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MEGA - Studying, Exams, Stress, and coping with them

I was diagnosed too. I know so many people who were. I know what you mean. I like taking adderal when I need to pull an all nighter, but I prefer Provigil in that regard. Taking adderal as prescribed, every day, REALLY sucks: I feel like a zombie with no personality.

I understand being bored by high school. Most smart kids are. Most druggies are. Most people are.

The only people who aren't are preps/jocks, as far as I can tell, but I was always outside looking in to that group, so I don't know.
prep/jocks is a different category IME than stoner/jocks. Stoner/jocks are obviously bored too.

You should just realize that you want to graduate and do what you need to do to get by. I guarantee you can pass easily if you just put some effort into it. Just put some effort into it. Force yourself to. Don't try to psyche yourself up for failure.

By the way, no one cares that you were diagnosed as ADHD. People will still be your friend if you are nice and you can be yourself. I don't know you, so I can't say how you will act when on it or off it, but it sounds like you don't need it. You sound like a lazy student who would just rather get stoned with your friends (who wouldn't?). I say this because I can relate to your frustration, I'm not trying to label you or insult you. Doing homework isn't a big deal, dude.
Don't try to think of all the ways in which your situation is "fucked up" and dwell on those.
It seems like it's all in your head. Then again most problems are.
I know your concerns seem very serious and real to you, but I think you are exaggerating your problems without even realizing it.
 
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I think it's a misconception that "good jobs" scale with the amount of College graduates.
 
CoffeeDrinker said:
What do people mean when they say "way too many people in college"?
Shouldn't all those people have a chance to succeed with a good job?
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Yes, all people should have a chance to succeed with a good job.

But I believe that mopping floors and cleaning toiletts SHOULD be good jobs. Floors need moppings and toiletts need cleanings. ATM, I don't think such workers are given due respect.

Usually, when people speak of "good jobs" they are talking about the ones that require a college degree. But I think that at most 10% of Americans SHOULD actually be in college. If I ran this country (possibly into the ground...), about 60% of all students would be finished with formal education at about the age of 14. From there, they would begin "on the job" training for occupations like factory work, manual labor, plumbing, etc. And many jobs that usually require a college degree, like restaurant management, accounting, estimating, teaching grades K-6, would only require a HS degree.

Lol, me and my soapbox...
 
But the market decides which jobs pay well. Do you think the working poor class should be subsidized by the government? How would that be sustainable?

I do agree that our education/welfare system is in dire need of reform.
And I do know what Cyc is talking about: I've worked in the factory with a few sociology majors, if that tells you anything.

Maybe the departments should just be more honest with what career options are actually available after graduation, hence education reform. Then people could have a more rational approach to their college education.
 
So I tried modafinil for the first time tonight (actually it's still an ongoing effort). 200mgs(Provigil) around 1:00am, and it's now I believe almost 6:30am. And I do have to say that the descriptions of it are spot-on -- like a longer-lasting amphetamine for productivity, but without the bodyload or euphoria. I don't feel bad or unhappy at all, but I don't really feel anything other than "alert." No euphoria or anything, just "well-rested" and focused. Given that I'm entering 18 hours awake, this is definitely a lot different than had I gone sober and stayed up. And even though I do not have ADD/ADHD, I am feeling a "pulling effect" a la Adderall for becoming quite interested in anything I suggest upon myself. I played around with some coding the first 90 minutes with good progress, but then switched over to reading a book, which I've been reading for some 5 hours now, albeit with short breaks, on a topic which really has never interested me much at all (US History - sorry Heuristic if you are reading this!). But I've easily killed 150 pages, found it all quite interesting and feel like I am retaining facts rather well (I could perform well on a test over the material, if it was administered). I'm starting to get a bit impatient, as I would like to sleep sometime soon and I don't want to get pulled into "negative awake after a drug territory." However, if I can easily drift into asleep before too long, and furthermore sleep well, I will have to give this one a solid B+/A-. Surely would like to give it another go immediately after waking up to see how those differing conditions would affect it, though. But yes, balancing out effectiveness, side-effects and sense-for-dependency, I'm thinking I may have wished I had this one around during my grad school years.
 
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Nearjat, personally I wouldnt listen to CoffeeDrinker, he has no idea what he is talking about.... PM me and I will do a better job consulting your problem.
 
I was also put in Adderal in high school. I didn't do well until I was in college AND I stopped taking the Adderal.

