Netflix’s Take Your Pills, produced by Maria Shriver and daughter, is more shock-umentary than documentary.
Nobody has time for this nonsense. Yet, we all have a lot to lose by failing to speak up. The blogosphere and the clickbait-o-sphere brim with praise for Take Your Pills.
Please: Do not imagine that access to ADHD treatment is a given, that such films have no negative effect.
Look at many other Western countries where adult ADHD is not even on the radar (often, pridefully so), especially in single-payer national healthcare systems. The U.S. could devolve to that, too, if disinformation campaigns sway public opinion.
Thank You For Sharing
The film’s clear aim is to provoke, to further confuse a largely science-illiterate public. “Driving us back into the closet,” says my friend Meg, a schoolteacher diagnosed five years ago at age 35.
Moreover, this “Adderall epidemic!!! and ADHD over-diagnosis!!!” theme constantly rears its ugly head. In this post, I shed light on the reality.
The producers and Netflix call it a documentary. That would imply balanced reportage. You’ll find none of that in Take Your Pills. Most legitimate documentaries don’t shovel shame and stigma on people burdened enough. (A professional documentary critic agrees; see below.)
“I agree with some of it,” a young woman with ADHD responded to my Facebook post about this. Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. You cannot cherrypick edible fruit from a toxic tree.
Sure, the filmmakers toss in a smidgeon of valid points. That serves to ensnare people ignorant to the complexities on this topic.
But therein lies the trap: the filmmakers’ vainglorious claims of addressing “an important societal issue” come in a transparent and treacherous Trojan Horse.
Their true agenda is clear: No more ADHD diagnoses and no more medications.
This Post Covers These Points:
Yes, this post is long. But I want to cover as much territory as possible, briefly.
The Highlights:
1. The producers are Maria Shriver and daughter Christina Schwarzenegger.
Christina was diagnosed with ADHD at age 6. Neither one seems to know a thing about ADHD. Except for having it. What else do they have? Gobs of money, access, and an ax to grind.
2. You can watch a video interview, below, where they clearly reveal their ignorance.
3. Contrary to popular belief in the ADHD community, “Neurotypicals” are not the enemy of ADHD awareness and legitimacy.
In my observation, it is a subset of people with ADHD who pose the biggest threat.
4. Professional documentary critic Christopher Campbell, an ADHD skeptic until his son was diagnosed, takes this film to task. Excerpt and link below.
5. A list of points about the complexities of “stimulant abuse”—including the fact that most of the people “abusing stimulants” probably have ADHD.
6. Two studies examining the “diversion” problem (diversion is when a prescribed medication is used by someone other than the patient for whom it is prescribed)
7. I provide several links to substantiate or expand my points. I hope they don’t distract you! Maybe try reading the post fully and then going back to the links.
Still Curious? Watch This Interview Instead
So, before you take the bait and watch it on Netflix, please think about the consequences. Every time we “vote” for skewed ADHD propaganda, in a film or newspaper, we say, “Give us more of this, please.”
(I’m convinced that the New York Times has been tapping into public hysteria about ADHD for years—simply because it drives web traffic like little else. That’s why I don’t share the links. And, rest, assured, Alan Schwarz, the former New York Times sports reporter who campaigned on the paper’s front page for a Pulitzer on the backs of people with ADHD, figures prominently in this film. I’ve heard he is now a high school math teacher. Don’t know who he is? Read these posts: Dr. Thomas E. Brown Responds to NYT’s Alan Schwarz and The Truth Behind “10,000 Toddlers Medicated for ADHD)
Hey, but don’t take my word for it! Check the videotaped interview below. It will tell you all you need to know about the filmmakers’ agenda. Shriver and Schwarzenegger are interviewed by Kara Swisher (wearing sunglasses).
Did She Actually Say That?
A friend watched it and said, “Did that woman actually say, ‘Why does a 16-year-old need executive function?’ Good lord!”
Why yes. Yes, she did.
Swisher also proudly disclosed that she “declined” suggestions of ADHD medication for her school-age son. Instead, she let him run around outside.
And. Then. This. Wait for it.
“Well, he’s just not going to do well in school. He’s a tall rich white man in America. I think he’ll be fine.”
Let that sink in a minute.
I’ve seen that attitude dominate in San Francisco, where Swisher lives. It’s a city is known for its high rates of substance abuse. Meth, opiates, and cocaine are the drugs of choice (if you don’t count startups and IPOs), according to The Most Commonly Used Drugs in San Francisco. In a future post, I share research showing the reduced risk of developing a substance use disorder among children treated early for ADHD.
So-Called Neurotypicals Aren’t The Enemy
Let’s be very clear: Neurotypicals didn’t bring us this film. That’s the word commonly used to describe folks who don’t have ADHD and are widely blamed for ADHD denialism. “They don’t understand what it’s like to live with ADHD,” some complain.
Here’s a little secret: In my long and close observation, no one publicly denies or obfuscates the facts around ADHD more than someone who has ADHD, is “in denial,” is narcissistic—and has something to sell.
The producers are Maria Shriver and her daughter, Christina Schwarzenegger. Reportedly diagnosed with ADHD in childhood, Schwarzenegger reports taking Adderall through high school and college. It’s a bit confusing, but it seems the only reason she quit was that her liver enzymes were elevated. “And no one told me this could happen!” With all that Shriver/Schwarzenegger money, her parents a broadcaster and a one-time governor, no one ever even asked about this?
Anyway, according to them, everybody is abusing Adderall on college campuses. Everybody. How do they know this? Unclear. But one gets the feeling that, whatever lip service to ADHD’s legitimacy they might give elsewhere, any use of a stimulant is an illegitimate use in their eyes.
Is Everybody Abusing Adderall? Truly?
