Hello Brains, October is ADHD Awareness Month
and I thought it would be a good time to talk about why stimulant medication
is typically used to treat ADHD and hopefully break down some
of the stigma surrounding it Stimulant medication is considered a first-line
treatment for ADHD but when people use this medication to treat their ADHD they often feel
an incredible amount of shame. It was weird for me to even take my medication on camera and
it was probably uncomfortable to watch it. Why? Stigma. According to Cambridge Dictionary "Stigma is
a strong feeling of disapproval that most people... ...in a society have about something especially
when this is unfair." And there is an intense stigma against stimulant medication. In the media and on social media we're bombarded with misleading and shame inducing messages. When we think about methamphetamine, think about Adderall, Adderall as the detention deficit
disorder drug that a lot of college students take. Same drug, nobody's talking about- - It's not the same drug-
- It's the exact same drug. To, "it's the same thing as cocaine." They can't eat, they can't sleep, and they're not getting better. Isn't that in itself a symptom of taking
all this essentially legal speed? To, it's a replacement for discipline or parenting. - Buckley could benefit from a little discipline.
- Oh Don't worry I'm not suggesting actual parenting.
I'm talking about medication. To it turns people into zombies. To it's a last resort, something
to try only after trying everything else. We get these messages from documentaries, social media
posts, TV shows, movies, family and friends. Some of these messages are intentionally sensationalized
to get more views or shares or create moral panic. There are cardiovascular risks, psychotic episode,
you wouldn't wish that on your worst enemy. What's the cost of that? And is that a cost
we're willing to live with? Some are meant to sell us alternatives. Today I'm going to
share with you in this video the top foods, supplements, natural treatments, and essential oils
in the treatment of ADHD. Some are just meant to make us laugh. Any of you guys currently on Adderall
and uh you know want to make fifty dollars And some are genuinely meant to be helpful. I once had a total stranger walk up to me in a store and tell me how he managed his ADHD without medication and I could too. As if that's how you win at ADHD by not having to
treat it. We internalized these messages, and the stigma isn't just about the medication. It's also a downplaying or doubting of the condition itself. ADD and ADHD are not real things. What is ADHD? it's just it's impossible. Are they anemic? And do they just need iron that would do it. Are they just bored? Are they over stimulated with their electronic toys? ADHD is often portrayed as
a moral or parental failing. Not that big a deal, or as if it doesn't even exist. In other words not deserving of treatment. Given the sheer amount of research that exists on ADHD at this point.
I'd say that's pretty unfair! It makes sense to be cautious about treatment decisions for any condition. The problem is that the stigma against stimulant medications is so strong that people end up making treatment decisions based on stigma. Rather than what the optimal treatment for them
or their child would actually be. There's even been research done on this, parents will often try
less effective ways of helping their children with ADHD... ...because of the stigma against stimulants.
I asked ADHD twitter to share their own experience with stigma, their own pharmacist said taking their
medication was bad for them. They've had to hide them. One person's dad used to make them hide the
pills around other people. One person's mom avoided getting her diagnosed at all because they didn't
want her to become an addict. Even though my mom did choose to treat my ADHD, my dad was opposed to
it and it created a lot of tension between them. I had a boyfriend once who warned me about
the side effects of stimulant medication, even though mine were really mild, he made me feel
like my ADHD wasn't that big a deal, so I went off of my meds. And over the course of the next two
years I discovered my ADHD very much is a big deal. and there are more serious side effects to
not treating my ADHD but everyone is different. My personal experience is my personal experience, and
I'm not a doctor. But Dr. Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells is. She also has ADHD herself and is a pediatrician
who treats ADHD. So I asked her to come share what she shares with her patients about stimulant medication. Hi everyone, as Jessica said I'm Dr. Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells. I'm a board certified pediatrician here with girls to women and young men's health and wellness in fort worth Texas. So let's address some of the misconceptions, fears,
and shame surrounding medication. I'm well aware of these
not only as a physician, but because to be honest I had some of these myself when I was first diagnosed. I refused medication initially. A lot of us feel like we should be able to function without
medication, learn all of our skills and use all of our skills and do the behavioral interventions.
And all of that first before we turn to medication. And in some circumstances that may be the right
choice but that's not always the right choice. And whether it's for ourselves or whether it's for
our children, medication can be a critical piece of the treatment plan. So why do we use medication
as part of the treatment plan for ADHD? Well we're still learning about ADHD, but from what we know
so far we know that dopamine and norepinephrine two of the neurotransmitters in our brain play a pretty
large role in the challenges we face with ADHD. And while pills don't build skills, and we
still need to be building those skills, skills don't change the dopamine in our brain and
the way our brains work, the difficulty we have with impulsivity, inattention, focus make it not
only a little more difficult to learn those skills but it makes it a lot more difficult to access
those skills when we need to. So the medication helps increase the dopamine levels in our
brain so that our brain can function better, our neurons can communicate with each other better,
we can decrease the impulsivity, decrease the inattention, focus, stay on task better, so that
we can better access and utilize those skills. They're our gifts to the way our brains work.
