As my kids have been at camp for more than three weeks now, and the lengthy summer list of “things to-do” keeps getting shorter and shorter, I have turned my efforts to more personal matters. I have been working on a piece of fiction for a while now and I just can’t seem to keep my focus.
For years now my wife has said that I have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and since she is usually right about such things, why should this be any different?
My oldest son was feeling bad about himself when he couldn’t read in first grade, so we had him tested, and he was diagnosed with ADHD. It was a hard decision but we decided to medicate him and the drug of choice for treatment was Ritalin.
After a couple of weeks of this little yellow pill, he went from not reading anything to reading Harry Potter. Not only did his ability to read improve dramatically, his I.Q. scores went through the roof as well. He soared to MENSA-level heights from the low level that he had been testing at, confirming my own suspicions that he was smart…really smart!
Taking all this into account, I decided since he is away at camp, and there is a small bottle of his pills residing in the medicine cabinet, I’ll give it a try.
The first morning that I tried experimenting with his ADHD meds it was like someone had given me a pair of magical eyeglasses. Everything became crystal clear and my ability to focus and think became unparalleled. I made a list of some of the pressing things that needed to be taken care of and then I quickly and efficiently completed them. Although I was a little frustrated that some businesses weren’t open at 7:02 in the morning! With all my ducks in a row it was time for me to start writing my long awaited project.
After a few lines, I couldn’t get into a rhythm and my body and brain desired something more than this drivel. So my notes and outline went back into the file and I turned to something more ambitious…a sequel to War and Peace. But after a few hours of super human focus and writing, this too was missing something, so I began to translate it to Russian, a language that I know nothing about.
After a few more hours when little pill started wearing off and I was restored to my plain old self, I had gained some insight into what incredible things these drugs can do for people with ADHD and ADD.
The following weekend we had another couple over. At dinner, I mentioned about my experiment…and I was trumped. My friend, an accomplished researcher, confessed that when he has a grant to write or an unachievable deadline, he too reaches into his own child’s ADHD medicine stash to become a super man. We joked that maybe all men have some type of attention deficit disorder and that it is just how we are wired.
As I write this in my normal, dullard mode, it may be a little tempting to pop a little pill and kick it up a notch, but I don’t want to fall into a pattern so I’ll just trudge along…Hey LOOK a squirrel!
