Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

What Is ADHD?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a brain disorder that affects how you pay attention, sit still, and control your behavior. It happens in children and teens and can continue into adulthood.

ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder in children. Boys are more likely to have it than girls. It’s usually spotted during the early school years, when a child begins to have problems paying attention.

ADHD can’t be prevented or cured. But spotting it early, plus having a good treatment and education plan, can help a child or adult with ADHD manage their symptoms.

ADHD Symptoms

Symptoms in children

Symptoms are grouped into three types:

Inattentive. A child with ADHD:

Is easily distracted
Doesn’t follow directions or finish tasks
Doesn’t seem to be listening
Doesn’t pay attention and makes careless mistakes
Forgets about daily activities
Has problems organizing daily tasks
Doesn’t like to do things that require sitting still
Often loses things
Tends to daydream

Hyperactive-impulsive. A child with ADHD:

Often squirms, fidgets, or bounces when sitting
Doesn’t stay seated
Has trouble playing quietly
Is always moving, such as running or climbing on things. (In teens and adults, this is more often described as restlessness.)
Talks excessively
Is always “on the go,” as if “driven by a motor”
Has trouble waiting for their turn
Blurts out answers
Interrupts others

Combined. This involves signs of both other types. read more

Melanie Martinez – Mad Hatter (Official Music Video)

Lyrics

My friends don’t walk, they run
Skinny dip in rabbit holes for fun
Popping, popping balloons with guns
Getting high off helium
We paint white roses red
Each shade from a different person’s head
This dream, dream is a killer
Getting drunk with a blue caterpillar

I’m peeling the skin off my face
‘Cause I really hate being safe
The normals, they make me afraid
The crazies, they make me feel sane

I’m nuts, baby, I’m mad
The craziest friend that you’ve ever had
You think I’m psycho, you think I’m gone
Tell the psychiatrist something is wrong
Over the bend, entirely bonkers
You like me best when I’m off my rocker
Tell you a secret, I’m not alarmed
So what if I’m crazy? The best people are
All the best people are crazy
All the best people are

Where is my prescription?
Doctor, doctor, please listen
My brain is scattered
You can be Alice, I’ll be the Mad Hatter

I’m peeling the skin off my face
‘Cause I really hate being safe
The normals, they make me afraid
The crazies, they make me feel sane

You think I’m crazy, you think I’m gone
So what if I’m crazy? All the best people are
And I think you’re crazy too, I know you’re gone
That’s probably the reason that we get along

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Aaron Kleinstub / Bryan Fryzel / Jeremy Dussolliet / Melanie Martinez

Album: Cry Baby

Released: 2015

Genres: Alternative/Indie, Pop

Mad Hatter lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc

Insane 100 – My Story – Hearing Voices(E1- P2)

(Part 2)

FROM: INSANE100 BLOG OWNER

To anyone following this blog, I appreciate your support! I started this blog in June of 2018 to share my story of addiction and hearing voices. I am not a great writer, so me and my sister thought putting my story on video might be a better option. In the mean time I have been posting articles dealing with mental health. I hope these articles have brought some attention to mental illness and/or addiction. While I will continue to post articles dealing w/ mental health/illness, I would also like to share my story, any feedback will be appreciated.

7 Myths You Might Believe About Antipsychotic Medications

When mental illness is depicted on TV shows and movies, it’s not always kind. While Crazy Ex-Girlfriend got a lot right, for instance, 13 Reasons Why, not so much. And when it comes to medications, like antipsychotics or antidepressants, realistic depictions are often lacking. For instance, they may show a character whose antipsychotics make them act like an entirely different person (not the case), or they’ll show someone who is immediately “cured” after a day on antidepressants (also not the case).

These media stereotypes—mixed with the lack of quality information online—contribute to misinformation and myths about mental illnesses and the drugs used to manage them, particularly antipsychotics, David Brendel, M.D., PhD, a psychiatrist based in Boston, tells SELF. “Many of these mental health conditions have been treated as problems with people’s personalities rather than as medical conditions, and so there’s been a lot of resistance and judgement about many of these medications,” he says. more

11 Little-Known Side Effects Of Occasionally Taking Anxiety Medication

If you have anxiety, there’s a chance you’ve taken a medication like Xanax or Klonopin at some point, in order to better manage your symptoms. And that’s fine. These drugs, which are classified as benzodiazepines, can help relieve symptoms of anxiety by suppressing your nervous system, so that you can calm down and go about your day.

It is important to keep in mind, though, that Xanax and other drugs have side effects— even if you just take them occasionally. The thing is, many people get a prescription and keep a bottle in their pocket for moments when they feel too anxious. But even if you just take a pill “every now and again,” you can still experience side effects. And, in many cases, it’s all too easy to become carried away, take too many, and even become dependent on the drug over time.

