Unmedicated Summer

Last updated on: August 22, 2014 at 3:48 pm by Rebecca Frech

Unmedicated Summer 2014-08-22T15:48:33-05:00 Rebecca Frech

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

There’s a boy living down the street from us who has the worst ADHD I’ve ever seen. During the school year, he lives at warp speed, talks even faster, and will twitch if he’s made to sit still. And impulse control? Forget about it. I feel for the kid because the way his body acts is the way my brain feels. He drives me crazy, but he also makes perfect sense to me. He’s nutty but manageable for 9 months of the year.

And then comes the summertime.

For some reason I do not comprehend, his parents take him off his medication for the summer. His mom says it’s “to give his brain a break.” His father says “That stuff is just too d***ed expensive.” It doesn’t really matter what the reason is. It leaves him a wreck.

His parents both work, and so maybe it’s because they don’t have to see what he lives with during the day. Yesterday, for example, he saw me outside and lurched in my general direction with his head in his hands.

“Do you have any Tylenol?” the 12 year old asked. (I went inside and got him some. His mom said it was okay last year and hasn’t changed that.)

“Head hurting a lot?” I asked.

“It always does in the first weeks of summer. Don’t know why though. Maybe it’s the sun.”

Maybe it’s the withdrawals!

That’s the part non-medicated people don’t realize. When you go off these drugs, you go through painful withdrawals. So the first 2 weeks of every summer (and every weekend, because they don’t medicate him then) are excruciating for him, filled with headaches, nausea, and confusion.

Then his summer begins, and his social skills deteriorate. He loses the ability to focus on one thing at a time. His frenetic behavior gets him into trouble. His poor judgement and impulse control mean that by the end of July he’ll be banned from every house in the neighborhood as a protection for our own children.

August he spends alone. He’s no longer welcome anywhere because he loses all filters when he talks.

School will come at the end of August and his medication will return. It will take a few weeks to get him back to being the boy he was in May.

Then Christmas vacation hits and the whole two weeks will be withdrawal.

Is it supposed to work this way? Really? I wasn’t diagnosed with ADD until I was an adult, but I can’t imagine being forced to give back my brain every weekend. I can’t explain to you the fog of confusion which sets in when I first stop my meds. (It clears eventually and returns to the continuous commotion and chatter that is my normal brain function.) I just know how keenly I miss being able to think and function. I know my own son notices immediately if he forgets his pill.

If you are the parent of one of these great kids (one of us!) and you do this….please reconsider. Please don’t take his brain away. Ask him how it feels to be unmedicated, and I’ll bet he’ll say the same thing. Please don’t do this.

And if you’re a medical person? Shame on you. You should know better.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 15, 2012

Sweet Sixteen

Next Post

June 21, 2012 Fun

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did God put in Isaiah's mouth in his vision to cleanse his lips?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A burning coal Oil Honey A scroll