Adderal might make me focus, but I ended up focusing on everything but the school work.
 
You're right, I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know the OP's situation at all. I can only speak from my experiences as a lazy stoner high school student that was prescribed adderall for my problems. And a lot of my friends were also prescribed adderall and were also lazy stoners.
But I do know what I'm talking about when I say doing homework isn't that big of a deal. Because if it's between feeling sorry for yourself or actually doing something to pass senior year. I would take the latter every time.
 
I think coffeedrinker is right. You may have ADHD but it doesn't sound like a severe case, not saying you don't have ADHD but you describe it as "severe" and that's probably exaggerating a bit.
 
I found adderall to be effective in helping me focus, but it made me feel like i wasn't me. I didn't and don't enjoy it, however useful it is.

I totally understand where the OP is coming from, i was in a similar situation in college. I aced every test, but got B's everywhere there was a bullshit busywork homework assignments. Especially when they graded on process, because i could get the right answers by doing lots of steps in my head and taking shortcuts when appropriate, and they wanted the whole mess done out. And my handwriting is poor (always has been), so i got points off when they couldnt read it.
If i actually found understanding the material hard, i didn't object to the homework, because i learned, but i just couldn't focus on work when i just had to crank stuff through.

I also had no problem focusing in classes - i actually liked classes (not going to them, but the classes weren't bad). I would usually follow along with the prof in my head, half the time knowing where he was about to go, etc. I was just bad at doing assignments.

I got prescribed adderall XR, and took it as directed for a while, but i didnt like how it made me feel, and started then chewing the time-release-bead-thingies in the evening when i had some assignment i had to do, so i could focus on it. Once i got into my graduate thesis, though, i didnt need it anymore, to my surprise. Only at the very end when i had to write the boring parts of the thesis paper did i use some of the leftover stuff from when i was taking it.

I'm not sure what in this is useful.
 
Sounds to me like you have a bigger problem with thinking you're above high school busywork than with ADHD... Read into that as you will. I have a hard time believing that doing your homework "just doesn't occur to you" if you're making a whole thread about it, and especially since you say you're not lazy and you're intelligent.

No one likes doing that kind of homework. I hated doing it in high school too. But I did it because I had to. Yes, it's boring; yes, it's mindless; yes, it's stupid. But so is a lot of shit we have to do in life to earn our stripes. I have problems with school because of psychological problems too, so it's always been difficult for me too - I'm not trying to rip on you or anything, but you need to understand that sometimes the easiest thing is to "just do it."

Don't take the drugs if you don't want to. Instead, set an alarm clock for 5PM every night (or whatever time you want), and without fail, sit down and do your homework at that time.
 
I just don't like amphetamines for ADHD, they make my behaviour too exaggerated and wonky. You should maybe consider something like a small dose of time-release dexmethylphenidate (Focalin).

There's nothing to be ashamed of with ADHD. A lot of people here have it (as drug abuse is often co-morbid) and as far as I can tell no one I've mentioned it to has looked down on me a lot over it. What was good for me was to accept that I have a disorder and to be willing to look at different treatment options; therapy really helps some people, too. I have a few friends who are raging alcoholics who have the condition and while they're really functional on stimulants, they'd rather drink and it's sad to see.

All throughout high school I put off treatment for the disorder because a.) I'm intelligent enough that despite not doing a lot of work, I can pass most of my classes with high marks and b.) because I refused to believe their was something ever wrong with me that could require medication. And the issue is not even whether it's wrong or right with you, a disorder, it's like any other negative personality trait: it's a weakness and it's important to acknowledge where you are weak. And you can take medication for it or you can't based on your choices, so long as you're willing to accept the consequences either way. You don't have to go to university, either, and a lot of people with ADHD thrive in other work settings rather than a university atmosphere.
 
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I feel like I can relate to you. I've always had trouble since day one in school. Teachers noticed it, parents noticed it, etc. I've struggled and struggled my whole life. It doesn't mean I'm not intelligent. I'm very intelligent, but I clearly have a different way of learning and a disability when it comes to learning. Part of it is ADD and part of it may be some other mental disorder/s. You certainly aren't alone. There are plenty of people out there who aren't made to function in this sort of life. It is tragic, but it is a fact of life, nothing you can change. The only thing for you to do is learn how you work. Learn what works before you. Master yourself. When you do that you can try adopt your style into you learning. It may be hard as a high schooler, but if you go to college you'll have more freedom in learning. You may have to teach yourself the material, so it may be more work, but if you can make it so learning isn't as tedious by learning by your way, you'll see that it really isn't so bad.

