4/7
“I started out on Ritalin and I'm on Ritalin to this day. My behavior improved so much when I took it. Ritalin really helped calm me down, which is ironic because it's a stimulant – and given to the wrong person, it can wire them for days.
But it calmed me down so much and it made me more reasonable. It just made it easier – if I was having a really bad temper tantrum day, sometimes they would give me my medication and it would help alleviate the temper tantrum. Ritalin also helps me with paying attention in school, getting my homework done, and sometimes even falling asleep. I've gone off it many times over the years. And what happens? It just makes things a lot harder.
I don't take Ritalin on a regular basis because the more you take it, the less effective it is. So now I only take it two or three times a week. I take it on days when I have classes. So that's twice a week. And then if I have a day when I really need to get a bunch of assignments done, I'll take it on that day. But I try to be light-handed with it because I when I need it, I need it to be effective.
I had a pretty bad anxiety attack yesterday. Sometimes I’m able to deal with my anxiety better than others. Yesterday was one of the days when I wasn’t able to deal with it as well on my own. My partner had to help me a lot. When I have a bad attack, I start hyperventilating. So he comes in and brings me Kleenex.
He’ll give me a hug until I can regulate my breathing again.
I take deep breaths, and he helps me get back on the baseline. Because I can’t always do that for myself in a timely manner. It takes me a lot longer on my own than with someone helping me.”
4/7