Thank you for writing this. Some of these things have been bothering me greatly, as someone who suffers from depression and panic attacks since I was thirteen years old, has been diagnosed with ADHD, and has lived with people with other mental health issues (including my mother, who committed suicide).
Some of these things are triggering for me, which is the main reason I've started writing a fic exactly about this: the whys and whats and hows about Stiles' brain chemistry, and drugs, and what all this could possibly mean/be for him.
Something that I've never seen, for example, is Stiles actually attending therapy. Which at some point he must've had to. As you've clarified, Adderall is a prescription drug. How could he have gotten it without a psychiatrist being involved? Nobody ever pays attention to that.
That and everyone just using his ADHD as something to poke fun at (when in can bring severe complications not only regarding grades but also the way you interact, or chose not to, with people and else) irk me. I don't expect people to be experts, but to at least be a little respectful about the subject would be... Well, nice.
Just, I don't know, thanks for writing this again, I guess.
(Oh, and one thing that tends to happen to me in regards to concentration is not losing it completely, but having it fractured. I can focus on a task, but I'll deviate and end up doing or thinking about two or more things at once, even if I am completely interested and engaged with what I'm doing. So, I guess that -as many other aspects that are really down to the specific person- concentrating is something that can go any which way.
Stiles, anyway, seems to have more of a problem with his impulsivity.)
In fairness to the writers, while ADHD is frequently comorbid with other problems, in and of itself, it's not something that is fixable with therapy, and he may not actually do any therapy-type thing.
I have regular therapy, but that's with a psychologist. My ADHD prescriptions come from my psychiatrist. My current psychiatrist does check in on how I'm doing with mental health generally when I see her, but I pretty much only see her once every six months, when I need a new prescription. It's entirely possible Stiles only sees his once every three months (that being the American limit), and it's not that long or particularly complicated an appointment. As a rule, psychiatrists really only deal in things that can be medicated.
It's possible he had therapy in the past, like for his panic attacks, but I'm not sure he'd be in regular treatment now, since apart from the ADHD and his werewolf problems, he seems pretty well-adjusted.
I do hope people can read this and stuff like it and start to improve how they address this stuff in fic.
Where I live, a psychiatrist isn't necessary for ADD/ADHD diagnosis. Just a couple of screenings with a child's doctor, and Vanderbilt diagnostic paperwork completed by people who see the person in varied settings (for my son, ppwk was completed by me, his physical therapist who has seen him 1 to 2 times weekly for over a year for an unrelated issue, and his school teacher). We can only get 1 month work of meds at a time and have to talk to the doctor for each renewal. The prescription has to be hand written.
Comment on The Things You Say
MemeKon on Chapter 1 Wed 22 Aug 2012 04:47AM UTC
Last Edited Wed 22 Aug 2012 05:18AM UTC
Comment Actions
sami on Chapter 1 Wed 22 Aug 2012 07:54AM UTC
Comment Actions
Trai on Chapter 1 Thu 13 Feb 2014 03:18PM UTC
Comment Actions