Shriver particularly points to the dangers of more young women taking stimulant medications—”cause they want to do start-ups.” Yet, my female friends with ADHD work as teachers, nurses, therapists, and every other occupation. Consider this post from the aforementioned Meg: On Trying to Swim Blind: ADHD and Medication
Where Meg writes poetically of horizons expanding and clarity sharpening when she is diagnosed and begins stimulant medication, Shriver sees only disaster and addiction. A national calamity.
There’s more.
Sneak Preview Highlights:
Here are some interview highlights:
—Schwarzenegger claims she was diagnosed at age 6
It’s generally acknowledged among experts in the field: Only the most severe cases of ADHD in girls are diagnosed that young.
—Shriver says her daughter was a “creative learner”
“But teachers will come to you and say ‘medication’ and I said ‘no no no.’ But there is a lot of pressure when the child falling behind.”
In other words, all the usual tropes….” schools are not designed for creative learners.”
And the world is designed for “creative learners”? Only if you are rich and privileged—and not so severely impaired by ADHD that you end up broke, addicted, and in jail.
Ah, but no, Schwarzenegger did avail herself of a stimulant.
—By the first year of high school, Schwarzenegger was taking Adderall
She is careful to stipulate: This happened “only after extensive testing.”
Then onto college, where she discovered the “Adderall epidemic.” She attended the highly competitive and costly Georgetown University. Was that the best choice for someone who had a long history of struggling in school? Who was allegedly a “creative learner”?
—Christina reports a hard time “getting off” of Adderall
Schwarzenegger reports trouble functioning after stopping the medication. Shriver views that as proof of stimulants’ addictiveness.
But wait. As one friend with ADHD points out, “Well, duh, when you stop the medication, ADHD symptoms return. Maybe you forgot what that was like!”
For a vivid example of an unplanned medication “holiday,” check out Katy Rollins’ essay, ADHD Drug Holiday—Or Horror?
I just have to wonder why, with all their money and access, the Schwarzenegger-Shrivers settled for Adderall, that most problematic of stimulants. It works best for a minority of people. But for most, it causes more problems than it solves. Did the family do no research? Sure seems that way.
He Watched It So You Don’t Have To
Christopher Campbell is a freelance film editor and critic and the founder of the documentary review site Nonfics.
At The Thrillist website, he opens his incisive review of Take Your Pills (Side Effects of Netflix’s New Doc “Take Your Pills” Include Rage and Misinformation) this way:
One of my favorite jokes is about a man goes to the doctor seeking “smart pills,” only to walk out with a sample of what turns out to be rabbit droppings.
When he returns to the doc and points out that the “pills” are actually poop, the doc says, “See, you’re getting smarter already!”
Netflix’s new documentary Take Your Pills is the 90-minute equivalent of the “smart pills.”
This From A Reformed ADHD Skeptic
Campbell continues:
Here’s the part where I explain my anger. I don’t like to be so subjective in my criticism of films, but Take Your Pills hit me on a very personal matter.
My entire life, I’ve been skeptical of pharmaceutical drugs to a point of great opposition. Then I became a father of a son with ADHD, which not only crippled his learning but was also affecting others in his school and recreational activities.
Only after much convincing and research did I give in to the idea of medication. Even then, there was a trial and error process with the various prescription stimulants and doses, genetic testing to pinpoint the best combination of drugs and vitamins, and constant counsel with his pediatrician and teacher. For my developing son, and for this diligent parent, the meds are necessary.
Dear Netflix, This is Why I Take My Pills
Also, consider this excerpt from an excellent opinion piece by Metro News writer James Woods: Take Your Pills: Dear Netflix, this why I take my pills:
Throughout the film, I found only a handful of the descriptions to be relatable.
I have never felt my medication ‘kick in’ for example, nor have I used it to ‘get through the day’, and I certainly haven’t felt ‘powerful’ because of taking my medication.
The film also fails to show the impact ADHD can have on a person’s life and even the economy.
In my experience, it caused me to spend my school years feeling stupid, my late teens feeling crazy and often lazy. It was the source of two major breakdowns, which saw me drop out of university and quit a job I loved.
It dictated my life for many years, and now with an understanding and treatment, I dictate my own life.
Remember: I Coined the Term “Madderall”
No one need school me on Adderall. I sounded the early warnings: Sloppy prescribers who irrationally favored Adderall risked creating a backlash against ADHD. I hate that I was right—and continue to be. The prescribers are not learning. It is a shameful phenomenon.
I wrote years ago about the complexities in this blog’s all-time most popular post: The Tragic Truth of Adderall, or Madderall.
The fact that people abuse stimulants is no front-page story. The fact that humans seek stimulation in all forms is no state secret. Many physicians I know have joked, “If not for cocaine/Benzedrine/Fill-In-The-Blank, I’d never have made it through med school.”
I finally had to post on my Quora profile: “Please don’t ask me questions about how to abuse medications. Thanks.” It’s not just Adderall they are seeking. There’s Modafinil and many I’ve never heard of. These misguided and desperate-sounding people are looking for anything to make them “smarter”. But don’t be distracted: It’s not just Adderall that Shriver and Schwarzenegger are castigating. They very clearly put all ADHD stimulant medications in the same scary category, along with the very diagnosis of ADHD.
So yes, we have some big problems with competent treatment for ADHD, just as we do for almost all psychiatric conditions, not to mention the rest of medicine.
But does that mean that all of these people allegedly seeking to “score” Adderall don’t have ADHD? No, it doesn’t.
Think about it: Who is most likely to want a “shortcut” to focus?
I’ll share research on that in a minute.
But what does this alleged “Adderall epidemic” have to do with ADHD? Where are the numbers? Which research are they citing? Oh, they just asked Alan Schwarz. He’s a high school math teacher. He should know.
Now for the Bullet Points and Two Studies
Just before Take Your Pill’s launch, a British newspaper reporter asked to interview me on the topic of Adderall. At the last minute, the editor decided to drop the story (good editorial judgment!) and so the interview was canceled.
Not to let several hours work go to waste, I’m sharing here.
