I was put on Ritalin as a teenager and I was put through a drug rehab when they had to take me off of it. Talk about horror. Be absolutely glad you didn't put your child through it. I still have nightmares because of the withdrawal. Its not fun.
That sounds horrible =/.
The reason I'm still uncertain is because one young man who started Ritalin at college age (I believe; it was a while ago that I read it) was definitively Never Speaking To His Parents Again. He was furious at them because their anti-drug stance had kept him off ritalin during his grade school life, and he found it made a very big, and very positive difference to both his ability to study and his ability to interact with his peers.
So he felt that their prejudice against drugs and deprived him of a social life, and of the ability to think clearly, for a decade. He was very resentful.
This shocked my husband, who had never considered that someone might feel this way about the lack of drugs.
My son doesn't resent us for the lack, but... he's never tried ritalin.
ETA: He's now at an age where, if he wanted to try, it would of course be his decision, and we'd support it; he's expressed zero interest in it, but no distaste at the idea, if that makes sense.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-10-22 06:55 am (UTC)That sounds horrible =/.
The reason I'm still uncertain is because one young man who started Ritalin at college age (I believe; it was a while ago that I read it) was definitively Never Speaking To His Parents Again. He was furious at them because their anti-drug stance had kept him off ritalin during his grade school life, and he found it made a very big, and very positive difference to both his ability to study and his ability to interact with his peers.
So he felt that their prejudice against drugs and deprived him of a social life, and of the ability to think clearly, for a decade. He was very resentful.
This shocked my husband, who had never considered that someone might feel this way about the lack of drugs.
My son doesn't resent us for the lack, but... he's never tried ritalin.
ETA: He's now at an age where, if he wanted to try, it would of course be his decision, and we'd support it; he's expressed zero interest in it, but no distaste at the idea, if that makes sense.