We see details that other people don't see. We see solutions to problems other people
don't see. it shouldn't take those gifts away. It shouldn't change who you are, it shouldn't
change your personality, it should help you to have control over those gifts so that you can utilize
when you use them and when you don't. One of the other misconceptions I hear a lot is that these
medicines are addictive or habit-forming. To be clear, "when stimulant medications are used properly
and under the guidance of a medical professional the risk of addiction and habit formation is very low." On the other hand, people with ADHD do have a higher risk of addiction. The research shows us that people with ADHD, whose ADHD goes untreated, or sub-optimally treated are at significantly higher risk for drug use, drug abuse, and drug dependence. What I see in my own clinic is young people coming
to me vaping nicotine, smoking weed or vaping THC in particular. To self-medicate for their ADHD but
also to self-medicate for the depression and the anxiety that is developed from their ADHD either
going untreated or not being ideally treated. And I've got to tell you, trying to help them trying
to get them off of those substances, so that we can best manage their ADHD is really hard. We now
have reams of data and research that show us that optimal treatment of ADHD includes medication.
And medication along with behavioral interventions, coaching, accommodations in school, leads to:
improved performance at work, relationships, decreased accidents, decreased rates of depression,
anxiety, and other mental health issues and now we even have research that shows that optimal
treatment of our ADHD improves our physical health, not just our mental health. Treating our ADHD
helps us to then take better care of ourselves keep up with our doctor's appointments, take our
medicines, do those things that keep us healthy. Of course we want what's best for our kids
there's the fear of if i do give them medicine is it gonna harm them in the long run? Is it the
right choice for them? Am I making that choice for them or am I making that choice for me? Is it
because I can't handle it? Or is it because I'm not a good enough parent? If I could just parent them
better, because let's be honest that's what we hear. The other thing that I think a lot of people
don't understand about ADHD is parenting a child with ADHD is different than parenting a
neurotypical child. But there's this sense that we shouldn't need medication or that medication is
failure there are always going to be those voices that judge whatever decisions we make those voices
aren't going away, but it is not failure! Asking for what you need, asking for what your child needs,
advocating for yourself or your child or your client or your patient is never failure. It's taking care of ourselves and it's taking care of them. And you should never be ashamed for that. I personally believe that people should do what makes sense for them and their situation. A lot of people in the ADHD community don't use medication some take non-stimulant medication but before
making treatment decisions for yourself or others or adding to the stigma. I encourage you to educate
yourself on what ADHD treatment actually entails I'm grateful that my mom made the decision to
put me on stimulant medication. It made a huge difference and I'm grateful to Dr. Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells for coming to talk with everyone. I lost my mom recently and I'm making this video in the
hope that it will reduce some of the stigma that she had to face. If you want to help break the
stigma of not treating ADHD however you treat it, please share this video or your own story
on social media using the hashtag I treat my ADHD because because I think it's important that we
hear those stories too. If you want to learn more about parenting complex kids next week we'll be
doing a live stream with an expert who literally wrote the book on it. Thank you to my brain
advocates and all my patreon brains for helping this channel grow we've been able to bring on
more people because of you and will be able to produce more content and do more advocacy work
because of you. If you found this video helpful like subscribe click all the things and
I will see you next video bye brains do
I really like the comment around 6:08, “there are gifts to the way our brains work...[medication] should help you to have more control over those gifts.”
Also love that they discuss addiction @6:35. “The research shows us that people with adhd, whose adhd goes untreated or sub optimally treated, are at significantly higher risk for drug use, drug abuse and drug dependence.” My psych, who specializes in ADHD and drug addiction (separate specializations) echoed this to me the first time we met.
One of her earlier videos where she tears up thanking her mom for putting her on medication as a teen really helped me feel better about taking medication when I was diagnosed. I'm glad she has a video directly on the topic now, it's so reassuring to have someone saying we can take the help available for us.
My therapist always says that my brain is unique, different, and wonderful which has really helped with the way I think about myself. I was very smart when I was a kid. I think it was because I was homeschooled and I genuinely enjoyed my schoolwork so 8 hyperfocused on it and got it done. As soon as I got done with high school, got a job, and tried to go to college, it went downhill and I've felt like a failure the whole time since. Its been about 8 years since I first took classes at the community college and I'm getting ready to go back full time so I can get a mechanical engineering degree. I'm really excited to take classes with the tools I have in my brain now. I'm holding off on ADHD meds for now because I started on an antidepressant that's a dopamine reuptake inhibitor and I want to see if it will help enough that I don't need a stimulant. Only reason I'm wary about stimulants is because I've had problems with my heart in the past that are fixed now but I don't wanna push it.