1. The Film’s Creators Lack focus—and Neuroscience
- Is the focus an alleged increase in so-called “performance drug” usage?
- Is it the “abuse” of stimulant medications? If so, how do they define abuse? What research do they cite?
- Did they vet experts for competence—or for suiting their bias?
- Do they include among the alleged abusers those people with ADHD who cannot afford or find a psychiatrist to treat their ADHD—so they obtain stimulants not prescribed for them?
- Do they include college students and young adults in their first jobs trying to keep up despite clear ADHD challenges—but not wanting to endure the stigma of ADHD and a legitimately prescribed medication for it? (In other words, it’s more acceptable to take a “performance enhancer” than to cop to a highly stigmatized diagnosis.)
- What is their proof that stimulant medications truly work as a “performance drug”? In fact, if people who do not have ADHD take Adderall, in particular, the result is more likely an over-focus. It confers, at most, improved facility with memorizing dates—but risks missing the larger details of the subject they are studying.
- Do they include caffeine in this “performance drug” usage? Caffeine is a readily available drug that is being massively abused today. Strong coffee. Red Bull. Caffeine pills. Many caffeine abusers, in fact, have ADHD (diagnosed or not) and are “self-medicating.”
- Some caffeine abusers end up in emergency rooms. According to a 2013 story in The Atlantic, How Much Caffeine Before I End Up in the E.R.?: “In 2005, fewer than 2,000 trips to hospital emergency departments involved energy drinks. By 2011, that number was over 20,000. If energy drinks are safe, why are they sending us to the hospital?” 20,000 ER visits from caffeine!!! Where’s that documentary? And that study was published 13 years ago!
2. Fake ADHD News Sells
It’s easy to exploit public ignorance and preconceptions. Especially with “fake news” about ADHD.
The very word “stimulant” strikes the average person as wildly inappropriate for a child or adult who is already “nervous” or “wired.” That’s because most people do not understand the nature of ADHD’s brain-based challenges and how the medications work to mitigate them. This ignorance makes them vulnerable to exploitive “fake news.”
ADHD is No “Controversy” in the international scientific community.
3. Reasons for the “Non-Medical Use of Prescription Stimulants”
- Instead of “abuse,” the more accurate term is “non-medical use of prescription stimulants (NPS)” And there are diverse potential explanations for this.
- In a sense, the very choice to abuse Adderall reflects the user’s poor judgment, poor planning, and overconfidence that taking “speed” will magically negate the adverse effects of such. There is nothing “smart” about that.
- I suspect that the majority of the people “abusing” Adderall, in fact, do have ADHD. See research below.
- As previously mentioned, it’s more acceptable to take a “performance enhancer” or to even “abuse” a drug than it is to acknowledge both a deficit and a disorder.
- Moreover, there are barriers to treatment for many people with ADHD—access, cost, location, time. Every day, I help clients identify local ADHD-savvy mental-health professionals. In some areas, it’s simply impossible. Even if you have lots of money.
4. Most Adults Are Not Diagnosed, Thus More Vulnerable to “Self-medicating”
Of the roughly 10 to 30 million adults in the U.S. thought to be on the “ADHD spectrum” (that is, having ADHD to an extreme or mild degree), only 10% are diagnosed, according to the most recent research. Fewer still are in treatment.
These people are more vulnerable to a long list of poor life outcomes, including unemployment, low education, bankruptcy, absentee parenting, substance abuse, on the job and auto accidents, incarceration, and even earlier death. This is not a topic suitable for self-serving skewering.
5. Adderall Is An Older, Higher Side Effect Stimulant
- Adderall is an older and in many ways outmoded stimulant. FDA approved Adderall in 1996, only two years after Adult ADHD was made an official diagnosis.
- It releases quickly into the system and ends quickly. But it has a more complicated “mechanism of action” than most stimulants; it is four mixed amphetamine salts, not one, as with Dexedrine or Vyvanse. This means that Adderall might work best for a small subset of people with ADHD. Yet, for many others, it causes more problems than it solves.
- Since 1996, many other formulations in the two classes of stimulant (amphetamine and methylphenidate) have been made available. This allows individuals to find a formulation and dosage that works best for them. Most of the newer stimulant choices allow a longer, more sustained, and smoother delivery, in contrast to Adderall’s quick-release and quick-stop. (It is stereotypical for Adderall patients to depend on cannabis to reduce ADHD-fueled irritability and sleeplessness.)
- Whatever the particular issues with Adderall, this film is not drilling down into that. It is using “Adderall Abuse!” as its war cry, but it is including all the stimulants on its banner. (In an interview, Shriver alludes to more “natural” approaches, including a “creative” school and meditation.)
6. Competent Psychiatric Treatment Is Difficult to Find
In a very real sense, Adderall is “abused” by some physicians who prescribe it for legitimate ADHD. That is because they prescribe it sloppily, without follow up and tracking of symptoms over time. (I hear the stories every day….lives flying off the rails.) But the same is true for all the stimulant medications, not to mention most psychiatric medications in general.
7. That Doesn’t Mean We Focus Only On Negatives
If we fail to clearly separate all these issues, we do a shameless disservice to the millions who truly suffer from poorly managed ADHD—and the millions whose lives have been elevated and even saved with diagnosis and treatment.
Two Studies Examining Stimulant Diversion
1.
2012 Study in the Journal of Attention Disorders
Surveyed 10,000 U.S. adults about using stimulant medication when they did not have ADHD:
Non-Medical Use and Diversion of ADHD Stimulants Among U.S. Adults Age 18-49
Just 8% of these adults reported ever having used such an ADHD stimulant for non-medical purposes in their lifetime.
- Compare that to the rate of non-medical use of pain medications, such as opioids, which was done 4 times more often than that seen for ADHD stimulants. Notice that only 1-2 people per 100,000 engaged in such behavior for any given ADHD stimulant.