If you’re going to take drugs like Xanax, it’s important to do so carefully and mindfully — and supplement your anxiety treatment with other things like therapy, healthy amounts of exercise, and plenty of sleep. “The best way to use these medications is definitely under the supervision of your doctor, and being honest with all of your doctors about your prescriptions,” Erin Parisi, LMHC, CAP, a licensed mental health counselor and certified addictions professional, tells Bustle. That way, they can plan ahead and make sure you aren’t mixing things that shouldn’t be mixed. more

Teen Xanax abuse is surging

Teen drug use during the summer often goes unnoticed. It’s when school starts and students nod off in class, exchange pills in the hallways and fail tests that the truth becomes apparent.

This school year, addiction specialists say they’re expecting an onslaught of teens addicted to Xanax and other sedatives in a class of anti-anxiety drugs known as benzodiazepines, or “benzos.” Many teens view Xanax as a safer and more plentiful alternative to prescription opioids and heroin — with similar euphoric effects.

But addiction experts warn that the pills kids are taking, often found in their parents’ or grandparents’ medicine cabinets, can be just as deadly as opioids, especially when taken in combination with other drugs or alcohol. And it’s much harder to kick the habit. more

‘Benzo Crisis’ Keeps Not Happening

The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry has found that the misuse and abuse of benzodiazepine is relatively rare, even though the drug is sometimes hyped as the next overdose crisis in healthcare.
Benzodiazepines – often called “benzos” — are a class of sedative that includes Valium and Xanax. The medications are usually prescribed to treat anxiety and insomnia.

Data on over 100,000 adults in the 2015-16 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health was analyzed by researchers, who found that benzodiazepines were used by 12.5% of American adults. Of those, about 17% “misused” the drug at least once, but only 2% had what was diagnosed as a benzodiazepine use disorder.

The study found several risk factors for benzo misuse, including younger age, male gender, lower levels of education, lack of health insurance or employment, and lower income levels — factors often associated with other substance use disorders. more

How ‘Pill Shaming’ Hurts Those Who Take Medications for Mental Health

Earlier this month, musician Kanye West ranted about politics and slavery following the season premiere of NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

Among other elements of his speech, he told audience members that this was the “real” Kanye speaking and he was off his medication, a nod to his earlier revelation that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

“Public figures talking about their mental health issues can help bring awareness and combat stigma surrounding these common conditions,” said Dr. David Hu, medical director at Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches in Florida.

“Some people with mental illness never seek treatment because they feel shame. Knowing that they are not alone, that someone they admire has mental illness too, can be a powerful motivator to seek the help they need,” he said. more

I’m a Veteran With PTSD. The Medication I Take Makes Dating Difficult.

She was a cat lover with cotton-candy-colored hair and obnoxious tastes in music but similar politics to mine. While texting on Tinder, she suggested I might get to play with her kitty. We agreed that we would take her cat out to the park some time but that we would start with dinner and a drink. There were no other hints to me that anything thrilling might happen beyond my riding my motorcycle from Denver to Boulder for the meeting.

Sitting together at an Italian restaurant, we got past the cat conversation and progressed to politics and music, jokes and laughter. We were communicating freely and enjoying each other’s company — pretty much everything I wanted out of a first date.

As the waitress picked up the check, my date invited me back to her place. I went. I still didn’t think anything was going to happen until we were going to settle in to watch a movie and she changed her clothes right in front of me.

She asked to see my tattoos — I’ve got a lot of ink, even for a Marine — so that happened too. But not everything happened, and probably not as much as she expected. I explained about the injuries, the PTSD, the medication. She was nice about it. We eagerly agreed on a second date. “We should do this again, and finish what we started,” she said. “If we don’t, it’ll bug me. Like I’m not hot enough for you, or something.” I told her she was gorgeous and that next time would be better. more

Personal Stories about Psychiatric Hospitalization

After a few months of my depression symptoms getting worse and worse and the suicidal ideation getting stronger and stronger, I decided to hospitalize myself. I practically had to convince the doctor that saw me in the emergency room that I would commit suicide if he didn’t admit me. I know they wanted me to wait it out and see what they could do in outpatient first and give the medicine the chance to kick in. At that point, though, I couldn’t sleep or eat and couldn’t get the suicidal thoughts out of my head, even for a second.

Being hospitalized was one of the scariest things I ever did, but looking back on it now, I believe it was really what I needed. I not only needed medication and a safe place, but I needed some intensive therapy, some ideas of ways to release some feelings, and I needed a chance to figure out what my next steps would be when I was released. I still use things they taught me there every day. more