I'm still not completely where i want to be, but I'm trying. It will take more work than what it takes for most people, but shit what else can I do?
 
nearjat said:
I'm likely to piss off a lot of you by saying this, but I think it's bullshit that because of how my brain works, I've been diagnosed with ADHD and now need to be "treated" for what I essentially consider my personality. I think it's like this for most people that have ADHD, it's only really a disorder when you're placed somewhere that doesn't "click" with how your brain works.

I'm not someone who lacks "drive", I'm not lazy. I'd say I'm actually a pretty intelligent guy, I just happen to really not work well with how high school works. I get nearly 100% on almost every test I take, but the "mindless" read-remember-copy type homework that actually has a notable effect on my grades is a HUGE problem for me. I don't put the shit off, it just never occurs to me once home from school that "hey, I should do this shit so I can graduate".

So almost all of you, I'm assuming, will tell me to shut the fuck up and stop trying to deny that I have a mental disorder and just adapt and get over it. I would- but there are a lot of people in my situation. Enough of them that it begins to be less "disease" like, and more of a "type of person". Some kids struggle with material, and do fine at just getting work done. And other kids have no problem with the actually subject matter, but tend to get a bit "bored" with most school work and find getting motivated to do it damn near impossible. All I want is a different style of courses, that still stress the importance of deadlines, but are simply structured in a way that promotes creative problem solving and actually using your brain. It's not asking for an "easier" high school, because other kids would fail miserably in a course structure like that, just like I do in the traditional style classes.

Taking Adderall helps my ADHD symptoms and makes it easier to adapt, but also makes me feel like death and makes me feel like everything I like about who I am is being erased. I HAVE to take it if I'm going to graduate, and it pisses me off so much.

Has anyone been confronted with something like this? Basically I'm medicated for ADHD, and the isolation of being an "ADHD kid" that needs "fixing" has contributed to really bad depression in the school year, further fucking up my dopamine, leading to an even worse lack of motivation and ability to simply remain conscious. I'm a senior in high school, I'm planning on going to college and hopefully getting a bachelors in graphic design or something similar. At this rate I can't really say if I'll graduate on time... everything just seems so fucked up and there really isn't any help. I can "force" myself to just deal with school, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that I can't have a social life or really any happiness at the same time...
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Man... Your first paragraphs basically explained my life! I know EXACTLY where you're coming from. I haven't touched the meds yet, but I consider how I am part of myself... I don't want to be a diffrent person. Hence why I want the ADHD meds so that I can actually "switch" into a studying machine when I am required to. Hopefully it works out, but I plan to study and still enjoy my life at the same time (not stress about all of the boring, repetetive and pointless shit I have to complete). Not saying that everything in School (and future Uni) is/will be useless, but so far most was ;).
 
After going to treatment for a few months I enrolled in an ALC. This is perfect from me haha. It's essentially a cop out, no homework at all, credits for going to work. But I don't take HS all that seriously so this is exactly what I wanted. I think I've got it together now.
 
Going back to school in your thirties...

ive been thinking about going back to school. im thirty two, have an honors undergraduate, and have been out of school for awhile.

after uni i took a year off thinking id go back for my masters the following year. well, its many years later, and after a few years as a florist, i wonder about going back to school. i have thought about becoming an elementary school teacher, and i have one math pre req to get before i can apply for the year long teaching degree.

i am terrifed. i suck at math. i have constant dreams about this weird class that i keep forgetting to go toand screwing up, and ive become convinced im going to fail.

my question: is there anyone out there who has gone back to uni after a significant time away, and if so, cheer me on!!

or else, any teachers out there with any tips on getting into school? the industry in canada right now is really suffering, so...

any advice??
 
My uncle went back to college in his early 30's and got his bachelor's and then his masters, and now he is an engineer who makes over a hundred a year. It is hard to be the "old" guy in class, but he said it wasn't that bad and it paid off.
 
I went back to school at 28 with only a 2-year associate's degree. Math is my nemesis too, but I found if you put the work in, it doesn't matter what age you are.

The real challenge is getting into the social scene. I find as a mature student, there is a social barrier that I have a hard time surmounting. The actual work is doable. Research your profs first and take a math course that's suited for your field.
 
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