- Other research shows that stimulant misuse on college campuses specifically occurs in just 2-3% of students—a figure far, far below the use and misuse of alcohol, marijuana, and club drugs.
- Increasingly, research shows that youth treated early for their attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are less likely than others with the condition treated later in life (or not at all) to start smoking or to abuse alcohol or drugs. Also from this paper:
- Research with college student samples has shown that the most frequently reported reason for NPS is to purportedly improve concentration so as to enhance academic performance
- Yet the academic motives for NPS contrast with a pattern of other associated behaviors that would appear to impede nonmedical users’ of prescription stimulants academic performance, such as spending less time studying, skipping more classes, and spending more time socializing than their counterparts
2.
2012 Paper in the Journal Addictive Behaviors
Excerpt:
This study tested the hypothesis that college students’ substance use problems would predict increases in skipping classes and declining academic performance, and that non-medical use of prescription stimulants (NPS) for studying would occur in association with this decline….Although additional research is needed to investigate causal pathways, these results suggest that non-medical users of prescription stimulants could benefit from a comprehensive drug and alcohol assessment to possibly mitigate future academic declines.
Non-medical prescription stimulant use (NPS) for studying among 984 college students.
- Four-year trajectories of cannabis/alcohol use problems, skipping class, GPA.
- Increasing cannabis use problems predicted declining GPA via skipping class.
- Indirect path: cannabis trajectory to skipping trajectory to GPA trajectory to NPS.
- Results were similar for separate models on alcohol and cannabis use problems.
There Is More—Much More!
But we’ll save it for a future post!
Bottom line: Netflix documentaries are not documentaries. They are entertainment. When it comes to mental health, fear and anti-psychiatry paranoia sells.
Shame on Netflix. Shame on the director and the Schwarzeneggers. With all their money and a huge platform, they direct it toward making life harder for people with ADHD.
As always, I welcome your opinion.
—Gina Pera
There is a television show on Netflix about meds and addiction, how it harms one. I have this experience w my prescription drug Klotopin and I about lost my mind. Anyone, I would love to tell my story to help others.
Hi Tiny,
Any medication that can do positive things can do negative things. I wish people were more aware of this, including prescribers.
I’m sorry you had that experience with klonapin. It is in the category of drugs called Benzodiazepines.
They should be used only episodically, not routinely.
Unfortunately, too many prescribers have given Benzos to patients with ADHD. This creates all kinds of problems, as you sadly discovered.
It seems you are recommending this pseudo-documentary, from the Schwarzeneggers, Take Your Pills, as being about meds and addiction.
Unfortunately, that’s not what it’s about. It’s about taking a swipe at ADHD, because Maria was too disinterested when it came to her daughter’s ADHD treatment.
Adderall was good enough to get her through college. But when she graduated, all of a sudden…..no more ADHD. Wow.
So they chose to self-medicate with stigmatizing and misrepresenting ADHD and the medications used to treat it.
take care,
Gina
Thank you very much for this. I am an ADHD sufferer myself who was deprived of medication due to these “cultural biases” against us and the medication, and movies like this simply fuel the stigma we get. It should be under the misleading medical news list along with antimasking.
Hi Patrick,
You’re most welcome.
Yes, it is misleading medical news. Like anti-vaxxers, etc…
It just boggled my mind, that somebody with their money and access couldn’t do something helpful.
I’ve done my work on a shoestring budget and always for good.
take care,
g
Bravo for your insights and thoughtful anaylsis of this topic and your spot on review of the Netflicks Take Your Pill .
My son was diagnosed ADHD at age 8. At first we resisted medication for my son, but we happened to luck out with a GP doctor that struggled with the same condition.
We tried several meds including Adderall, but quickly realized the huge down side to that medication. After some experimentation, my son ended up with slow, continuous release Concerta. What a miracle it’s made in his academic life.
I know it’s just antidotal, but my son, now 20 and in college, is totally opposed to alcohol and recreational drug use of any kind. Image that, a prescription med, used as directed having a profound impact on someone suffering form otherwise debilitating symptoms of ADHD.
THANK YOU GINA! and keep up the great reporting.
Thank you, Doug, and kudos on meeting your son’s needs, however much it might have gone against instincts. (As it did for me, initially!)
In case you haven’t read my blog post on Concerta, there are key points to know right now.
https://adhdrollercoaster.org/tag/authorized-generic-for-concerta/
take care,
g
I definitely benefit from my Adderall XR use but I also experience the comedown other people have described. I’ve been using medical THC products to manage. I’m interested in trying vyvanse but it’s just so expensive. I already pay $200 for brand name adderall because I’ve found my local generic is ineffective if my sleep habits slip.
Hi Devon,
Did you check out the Vyvanse savings program?
https://www.vyvanse.com/coupon
But also, letting “sleep habits slip” increases the odds of side effects from any stimulant.
g
Great article.
Not long ago I was one of the “dangerous subset” of people with adhd. I was diagnosed as a teenager and always opposed medication, to the point of often criticizing those who do (like several family members who also have adhd).
Fifteen years later after having it suggested by my psych when other drugs were not helping me with a myriad of issues, I can’t help but wonder what my life would be like if I had just “taken my pills” all those years ago.
I feel better than I have in a long time (not ecstatic), just, normal. I re-enrolled in college and for the first time ever I’m excelling at it.
I still have a long way to go but my life is working much closer to the way I imagine life works for neurotypical people. No one deserves to be shamed for taking medication that is genuinely needed. Not to be super human, just to be human.
Well said, Rob — and congratulations!!
Thanks for your comment encouraging others.
By the way, “dangerous subset”? Refers to something I wrote? I don’t see it — and would regret if it I wrote that in a thoughtless moment.
Maybe you mean this:
“Her schtick is typical of that small but clear subset of people with “in denial” frontal-lobe issues and high narcissism who are constantly running a hustle. Without a thought to the damage.”
g
You’re right, Gina. The general population doesn’t have empathy for ADHD. Interestingly enough, the general population mostly consists of neurotypicals.
