What to do next

[wonder_ninja]

I am a 22 year old, doing master's program in robotics and computational mathematics. I have been great at studies and extra curricular activities but since childhood I had issues keeping up my attention. My parents never took this seriously as they thought it is just a matter of age. I had a tough time and resorted to yoga, tai-chi, counselling and vipasana. After that my parents considered a psychiatrist, ADDWISE ( which is the Indian brand for Ritalin ) and Attentrol (atomoxetine) were prescribed to me when I was 10. I had it for 6 months or so.. and then I was all fine.It has been 10 years since then until I was 20 I started having issues again but this time I couldn't control. I started becoming way restless and I couldn't concentrate on a task..I have started off 6 personal projects in the past 14 months but I am not able to go ahead with it. The field I am in is not only my choice but my passion as well. Nowadays(past 3 months) it has become terrible for me to even do normal tasks that require focus. I consulted a psychiatrist at the best hospital here and he told me that since I am 22 I wont have ADHD as there is no such thing for adults and gave me anti-anxiety drugs ( Clonazepam 0.25mg and escitalopram 5mg) . I wondered why he gve me that cause I rarely feel anxiois but I trusted him. It has been a month since and these medications have just made my life miserable. After this, my memory started becoming distorted, I have started becoming lethargic and my head feels so heavy. I went to another psychiatrist to get a second opinion and I told him everything , he prescribed me the same shit. I was done with this shrink drama and gave up the medications. I have no idea what to do now

[HadEnuf]

First off, the doctor in question is an idiot.

I D I O T. Full stop.

Said idiot is dead wrong concerning ADHD in adults: it is very real, very crippling, and in those who APPEARED to have overcome it, typically becomes an issue as one's responsibilities increase—the higher the stakes get, the more hazards exist to distract an ever-alert ADHD brain.

This isn't anxiety: it's an adaptation to handle actual threat that the human race has been able to afford mostly to lose over the last several millennia—that's why it seemingly goes away during those carefree years of hyperextended childhood, when we (as a species) no longer have to fend for ourselves as we once did. This is not to say it can't contribute to anxiety in absence of real hazards (most of which are social, nowadays), but it isn't the same thing as continual, baseless fear—which is what anxiety medications treat.

To make matters worse, prescribing the wrong medication is not only ineffective but often makes ADHD substantially worse: for example, in a patient who has ADHD without anxiety, prescribing medications to raise serotonin levels is likely to lower dopamine levels—which is the worst possible outcome, since ADHD involves already poor dopamine production or excessive dopamine reuptake.

Sad to say, but I could almost recommend “going postal” to draw attention to the sheer, mindless, bludgeoning stupidity of some, so-called professionals.

Even in the US, the medical profession has been slow to recognize this: it took me several years to find a doctor that would titrate a body-weight-appropriate dose of a stimulant medication, for me, because they are all terrified of the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Getting by on a dosage suitable for a child one-fifth my mass or smaller, then doing without, entirely, for a time, very nearly cost me my career—indeed, it's looking like indirect consequences might yet do so.

[wonder_ninja in reply to HadEnuf]

You are soooo right! So do you suggest that I go postal to draw attention to the so-called professionals? Is there anything else?

[HadEnuf in reply to wonder_ninja]

Mind you, I did write, “almost”! (*grin*)

Obviously, you get the point that the situation is crazy, but doesn't get as much attention as people who do much less but far more spectacular harm than lack of proper attention to such a frequent condition does.