they do. This can lead to all sorts of frustration, restlessness and hinder them from getting good grades, a good job, and even socially. It's hard to even remember names, or listen to a boring conversation, or to stop butting in due to lack of self control. I think it's these emotions which give them their impulsiveness.

The lack of focus, has another side too, which is hyperfocus. People with ADHD can't choose to focus their attention like normal people, instead it's based on what catches their interest, which can be great, if you work yourself into a situation where you can do exactly what you want. Many top entreprenours have ADHD as do writers and inventors.

It's a real balancing act, with medication, and you won't get the level of boredom, hyperactivity, or impulsiveness, if you medicate, but you'll miss out on the rest. You choose if it's worth it.

I've got ADHD too and medicate.

if you take ritalin, you can't join the military. it alters something in your brain & makes you unstable.

i'd advise against taking medication.

try to find something natural to help you. there ARE options out there.. you don't have to resort to filling your body with chemicals that will harm you.

I have been teaching for about 20 years and I have seen medication both help and hinder. I talked to a teacher that had it and she said that she very well organized and that helps her, I had 2 brothers that were put on medication and the younger one refused after a while. His older brother stayed on it and would come to school stoned. I suggested that his meds be cut and the result was that he improved. My personal opinion is that there a lot of kids out there that need that are not getting it and a lot of them that don't need it, but are supplied with it. The best idea is to talk to your doctor. And remember this, you are about to turn 18 and you will be able to make these decisions yourself.