I just finished watching this thing. The guy at the end who says “There’s other things you can do, just teach them to concentrate” OMG I laughed so hard, this kid never had ADD!
Hi Wes,
I’m glad you found some entertainment in that mess. 🙂
I did not watch it.
Thanks for commenting,
g
Dear Gina,
I am finding your blog after watching my husband take a steady downward spiral on Adderall. At first, it helped him “concentrate a little better” at work and increased his motivation overall, although it was not the miracle cure he expected as far as productivity, memory, organization, or intelligence as he had hoped. The big problem was that when he “came down” toward the end of the day, he was a different person – angry, belittling, and judgmental toward our son and me. If he did not take his daily dose, he was impossible to get along with, snapping at everyone constantly, and tired all day. Eventually, he figured that he was on too low of a dose, so he started taking an afternoon “booster” after his doctor’s (a primary care physician) approval.
After being married for 23 years, together for 25, he decided one day that he was done, he had enough of being married and is now violently angry. He moved out of the family home after I asked him to leave because of his behavior, and he cannot communicate with my son or with me without yelling, screaming, demeaning, and sometimes growling. In fact, he is demeaning and rude to most people now, and finds it difficult to get along with his colleagues at work. This is not the man I married. He is scary to the point that our teenage son describes him as “possessed”. However, if I happen to speak to him first thing in the morning after taking his a.m. dose of Adderall, this is the one time of day that he is pleasant, happy, and easy to talk to.
I have tried in earnest to suggest that his anger might have something to do with the med because I have noticed an enormous difference, and this makes him even angrier. I will not deny that as with every marriage, we have had our share of issues. I am also fully aware of the effects of disorders that can cause anger, such as depression. But violence? Irrational behavior? He has always been calm, eager to work through issues, and adamant that we were soul mates – never to part. Now divorce?
Am I saying that Adderall changed my husband and destroyed my marriage? I don’t know. As a woman who just lost her husband and is still in shock and grief, I am grasping. However, the timeline and behavior connection is compelling and has led me to begin research.
While in therapy recently, I let my counselor listen to a couple of my husband’s voicemail messages saved on my cell phone. To say she was shocked is an understatement. When she compared the man she had spoken to just months ago during marital therapy and the man she heard on the phone, she said that although she could not diagnose in such a manner, it was as if he had bipolar disorder and was having a manic episode on the messages. All I can say is that the person who left our home is not the man that I married 23 years ago, nor the man I knew prior to Adderall. This roller-coaster, violent behavior was never a factor before the med, and the “improvement” or “benefit” certainly does not outweigh the risks.
Dear Robin,
You have my sympathies. I wish this was the first time I’ve heard this scenario. But I’ve been hearing it for 20 years.
Did you see this post?
https://adhdrollercoaster.org/adhd-news-and-research/the-tragic-truth-of-adderal-or-madderall/
This is years after your post on ADHD rollercoaster.
I just watched the Netflix show Take your Pills Adderall. I just want to say Adderall destroyed me and my ability to be married. I became a different person and was immediately addicted to that drug. Your description of your ex husband was like my description of how I was those first years on Adderall. I am unable to get completely off this drug and ha e tried many times.
I don’t have the will to do it now. My marriage over and too old to restart a life, I’ve almost given up. Wish someone had warned me of how addictive it can be and what to do if I started feeling urges to use more along with side effects that I would experience. It has aged me and turn Ed my hair prematurely gray…before my parents and siblings and perhaps due to years of insomnia. My teeth area mess. I’ve been on it for 23 years. I’m sorry for your loss.
Hi Gina,
I honestly think you should consider producing a documentary in contrast to ‘Take Your Pills’ that sheds light on the reality of ADHD and the treatments available and how those treatments/medication impact those with ADHD. Showing the truth behind medication for those with ADHD in contrast with those who ‘abuse’ it (like those college students in that Netflix film) would illustrate the differences.
As I was watching the film, I could understand the stigmas associated with adderall, and the dismissal of ADHD, but it disheartened me to witness these interviews that never highlighted the daily struggles of those with ADHD. They only focused on the medication and it’s effects. I have been taking medication for almost a decade for ADHD and have gone through a majority of the struggles associated with the side effects in correlation to its effect on my symptoms. I could go on about my experiences, but that’s not the point of this response.
I believe everyone should be educated about ADHD. While I understand the stigma of it, and how people can come to that conclusion, they cannot dismiss it because they have never endured the adversities caused from it. If I was born with a ‘neurotypical’ brain and did not have to take medication, I would absolutely do it. I have to work ten times as hard to adjust to a society my brain is not equipped for.
There are so many subsets of adhd and the best way it was described in a book I recently read is that we were born with a brain that functions a little differently, but given an owners manual to a ‘neurotypical’ brain. There is absolutely no way we are accustomed to our societies current standards, and unfortunately, since we cannot change those values, we just have to adjust to it. Adderall or any ADHD medication does not guarantee an easy way out. It is still hard work. But it contributes to our ability to ‘fit in’ and live up to our community’s standards. I am a huge proponent of the medication, since I have seen drastic improvements in my life. Yes, I have experienced all the negative side effects mentioned in that Netflix film, but those interviews seem to come from a place of naïveté and personal issues. I have effectively worked out all the kinks of my side effects and those mentioned in the film and am still a work in progress, but i can confidently say my life has evolved to a place that i am happy and confident with. The dilemma of the issue at hand is that for some, it is a stimulant that enhances performance, so people with mild ADHD or without tend to abuse it. It is very unfair to those suffering with ADHD, but at least there is an open dialogue, which will hopefully progress to a more solidified, fair solution.
