Is Teen Self-Diagnosis of Mental Illness a Part of the Problem?
Too much access to information and too little access to qualified therapists
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I have a younger family member who has decided he has ADHD and got a doctor to prescribe Adderall, an amphetamine. He is an adult and I am not a mental health expert but there is something concerning about this because of symptoms myself and other family members are observing.
I have a very close adult friend, a professor, who was diagnosed with ADHD many years ago by a psychiatrist and who takes Adderall. I have seen the effects on her when she forgets to take it and gets increasingly unfocused. The Adderall, which would drive any normal person bonkers (it is a form of speed), has the opposite effect on her. It calms her down and enables her to lead a successful professional life.
This is based on a chemical imbalance in her system she has dealt with since childhood. She responds differently to a powerful substance like Adderall, compared to a ‘normal’* person. But that is not the…
