Posted by Maxime on January 22, 2005, at 15:50:23
In reply to Increasingly dependent on Ritalin, posted by University on January 20, 2005, at 22:58:22
Hi there. I wanted to respond to your post. You are abusing the ritalin in that you are still taking it as prescribed and you haven't increased the dosage.
But maybe your depression has returned.I understand your problem with motivation. My psychiatrist said that if I could exercise that it would help a lot, but he also noted that it would be hard for me to get motivated to do it!
Maybe you should join support group and see how others deal with problem. Just going to the group will take energy ... I know. But it's a start. Create baby steps/goals for yourself on the weekend. Things like making sure have showered by a certain time. To most people this would sound stupid but until you've gone through it, it hard to understand how some so "simple" can take all your energy.
Volunteer. There is nothing in the world that can give your life meaning as volunteer work. You will be so appreciated for ANYTHING you do and it boost you and then you want to do more. I do volunteer work and it helps me so much.
Then it's time to see a career counsellor. Someone who can help you map out where you want to go and how to get there. She/he will motivate you with words and homework.
There is a book I would like to recommend. It's called "Create a Life that Tickles your Soul - finding, peace, passion and purpose. The Author is Suzanne Willis Zoglio. Also Dave Burn's Feel Good Handbook. (Dr. Bob I have a feeling I am suppose to link these books somewhere but I can't remember ... sorry).
Anyhow, you better get busy. You have a lot of work to do. But don't forget to have some fun. Find ONE thing you enjoy and do it.
You can send me an email at need2starve@yahoo.ca if you want ... anytime.
You can do it!
Maxime
> Hi all,
>
> It has been a long time. But no news has been good news; I've been well. That is, I've not been depressed, per se, for many years.
>
> However, I've been on methylphenidate 20mg TID for years now, and, because I HATE my job and its soul-draining, mind-dumbing, and life-denying properties, it has come to the point where I take Ritalin just to *do* something. This scares me. I AM looking for new employment, but it's as if I have fallen into this dysthymia where I can't seem to do anything without a boost from 20mg of Ritalin.
>
> I'm sure that changing my diet--avoiding so much sugar--and getting some kind of exercise would help, but, and I hate how pampered and lame this sounds, I can't seem to do even the easy things--much less the harder ones, like these.
>
> I suppose I'm not so much looking for a response as I am expressing. I feel as if I'll meet the zenith of frustration with my job and life and its dullness-like a midlife crisis type of situation. And Ritalin and coffee are the only things that "make" me feel somewhat alive. But I don't really fear that I have a "problem"--a drug problem, anyway. That is, I recognize that I'm using the drug, perhaps, "inappropriately," in that I really do take it to get the coressponding energy, motivation, slight euphoria, and focusing that comes. I know, however, that if I had a job I loved--or at least a job where I felt what I did for 8+ hours a day was *meaningful* in some way--this would go a LONG way in curbing my desire for the "artificial" motivation that I find in Ritalin.
>
> I can't imagine that it is uncommon for people on stimulants to take advantage of them in this way when circumstances make doing so tempting; anyone?
>
> FYI, I was originally Rxd Ritalin (after a stint with modafinil) for the apathy and excessive sleepiness my many years on Prozac ostensibly causes. Kind of a long story.
>
> TIA,
> University
poster:Maxime
thread:444971
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050119/msgs/445751.html