I know Netflix is always open to allowing two sides of an issue shown on their platform. It would be truly beneficial if you would take on such a project and in essence, stick up for the ADHD community, with your vast knowledge on the subject and your extensive experience. It was actually your book that was my first purchase regarding ADHD. Actually, my mom had bought two—one for me and a translated version for herself.
I would love to hear back from you because I would love to be a part of the community that advocates for ADHD. There is so much I would love to discuss with you and get the proper, unbiased knowledge out there for everyone to accept and understand.
Thank you for your time!!
Dear Jen,
Thank you so much for your well-articulated comment.
I am thrilled that you are benefiting from new “operating instructions” and medication. I want that opportunity for everyone who has ADHD, and that’s what I’ve worked toward for 20 years.
Thanks for your faith in me. I surely have the accumulated knowledge. 😉
I would love to be able to produce a documentary. Unfortunately, I do not have the Kennedy/Schwarzeneggar’s money or influence. And, think about it: A documentary where people’s lives are changed for the better, thanks to Big Pharma? I’m afraid it wouldn’t be a box-office smash hit. 🙂
I think my friends Ava and Rick Green did a great job with “ADD & Loving It?!” Have you seen it? http://www.TotallyADD.com
I hope that you continue your own advocacy on a person-to-person basis. I’ve found that really has the most powerful and lasting effect. I saw a huge shift in the online “discourse” on ADHD when more adults with ADHD started writing blogs or leaving comments to news stories on ADHD. They were powerful, powerful advocates. And they helped to turn the tide of public sentiment.
By contrast, when I started blogging, there was ONE adult with ADHD writing a blog about it. Jeff at JeffsADDMind.com (no longer online).
You know, millions of Americans alone with undiagnosed ADHD+ are out there angry at the world that demands so much of them. They blame “society’s current standards,” as you point out, for their unhappiness. Or the ex-wife or their parents or some politician or the government or ….. Some become so angry they might resort to violence. Mostly, they suffer alone. They do not know that they have ADHD and that there are strategies that might help them live happier, more productive, more self-directed lives. And, lacking insight as to their condition, they blame others. Blaming others is a very common “poor coping response” among people with poorly managed ADHD.
Certainly, few sane people would argue that today’s version of capitalism has run amok and run over decent people everywhere. That is too true. But it is also the natural consequences of ADHD, left untreated, that contributes to personal misery. Even on a desert island. Even in a small village. ADHD symptoms can take their toll.
With diagnosis and, in some cases, medical treatment, individuals with ADHD gain more autonomy, more agency. They are less likely to feel like victims and more likely to make the most of their lives.
So, I am not one to promote a divide among people with ADHD and people without. There is no ADHD trait that is foreign to most humans. ADHD traits are human traits. It is only their number and extremity that make the diagnosis. Generally speaking, what’s good for people with ADHD is good for humans.
Rather than “neurotypicals,” I find the worst enemy of people with ADHD to be other people with ADHD plus narcissism and “denial”. They are the ones who most publicly deny the condition and who produce anti-ADHD screeds and “documentaries.” I’ve observed this for a long time. Their blaming of others and perhaps a penchant for self-medicating with provocation is behind much of the anti-ADHD efforts.
I make the point in this post that Ms. Schwarzeneggar herself was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and took medication up through college. It was only after, when presumably she was looking for something to do, that she and her mother (perhaps also with unacknowledged ADHD, which seems quite common among the Kennedy clan) cooked up this harmful project. They could afford to do it because they are multi-millionaires. It brought them attention, too. How much nicer to think that one is “artistic” instead of having ADHD. One can pretend to be “artistic” when one is a millionnaire taken care of and protected from consequences.
Keep up your advocacy!
Gina
This is the biggest load of horse shit I have ever read on the internet. If you really think they are shaming people with ADD and ADHD, then you missed the point completely. This documentary is about awareness and about people who take it who don’t have ADD or ADHD. Yes it is also about the dangers of it. If you really think your not taking micro doses of Meth, your in serious denial. Your body reacts to it in exactly the same way and does damage it exactly the same way.
I was diagnosed with ADD somewhere around 5. My mom put me on ritelin but took me off of it (thankfully) when my seizures stopped. I sometimes wonder if it was the cause of me seizures but I don’t remember that far back. I have lived most of my life with ADD without medication and I feel empowered by that! Do I drink coffee (which I am well aware is a stimulant), Yes I do. I also put peppermint oil in my water which helps with concentration. But I believe in managing my ADD in the most natural way possible. I’m always on the lookout for new natural ideas to add in. I’m not ok with the possibility of addiction, with the potential liver and heart damage, with sleep irregularities, with the increase dosage over time, panic attacks, seizures, the list goes on and on. Or how about the fact that this is the same shit they were selling us in the 1930’s just rebranded to “help us.” What you do with your body is your business. But how dare you criticize the awareness and the fact that not all of us believe this is the right thing to put in our bodies. That is the real shaming right there!!!
Hi Amanda,
No, I didn’t miss the point. I saw all the points. Including the fact that most of those people claiming to not have ADHD actually did have it. Their denial systems allows them to “abuse” a drug, but to take it for a legitimate condition? Not so much.
Thanks for your comment.
Gina
We are among those who have trouble finding help for whatever we have. It is all about money. Our oldest son has had the most treatment for his ADHD but tried to go off his medication as an adult. He finally went back on and found a therapist. I would call his treatment adequate.
Our youngest son was not diagnosed and treated until late teens as ADD by which time he had developed too many bad coping strategies. We couldn’t afford treatment for him. Finally, after getting one of the those SSI lawyers, he got SSI and Medicaid but they persecute disabled people and it is very hard to comply with their demands. It is also hard to get treatment. He gets his prescriptions through a general practitioner. I would call his treatment inadequate. He is not getting any therapy which he badly needs.
When oldest son was diagnosed back in the 90s, we were told ADHD is hereditary. My control freak husband loudly said that it is my fault, he got it from me. I thought then, and still do, that he has ADHD, and is in denial, especially on reading books on the subject recently in an effort to figure out how to help my sons. My husbands two brothers have ADHD and don’t have access to treatment.
