By Jessie Rosenfeld
Editor-In-Chief
Even though I know that I am the only one who can change my outlook on life, I cannot help but feel that my ADHD medication was one of the factors that added to my inability to make a change in my life so that I could truly enjoy high school to its full extent.
I have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and a delay in processing, so I have always needed to stay up much later than most of my classmates to achieve the grade point average that I had set out for.
Even though I had known for years that I had ADHD, I never took the medication until seventh grade, when I was staying up later and later and there seemed like no other option. The medication seemed to help my ability to focus overall, but it decreased my energy, which in effect made me feel detached from the world. This barrier increased as I went into high school, a time filled with enough social confusion in itself.
In high school, I have been in a constant tug of war with my medication. I have always felt like I needed a higher dosage, but when I go any higher, my mood worsens. The higher dose also makes me unable to fall asleep, which added even more agitation.
Junior year, I spent most of my time at lunch in La Vista working on pages instead of going out to talk to my fellow classmates because the medication made my energy so low that it inevitably made it hard to interact with the students in my grade during school hours when I was on the medication.
This school year, I have been able to begin to make adjustments so that I don’t let my energy effect how I interact with my fellow classmates, and I hope I can keep on improving upon this for the years to come.
Next year, I will be studying at Tulane University in New Orleans, a city where the fun never stops. My only hope is that I could keep adjusting and find a balance between my ability to focus and my ability to have fun so that I can fully enjoy my college experience and find fun again.
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