The other day I told a friend of mine that I never forget to take my ADHD meds because I fucking love my ADHD meds. I'm in my late 30s, I didn't finally get a diagnosis and meds until less than two years ago, and they have changed my entire life.
And he raised his eyebrow at me. We'd been discussing addictive medications a few minutes before, like the Tramadol I finally got from the pain specialist to take once a week or so to give me a break from my chronic pain, so I reassured him that methylpenidate (Ritalin/Concerta) is not addictive (at least not in people with ADHD).
His response? To raise his eyebrow even harder and say "Well it sure SOUNDS like it's addictive!"
And I had to explain to this man - who works in a healthcare related job by the way - that just because medication makes you feel good and helps you, just because you look forward to taking it, that doesn't make it addictive or dangerous. And he wasn't convinced.
The simple fact that I was excited to take a daily pill that has literally changed my life, after decades of fighting to get that medication, made him think I shouldn't be taking it so often. That it must inherently be dangerous.
I'm not even in America, but I'm pretty sure this attitude began there and then spread over here to Europe. This Puritan idea of "if something feels good, you must beware of it. Pleasure is dangerous, it is sinful, it is addiction, it is evil."
I know too many people who subconsciously believe that pleasure = addictive = dangerous = bad. Joy is a slippery slope to hell.
So here is your reminder for today that you don't need to be afraid of feeling good. If something improves your life, use it. Even if it is addictive - learn what that addiction means, whether the addiction is inherently dangerous or not, and whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks and risks.
My ADHD meds are, in fact, not addictive. But I will take them every day because they make my life orders of magnitude easier. I will enjoy them every time I take them.
My tramadol is addictive. I will still take it. I will keep it on a schedule to avoid becoming addicted, primarily because addiction in this case would mean reduced effectiveness. But I am not afraid of my painkillers. They are life changing.
Take your meds, everyone. Don't let anyone scare you away from doing something that improves your life.
There is something so sinister about the idea that a medication made to improve your life cannot be trusted if it improves your life so much that you like taking it. Bleh.
It puts this weird moral obligation on suffering. Like if you’re actually comfortable with yourself and your treatment you’re somehow failing. That you need to be ashamed somehow that the medication helps you and need to be looking for alternatives.
But you don’t. You found a solution that worked great and then you moved on to something else.
There's the notion that all medication is supposed to temporary. That there is no such thing as a permanent disability, that all medical treatments are designed to help you Cope While You Get Over It, whatever "it" happens to be.
The entire medical industry is unhappy with the notion that some people need lifelong medications.
Note: Of course, they aren't at all worried that you need lifelong food, and lifelong vitamins, and that you have to drink water every. damn. day. That's normal, after all.
And they aren't dismayed that some people put their shoes on EVERY SINGLE DAY of their lives, and even look forward to having these little contraptions on their feet that protect them from cold and getting their feet cut by rocks and glass and stuff. None of them say, "shoes, well, I guess if you have to, BUT you really should try to break the habit, at least a little bit, spend a few days with your feet in their natural condition, stop forcing them into a particular shape. Are you really planning on wearing those things every day? You could move somewhere warm, with lots of open fields, where you don't have to! Toughen your feet naturally and only wear them sometimes, when you really need to, and then maybe stick to sandals? Maybe you should switch to sandals now and work towards not wearing shoes at all on some days, mmkay?"
None of them will question you about the Assistive Devices strapped to your feet and ask when you plan to stop relying on them so much.
But pills? OMG, you have pills that make your life better, and you want to take them - and you don't plan to stop?
(If you are facing someone who is pestering you about long-term medications, feel free to say "My doctor and I have a plan to taper me off slowly; I'd rather not discuss it because it's kind of complicated. Also it's personal.") (It is not complicated. When you die, you will stop ingesting pills. Don't tell them that part; admitting you're aware you will die someday is considered "morbid.")
