What do you think about the prevalence of ADD/ADHD diagnoses in the past 30 some years? Some say it’s the rise of a generation of indigo children who are just highly sensitive, creative, intuitive, intelligent people. I have some personal experience to ADD, pun intended. But first if you have 20 minutes to spare this was a pretty interesting documentary on the phenomenon of Indigo children vs possible ADHD.

Of course on the surface, the story of indigo children is all pseudoscientific bunk about auras, a hopeful exaggeration at best. Many kids that would benefit from medicine probably get told they’re special, and a lot of those parents sound crazier than an acid washed, ego projecting shithouse rat. However, things like color therapy, sound therapy, highly sensitive/creative people etc have existed a long time, so some of their points and methods are perfectly valid if they took some of the woo out of it. And because of my personal experience, I like the conclusion he comes to: that it’s an important rebuttal from thinking medicine will solve everything.

Don’t get me wrong. I side with the scientific/medical community’s explanation of most everything in general, and I sneeze at the antivaxxers’ general direction, but I do know for a fact that there have been deals between pharma companies and doctors to push certain drugs in certain eras. In Appalachia they got everyone hooked on oxy; it was way over prescribed. As an older millennial growing up in the DARE generation of the late 80s-mid 90s I do believe they also began dramatically over diagnosing ADHD and prescribing Ritalin and adderall with abandon when I was in school.

I went to a private Christian school for pre K, kindergarten, first, and second grade. Then my mom hit her head and had a mental health episode based on a terrifying amount of religious delusions and paranoid schizophrenic behavior, but that’s another story. So while she was recovering the next year I went to a public school. The English teacher would praise my creative writing and have me read it to the class as the example of exactly the sort of thing she wanted. But she also insisted that my mother medicate me for ADD.

We tried it and mom said the medicine turned me into a straight up joyless zombie. Sure I was a little hyperactive and annoying at times, but she preferred that to the zonked out kid I was on medicine. She took me off it and the teacher threatened to report her to the Dept of children’s services or something. She put me back in Christian school where they don’t care how you medicate your kid as long as you beat the fear of god into em, and that was that.

It always struck me as ironic that the same lady praising my creativity so highly also couldn’t abide my lack of focus. Had she not considered that maybe the same thing that made me exceptional at some things could also be what made me abnormally behind in others? Seemed obvious.

Normally adults are good at focusing on one thing. Children, babies, and musicians/artists (? but seriously) in general have more neural plasticity; meaning we’re good at taking in stimuli from a lot of different sources at once, making unexpected connections or multitasking but sometimes helpless at focusing on particular necessities of the moment.

I’ve always been what a believer/spiritual person would call an old soul, an indigo child, a highly sensitive and intuitive person, of above average creativity and intelligence; but sometimes lack the forethought/common sense/track of timing to advance past simple paperwork, red tape and the hoops you have to jump through to get anywhere in life. I think if anything I might be slightly on the spectrum with mild aspergers. I might also legitimately have ADD too, but the medicines we tried were not working for me. I didn’t feel like or seem like myself anymore enough to scare my mother.

I now use marijuana for anxiety, depression, pain, insomnia and ADD and it does dramatically improve my focus and patience. If I were to take prescriptions for all of the above I’d have more side effects and liver problems than I had original problems. Not to mention costing 5x as much and good luck getting pain pills as a guy my age without being in traction. I’ve learned how to cope and be pretty good without herb too but it sure makes things easier.

Of all the mistakes my mom made, I don’t think keeping me off ADD meds was one of em personally. I really thank her for that. Some folks may need them worse than I did. And I might have been more successful on them, who knows. But I think I would be a completely different person.