Maybe I do have it too, but for us, who have no health insurance (we live in a toxic state that doesn’t believe in health care for all but only for those who can afford it), there is not much likely hood that I could get treated. We simply cannot afford treatment. I have suffered from depression off and on over my life and found out a couple of years ago that it runs in my family and so does ADD. I have been to therapy, taken anti-depressants, to no avail.
ADD has ruined our lives. I am completely without hope. I have no future.
Dear depressed and cynical,
Your story saddens me greatly. It’s not that I am ever NOT acutely aware of your circumstances being those for millions of Americans. But you really drive home the feelings of isolation and abandonment. I find it truly criminal in 21st Century USA, and I’m sorry you and your family are in this situation.
I hope that you can find a way to carve out some peace and pleasure in your life. An anti-depressant is not going to compensate for all you describe. Still, if you try again to find a medication that works, it might be that you find yourself feeling less hopeless.
take care,
Gina
I was diagnosed with ADHD in my mid 20’s. I had dropped out of university 3 times and my father asked me to visit a psychologist who specialized in adult ADHD.
Turns out that I was considered to have a severe case of ADHD that was affecting almost all the facets of my life.
I have been on Ritalin for 11 years now and in that time I was able to work full time at a national retailer at a management level, complete my accounting degree and an advanced diploma in forensic accounting, take over the accounting department for a local company, and am now starting my own business.
I know, deep down, that I couldn’t have accomplished that without medication, and with the support of my family and wife I have moved past being embarrassed or ashamed of that fact.
That being said, I still get the reactions from people who find out about my diagnosis that we all see – rolled eyes, deep sighs, the look of “really?”.
I haven’t watched this documentary yet, and while I get the idea that watching it simply shows companies like Netflix that people want more of that type of “documentary”, I will watch it. Why? Because I know I will encounter people who did watch it.
I know that they will use it to belittle what I go through on a daily basis. And I refuse to be as ignorant as them and speak to something that I haven’t seen or experienced.
I don’t usually post on forums, but I’ve recently become more involved in speaking about my experience with people.
I hope this wasn’t too long for people.
Hi Allen,
Not too long at all. And thank you for speaking up!
I was an ADHD advocate online for many years before there was “critical mass” among adults with ADHD. Their blogs and Tweets have really provided a strong counter to the anti-psychiatry nonsense, not to mention the garden-variety nonsensical views on ADHD.
Of course, you are welcome to watch the “documentary.”
My long experience says that it’s not worth arguing with the people who think it’s great. Many of them have ADHD themselves but the “in denial” type. And, from what I’ve heard, that is evidenced throughout the movie.
I find it more time-effective to come up with a clever retort. Sometimes, mine is, “Oh, you think your brain and organs are perfect? How about you smash your glasses?” Usually stops ’em. 🙂
Good luck, but it doesn’t sound like you need it. Kudos to that psychologist!
g
Just the interview in the article pissed me off. The woman in the sunglasses is a f*ckwit of the highest order. When she said “why does a teen need executive function?” I turned the air blue and then stopped watching. Jeebus. Ann.
Hey, Just start filming my family and go back to all the shit that has happened, and anyone disputing the reality must have ADHD themselves.
HOLD ON here, folks! I
have had ADHD all my life…but was afraid of the drugs.
I went to college, received a professional degree and masters, worked 25 years in a demanding job, raised three children, without medication…and I STRUGGLED to keep it under control all my life.
To what degree I had no idea. Until now.
When I turned 60 I was talking with my doctor about what was going on, and explained what I was going thru…and he suggested Adderall.
Within a week, it changed my life. Why did I wait so long?
I hope this terrible documentary does not have impact.
NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR DISCRIMINATION!
I’ve faced so much discrimination. This documentary just makes me cry.
I can’t believe it.
I feel like crying now.
This documentary suggests that everyone who takes Adderall is using Meth or speed.
Without stimulant MEDICATION, children who actually have significant ADHD could not function.
This documentary is skewed and irresponsible! It hurts kids with disabilities.
“Take your pills” didn’t show enough on the people the medication is truly intended for.
Though I agree there is a lot of mis-use of the medication, it can be a life changing godsnd to people with the neurological dysfunction.
And it is a neurological disorder that shows extreme difference in how the brain works. Look at some brain scans. It’s hug
My young adult son greatly benefits from Adderal, both at school and at his part time job.
He simply can’t focus without it. Why struggle when there is a solution to a problem!
Agree!
I’m a school psychologist (also have ADHD as do 2 of my 4 kids)..
The misinformation parents come to the table with can be infuriating. And when they refuse to treat these poor children suffer so much.
Thanks for the work you do in sharing and explaining evidence based information. It really makes a difference
Hi there Gina.
I’m kind of confused. I was considered ADD all my life, and when I was younger my parents put me on Ritalin. I was numb, so after 2 months they took me off.
Fast forward 50 years later, where I have struggled everyday with ADHD, and my doctors put me on Adderall.
I am so relaxed, and feel better than I have in years.
At first I took it at night, because I felt so relaxed and at ease.
Then I started taking it in the morning, according to my doctor, and felt great all day. I can slow my thoughts down so I do not have four or five ideas going at the same time..
WHAT ARE THESE KIDS DOING? How does it make them feel so energized?
Am I taking the same Adderal that they are? I’m on 30mg and it has changed my life.
Does it really work like that with the rest of the population?
I’m concerned I’m the freak of nature. But you know what, I feel great…and I can sleep soundly!!! Finally.
Wait a hot minute!
You mean to tell me that someone diagnosed with ADHD stopped receiving treatment and then hyper focused on a poorly researched pet project without any forethought for the negative effects thereof?
