Medications/Stressed Out/ADHD/Anxiety

[Guest rttocs77]

I am in the process of a nervous breakdown right now due to some various things and the fact that I just wrote a HUGE,LONG, AND DETAILED message concerning various points and questions, but disappeared on account of how I accidently something that made my browser go back. When I clicked forward, the message was completely gone.

Moving on. This is not intented to be a 'oh woe is me, my life sucks' kind of thread. It is rather a few questions and points I want to pose and will hopefully receive answers/feedback on.

First off, I was wondering if anyone here takes some sort of psychoactive medication. If so, what is it for and do you have any negative side effect from taking it? I take two differednt medications for ADHD: Adderall XR on weekdays and Dextrostat on Sundays. They work at treating my ADHD, but come with some increasingly detramental side effects. My appetite is practically non-existant and I cannot fall asleep until around 1:30 AM at the earliest. I spoke to my doctor about it during my last appointment and he suggested taking something at night to help me go to sleep. My mom was totally against that. He said that that was the only option other than going off the medication or lowering it. Both are not possible. It is at the perfect level right now for the good things it helps me with. The poor eating habits and sleeping habits are leading to a major stunt in growth. Does anyone else have this problem with stimulants you take for ADD/ADHD?

Second, I am getting increasingly stressed out. I am only a sophmore in highschool and I am already paranoid about what college I am going to get into and what grad school I will go to. My chemistry teacher, today, spent the entire class period saying how sad he is that everyone in my school (except for like 3 people) are too stressed out, or whatever. He thinks that we are worked too hard at school and gave an example of how and old student of his came back during break from college (Yale) and said how easy it was. He seemed disturbed by all the stress we are put through. Practically EVERYONE at school applies to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth etc... making it really hard for someone who doesn't have perfect grades or an extreme amount of extra curriculars to get in, even though in some other 'normal' school they would have very good chances. Those schools can't admit everyone that applies from one school even if they are all [insert name of any 'Ivy'/similar school here] worthy. It's just very very taxing on all accounts. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone else thinks that this is inhumane? It is just overworking my nerves. (the following is just a side note that I feel like shoving in right now)Also, my school is so hypocritical. I can't even type out the reasons but one has to do with the Black Student Union here and a lot of the things they say and argue about, but conviently forget there are other minorities out there who have also had a significant amount of suffering as them.

I am really not that depressed. I mean, I 'sad' every now and then because of a build up of stuff, but it's not like 'Oh my gosh my life is the worst, I want to die.' I am thankful for the things I do have, but it's just everything is just, wow.

Did anyone see the episode of 'Rich Girls' on MTV last night. It involved that girl Ally having somewhat of a nervous breakdown over a build up of things. It also kind of ties in with my arguement in the 'prep' thread I started: everyone has problems. I could REALLY REALLY relate with her. Actually, it was quite scary how similar I felt, although I am not a girl and my family doesn't have near as much wealth as her's do.

Does anyone feel that adolescents is getting more and more stressful?


Oh, by the way, Dagger, what do you think about what I said concerning our school? Do you agree? Am I overblowing it?

I also need to borrow your [i]Canterbury Tales[/i] in able to rewrite that paper.

[Semjaza]

I can't really address a lot of what you wrote... but since I already went through high school, I'd have to agree with you on how stressful it can be. A lot of people don't seem to understand, but the pressure put on you at times is overwhelming. I was in a college prepatory school and there was this constant concern over what colleges you would like to go to. Moreso for us than most of my friends in other schools. I constantly had a conselor on me about one thing or another, and it didn't help that my Senior year was in an entirely different school. That really shot down my desire to do much of anything. Then you add in the ACTs, SATs, etc... it can be a lot of work. Some people can manage all this, I suppose. I, personally, wasn't really equipped for this bombardment of things that basically determine the rest of my life.

The whole idea of "things are bad, but I'm not depressed/suicidal" that you presented farther down is where I was at. I'm sometimes at it now, although I cover it up rather well. I suppose everyone is, but I seem to go through it rather often. Overall, I think I'm a pretty happy kid.

I've been told by friends to check this stuff out, see a doctor and so on... but it's really hard to for some reason. I don't even really know why. Plus, I just don't like doctors in general. I don't trust them after my visits when I was younger lol.

