ADHD and depression aren't mutually exclusive. What you and I might struggle with on a Tuesday might be the last straw for another person.
Most people in real life who know me have almost no clue that I'm diagnosed with ADHD. I'm similar to the other person who responded to you, in the sense that no one bothered to teach me the coping skills I needed when I was younger. I'll be honest with you, people's attitudes towards it led me down a pretty dark path. I got fed up with random people assuming that they knew more about my diagnosis than my doctor did. I got tired of listening to people who had never even been around someone with ADHD tell me that I "wasn't trying hard enough" or that I "didn't try their family cure". So, nearly no one knows anymore. It can be isolating.
I could have used my experiences as an excuse to be a judgemental, angry person, but I decided that I was better than that. Instead, now I try to help others in my life with the same or similar conditions. Sometimes, just being a little more emotionally open with people who are struggling can do wonders for them.
If you were having the worst time of your life, you probably wouldn't want to listen to random people who are grumpy with you, right? You're probably going to go for the people who will actually hear what you have to say, even if they can't offer an instant fix.
What I'm getting at, is sometimes people just want to be heard. They aren't necessarily looking for someone to tell them what they're doing wrong. Sometimes they're just looking for "oh man, I have that problem too!" or a "that sucks, I'm sorry to hear that". Mental health is easier when you don't feel alone.
If I don't feel up to the task, I just scroll. Who am I to tell someone I don't know that they aren't trying hard enough? That's up to that person, the people who love them, and their doctor, imo.
For the rare people who do use it as an excuse, you kind of have to wonder what else might be going on in their head. A lot of people are struggling. Please remember that correlation isn't always causation. Some people will milk everything that they can to get by easier, so it's not ADHD specific. For example, people like "Frank" from the show "Shameless".
IIRC, unless you're lucky enough to have someone outside of jail putting money into your commissary, you kind of have to if you want half decent living conditions.
Want more shampoo or feminine hygiene products? You have to buy them. Want more food than you were alotted? You have to buy it. It even includes things like toothpaste.
I could see how it could potentially leave an open door for bad things.
Google is a really big company, and they have a lot of money. How can you and I guarantee that they won't sell our private information to insurance companies? If the fines for selling that data are lower than the money they would make from selling it, there isn't much left to keep Google from selling it.
If they experience a big data breach, how can we know that that data will still be safe from bad actors? The riskier information doesn't necessarily include things like what your hobbies are, but rather those weird health searches people make at 3am. They shouldn't really have a reason to store those 3am "incognito" searches in relation to you. They shouldn't really have a reason to save things like your speed habits in relation to you specifically either.
I know it's practically everywhere, but some people still care a lot about those risks.
It's crazy to me that some people don't believe that this is a thing. I knew this guy who seemed like he had it all. A decent job, a house, a wife and kids, good friends, etc, you name it.
Warning: This gets a bit heavy
Over time, this guy's gaming addiction cost him nearly everything. He kept calling in sick to work in order to game instead, so he lost his job. His gaming also caused him to neglect getting mental health treatment for one of their children. His wife worked as much as legally possible, but it wasn't enough for them to keep their house. They were forced to move in with their family for a while, on the other side of the US.
Of course, it didn't end there. They got a new place of their own somewhere else a few years later, only for him to fall back into those same habits. His wife divorced him when she discovered that he was cheating with someone that he had met while gaming.
One of their kids (may they rest in peace) is no longer with us due to their terrible experiences throughout all of this. You never forget seeing a distraught parent at their own kid's funeral. I will never forget the horror in their eyes. The guilt.
I mean, there are multiple visual and audible walk-through videos on YouTube available to teach people how to make an account here. They are step by step, and you can see what to click.
I think they should be stricter on people who give or sell them to minors. Maybe they should start charging parents every time teens are caught vaping, until the source is found. Add more pressure, make it more difficult to ignore than it is to deal with an angry teenager.
No offense, but as someone from outside of the US, the FDA is not the sole speaker of what is safe or what helps addiction. You guys have a LOT of commonly consumed things that are outright banned in other countries.
