i was diagnosed for ADD when i was 2 years old. I was extremely violent, had a 20 second attention span (on good days) and could not sit in a school desk when I entered kindergarten.
But I was not given any drugs. My parents taught me constantly how to control myself and we practiced exercises meant for me to increase my attention span. It was an arduous childhood. I was rejected from school groups because I was "wierd"- I wouldn't listen anyone, and got into fights easily. But slowly and surely I've mastered this. Occasionally i'll do some kind of irrational thing (once I took apart a phone while i talked to my girlfriend and only realized what i was doing when the line went dead) but overall I feel i've conquered my ADD without the use of drugs. I'm currently a Comp Sci. undergrad.
i don't believe in the use of drugs to control this disorder. My cousin was prescribed ritalin when he was younger, and he is in serious trouble. He has a dependance on the drug, and recently he has stopped taking it and is now living in toronto- doing hard drugs and he is now stealing. This is pruely personal experience and i am sure there have been many successful treatments with ritalin but it definetly did not work on my cousin and when I saw him take the medication a few years ago the change the underwent in him was scary to say the least. Have any others successfully fought ADD on your own and won? I'd like to hear your stories
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