Neurotypicals also hyper focus on poorly researched pet projects, whether it’s politics, religion, or anything else that strikes their fancy. My favorite is the neurotypicals like Jenny McCarthy who want to “cure” autism by blaming vaccines for their supposed “link” to it. Your comment almost appears to mock ADHD’ers for behavior that neurotypicals also partake in, often with no medication or diagnosis. Stop.
I love making sure people with ADHD have the medications they need, but I also can’t help cringing at them having to suppressing their traits because neurotypicals find them undesirable. Reminds me of how humans selectively bred canines and plants to make sure they had what they wanted, while allowing the others to die off. The last thing these people need is morons like you mocking them for what some of them do when they’re off medications, whether they were the right types and dosages or not, especially when neurotypicals have more than their fair share of conspiracy theorists.
Finally, Seth….I find it hilarious that you consider Jenny McCarthy “neurotypical”.
Do you know anything of her history?
Her schtick is typical of that small but clear subset of people with “in denial” frontal-lobe issues and high narcissism who are constantly running a hustle. Without a thought to the damage.
Or people who vaingloriously, once allegedly diagnosed with ADHD, proceed to broadcast to the public what ADHD is and isn’t, based on their one little experience (allegedly) of a highly variable syndrome. You’d be surprised at these ADHD personalities funded by pharma. Strange but true. That pharma believes they must emphasize ADHD gifts in order to sell medication for those gifts.
I’m afraid you’re missing a whole lot of other possibilities.
My point was, it’s not always so-called neurotypicals running these cons.
g
Hi D –
1967. Bless your heart.
I hope your son comes around soon. Sometimes we can make it easier. Sometimes not.
take care of yourself,
g
Thank you Gina! I’m sure a lot of my ADHD clients will watch this film, and I am going to send anyone who asks about it to this blog post. As for me, you saved me some time so I can watch something more scientific!
Hi Patricia,
Happy to help!
Thanks for writing.
g
Films like this, physicians and counselors who say they know about ADHD and really know nothing, make life very difficult for those who live with a family member or members who are in denial. They not only hurt the affected individuals but everyone around them. It’s times like that when I wish I could believe in karma.
Why are so many people in denial about their own ignorance about so many things. It isn’t that hard to do some searching for additional information. What could be said about a person who went to a plumber and said, “I am deathly sick. I read an article about toenail fungus so I know it’s not cancer. What else could it be?” The plumber might answer, “Fix your bathroom sink.” Sometimes I think that’s where the minds of people are these days.
Hi Dorothy,
Thank you so much for commenting.
I love your plumber story. It made me laugh. For a minute.
Cognitive scientists tell us that humans don’t like to think. It’s much easier to latch onto preconceptions and “shiny”—and tell ourselves we are seeing a situation accurately.
ADHD is one of those topics that demands immense intelligence and empathy. The general population contains neither in surplus, imho.
Thank you!
“Privilege”
That interview reeked of privilege!
Oh? You (Christina) didn’t do so well whilst off meds at your high school, you say?
Well, we’ll just pull you out and enroll you in an “arts” school; they’ll know how to reach you.
But wait? Things were more difficult at Georgetown than your “creative” school, so you relied on medication then?!
Gosh- sounds to me like you encountered the real world and your very real disability!!!
My favorite part was when the interviewer in that video said (wait- I have 2 favorites from her….paraphrasing)
1. “Executive function? Why do we need executive function at (that) age?”
2. “If it were up to me, my kids would not have gone to school at all but their dad felt otherwise.”
PRIVILEGE!
If my kids don’t go to school or if they avoid demanding schools via an “arts” school, they won’t be able to support themselves as adults.
These sheltered trust-fund babes have no worries about supporting themselves and have the privilege to skip the lessons involving self-sufficiency.
Maria Shriver and her daughter have nothing in common with families struggling to raise a child with ADHD and should *not* be speaking out about the disorder.
It’s irresponsible and reminiscent of the Jenny McCarthy vaccine days!
Our family used to live near a very wealthy enclave, and I had a taste of that privilege with my children’s friends. They had drivers, multiple nannies, cooks, and housekeepers. Their parents were seriously naive to the needs of families like mine, but were still my friends. I opened their eyes as much as they opened mine!
That’s why I think it’s irresponsible; I believe they know not the damage they are inflicting!
THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS!!
I’m a Psychologist who specializes in ADHD, and I hear about this movie FAR TOO OFTEN. Now I have a rebuttal to the misinformation.
This movie trivializes the struggle that ADHD’ers face having to function in a neurotypical society… We need more GOOD information out there about what ADHD actually is, because the market is already saturated with the BAD INFORMATION.
I feel bad for the Shriver daughter. Her life could likely be better with some education surrounding her brain, and knowledge about ADHD… This movie makes me so angry, but I’m happy you’re speaking out.
Thank you, Alison! I’m grateful that you find this long post useful.
It’s so hard to know where to begin in countering this toxic nonsense. It’s so all-encompassing.
Thank you!
g
Thanks so much for the warning. I would have otherwise watched it – and it would have put me back into the anger and shame spiral. Until my diagnosis and meds, I self-medicated – just like every other non-medicated ADHD person I’ve ever encountered. I’m living proof that meds are a whole lot better than non-stop caffeine, drug binges, and daily doses of alcohol. I can actually be a contributing member of society. I’m proud of myself – and I can’t understand why so many people want to strip that away.
And yes, I agree that shamers are far more likely to be denying their destiny. It’s an important message that you alone seem to understand.
Hi Mari,
Thank you so much for understanding.
I’m outraged that these people use their money, access, and privilege for cruelty—and that too many in the public see them as performing a public service!
It’s like a bad Twilight Zone episode.
I’m glad you didn’t let the message affect.
Thanks so much for writing.
Gina
Holy Sh-t! Thank you for writing this. You did a better job than I ever could.
Thanks, Liz!
You always do a great job, too. I’m sure would have an interesting and effective personal take on this “film.” Go for it!
Gina