Many parents have a dilemma when it comes to treating their children suffering from ADHD. “Do I listen to the doctor’s recommendations to give my child Ritalin or some related medication or is the medication just meant to make my life easier but it’s not really good for the kid?
Jessica McCabe is a woman that is followed on social media through her Facebook and YouTube pages “How to ADHD” which are a resource for parents of children and adults who themselves struggle with this challenge. She confidently presents every week on the screen though she as a child was anything but confident. Ritalin is what saved the day for her at age 12. From then on she started to lead a very productive life gliding though tasks she previously found insurmountable.
The following is a letter she posted about a month ago which is going viral. In the letter Jessica thanks her mother for doing what was right for her and helping her get on her feet by addressing Jessica’s problem and making sure that Jessica got what she needed which in her case was Ritalin.
‘I want to say thank you to my mother for ‘drugging me’!’
‘Thank You. Thank You for listening to me when I said it was hard for me. Thank You for standing at my side when daddy tried to say my problems were ‘normal’. I now know that ADHD has a genetic component and it’s quite possible that dad has ADHD himself.’
‘Thank You for taking me for testing so I could understand how my brain is different and that it’s not my fault! Thank you for taking me to a psychiatrist month after month to get another prescription. I know you were busy and yet you still found time to come with me and we never ran out of medicine because we never missed an appointment.’
‘Thank You for ignoring people who criticized you: I know there were a lot of those.’
‘Thank You for understanding the difference between how my sister sometimes forgot to do homework or lost something and the way I forgot to do my homework and lost things almost daily. Thank you for understanding that even though any child can be jumpy impulsive or distracted I had it harder than other kids my age. I understand today that it’s because a brain with ADHD develops differently. You didn’t know that at the time, you never researched it like I did but you listened to me when I said I needed help.’
Because of you I got the help I needed and I was more successful in school, I felt more confident in myself and was more able to realize my potential. Because of you, I never considered doing drugs like so many people with attention disorders I knew. I never sank into depression and I never gave up. I never felt misunderstood. You understood and you believed in me. And when you took me to the doctor who explained to me what was going on in my brain you removed so much shame from me!’