While vaping specifically isn't mentioned as a cessation-aid, my country states that "nicotine is approved for use in nicotine replacement therapies, (e.g. the patch, inhaler or nicotine gum) to ease withdrawal symptoms and help people quit smoking." Research is ongoing, of course.
You could also argue that that doesn't apply to everyone. I treat vaping like it's smoking, and I have from the start.
On the health side, I don't want other people to be exposed to my bad choices either in public or residential buildings. So, I only vape when I am far away from others out of respect for them.
From another angle, I don't enjoy the residue buildup that would happen over time. Imagine that stuff building up on your walls, in your PC, on your counters and cabinets, etc. The vapour you exhale doesn't evaporate like steam in the sense that it isn't water.
I think it might be an individual thing. You have the choice whether or not you treat it like a cigarette. It sucks going outside in poor weather, but it makes me actually want to quit more.
It's easier to ignore when it's not your loved ones at risk. I'll stop giving a shit when people finally just live and let live. I'll chill out when people can live their own lives in peace, without worrying about unprovoked violence. I'll cool down about it when the murder rates go down. I'll relax when people stop forcing women to bear rapists children. I'll calm when people stop trying to remove human rights.
It's simple, really. If you are against human rights, I want nothing to do with you. If you encourage or support people losing human rights, I want nothing to do with you. If you don't care about these things because it isn't you, we certainly won't get along. I'm over "Wait and see", because it ends with innocent people dead.
Maybe more homeowners should care about the rental situation, if home ownership is such a risk to lose.
By this, I mean people should stop lobbying against new housing being built. People should start caring when renters begin to get screwed over in new ways. The number of renters is going to keep going up unless we hit a solid population hiatus. "Wait and see" just doesn't work with this.
Too many people have the mindset of "f you, I got mine", without looking beyond their own nose. Many of those people don't realize how close they are to being in a renter position themselves. Demotions, firings, unexpected disabilities, illnesses, fires, deaths, etc. don't just wait around until you can afford them. Those things don't care if you've had a bad year, or if you're the breadwinner of your household.
You or I could suddenly wake up one day and have a stroke. Everyone seems to ignore that as if it's something that only happens to other people.
ADHD and depression aren't mutually exclusive. What you and I might struggle with on a Tuesday might be the last straw for another person.
Most people in real life who know me have almost no clue that I'm diagnosed with ADHD. I'm similar to the other person who responded to you, in the sense that no one bothered to teach me the coping skills I needed when I was younger. I'll be honest with you, people's attitudes towards it led me down a pretty dark path. I got fed up with random people assuming that they knew more about my diagnosis than my doctor did. I got tired of listening to people who had never even been around someone with ADHD tell me that I "wasn't trying hard enough" or that I "didn't try their family cure". So, nearly no one knows anymore. It can be isolating.
I could have used my experiences as an excuse to be a judgemental, angry person, but I decided that I was better than that. Instead, now I try to help others in my life with the same or similar conditions. Sometimes, just being a little more emotionally open with people who are struggling can do wonders for them.
If you were having the worst time of your life, you probably wouldn't want to listen to random people who are grumpy with you, right? You're probably going to go for the people who will actually hear what you have to say, even if they can't offer an instant fix.
What I'm getting at, is sometimes people just want to be heard. They aren't necessarily looking for someone to tell them what they're doing wrong. Sometimes they're just looking for "oh man, I have that problem too!" or a "that sucks, I'm sorry to hear that". Mental health is easier when you don't feel alone.
If I don't feel up to the task, I just scroll. Who am I to tell someone I don't know that they aren't trying hard enough? That's up to that person, the people who love them, and their doctor, imo.
For the rare people who do use it as an excuse, you kind of have to wonder what else might be going on in their head. A lot of people are struggling. Please remember that correlation isn't always causation. Some people will milk everything that they can to get by easier, so it's not ADHD specific. For example, people like "Frank" from the show "Shameless".