So it's something that is worth checking into, but it's also something that is obviously controlled a good deal by outside factors. So if things are hard right now in terms of school, it would make sense for you to be a bit more down than usual. I'd only worry about it if it was a continuous problem.

So hopefully that's not too far off track.

[Arcadia]

[size=1]I don't know much about ADHD and all of that, but I can try to help at least with the nervous breakdown bit. While I was in high school, I was the same way. I took a lot of tough classes, honors and college level stuff, and I was extremely involved in the theatre department, as well as Yearbook, and a few other clubs. Pretty much all over the map. And as I'm sure you know, it tends to stress you out a bit, especially when you've got to deal with dress rehearsals, deadlines, and tests all in the same week, as well as all that college application crap. I would get panic attacks because it got to the point where I'd start stressing out over the littlest details.

The key is to find a way to relax. As simple and stupid as it sounds, sometimes that's all it takes. Get away from the work load, find some place quiet, and chill. Take an hour break and take a power nap, do yoga or some other stretching exercises that will help loosen up your muscles, or go jog or swim, or draw or write, [i]anything[/i] that helps you calm down and gets your mind off things. Sometimes you might not have that hour to spare - don't worry, I understand that, I've been there. In that case, [i]breathe[/i]. It's like meditation - learn to control your breathing, focus on exhaling and inhaling. See how long you can hold it. It might take some practise, but eventually you'll be able to calm yourself down pretty quickly.

Granted, it's not for everybody, but you're bound to find something that will help you relax without a pill or some other form of medication being involved. I hope that helps some.[/size]

[Dagger]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by rttocs77 [/i]
[B]Second, I am getting increasingly stressed out. I am only a sophmore in highschool and I am already paranoid about what college I am going to get into and what grad school I will go to. My chemistry teacher, today, spent the entire class period saying how sad he is that everyone in my school (except for like 3 people) are too stressed out, or whatever. He thinks that we are worked too hard at school and gave an example of how and old student of his came back during break from college (Yale) and said how easy it was. He seemed disturbed by all the stress we are put through. Practically EVERYONE at school applies to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth etc... making it really hard for someone who doesn't have perfect grades or an extreme amount of extra curriculars to get in, even though in some other 'normal' school they would have very good chances.

Oh, by the way, Dagger, what do you think about what I said concerning our school? Do you agree? Am I overblowing it?

I also need to borrow your [i]Canterbury Tales[/i] in able to rewrite that paper. [/B][/QUOTE]

Eheh.... sorry, I didn't see this earlier. Good luck with your paper.

Yes, the vast majority of people at our school are incredibly stressed out. Although I don't experience much strain, that's due in part to my personality; I'm very laid-back, and I rarely worry about grades or homework. I don't [i]want[/i] to attend a school like Harvard--that could be part of the reason why I feel less academic pressure than my friends, many of whom aspire to attend the same Ivy League colleges that their parents went to.

Our school is chock-full of stereotypical overachievers--kids who are members of numerous clubs, and excel at several different sports, in addition to maintaining high grades. This can have a pretty negative impact on everyone else's confidence. I'm not quite that ambitious, and I find it almost frightening to watch people struggle so hard simply to get into a "good" college.

~Dagger~

[Guest rttocs77]

I am on the fence about how Mr. Tonken's speech made me feel today.

For you others, my english teacher today during class said that we needed to start studying now for our exam and went on about how the average grade on it is in the high 60's to low 70's.

But then he said that only one person has failed the course and that it was only because they never did anything. After that Canterbury Tales test though, I am so scared. Could you tell in class?

Again, to fill everyone in, the Canterbury Tales test was very very difficult and asked VERY specific questions and asked to explain from where some fairly generic quotes were in the story. He told us there will be lots of VERY VERY specific questions on the exam. He gave us an example, I forgot it, but noboy knew the answer.

I think that's a little harsh though to give such a difficult exam for sophmore english.

Is anyone else already stressed about exams?

Oh, I did like that he said that I read the son well. It bettered my mood.

[XC SpydeR]

I give my condolences.......... but I, as like you, have the same exact problems......... I don't even have to give detail because you have already. If I can give any advice at all, it's to just make sure that life is like a deck of cards........... you have to play the cards your delt. Also, this is life. It may take a while but sopon enough you will grow out of it! If you need some one to talk to you can reach me on AIM- Jaymanjump23