‘ADD meds and my brain’ and other such keywords

WordPress is pretty neat because it can show the webmaster terms people have searched that landed them on your page. For instance, AAES gets a lot of hits for ‘mental health awareness’ and ‘suicide prevention’ – which is exactly the kind of information this website caters to!

Oftentimes people searching similar keywords to articles discussed on this website get directed here.

Nearly every week, terms like ‘adderall abuse,’ ‘will taking unprescribed adderall make me bipolar,’ and ‘ADD meds and my brain’ pop up. It’s time this is addressed.

What you do with your life, only you can decide. It’s important, however, to gather up all the facts you can. When I was in high school and college, and even now in higher, higher education (medical school and such) I see, hear, and/or read about adderall abuse. In the United States, Adderall is a controlled substance because it contains amphetamine salts, the parent compound for methamphetamine. When used as prescribed, Adderall treats symptoms from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy by increasing the activity of norepinephrine and dopamine, two prominent neurotransmitters in the brain.

For the adderall abuser, that is, a person who has no medical necessity for the drug and is therefore not prescribed the drug, amphetamines have many desirable effects. Taking someone else’s adderall can produce increased feelings of euphoria, increase libido, improve arousal, enhance cognitive control, increase muscle strength and reduce fatigue. It’s long been a drug of choice for truck drivers, athletes, and students despite the heavy emotional and physical burden it bestows.

(According the Acadiana Addiction Center, “Full-time college students were twice as likely as their non-college counterparts to abuse Adderall nonmedically in the past year in a 6.3% for full-time college students and 3.0% for non-college counterparts.”

Many individuals with an amphetamine addiction also struggle with a co-existing mental illness, including, but not limited to Depressive disorders, Anxiety disorders, Bipolar disorder, Alcoholism, and Schizophrenia. People with an addiction to adderall are also more likely to be addicted to benzodiazapines, nicotine, the THC in weed, and crystal meth. There is currently no evidence to suggest adderall addiction causes bipolar disorder, but a side by side comparison of the symptoms of each are strikingly similar.

Adderall Abuse Symptoms
Mood:
Euphoria
Pleasant sense of wellbeing
Anxiety
Depression
Mood swings

Behavioral:
Marked increase in energy
Increased athletic prowess
Ability to stay awake for hours
Improved memory and recall
Decrease in appetite
Decreased need for sleep
Improved scholastic or occupational performance
Reduction of normal, expected social inhibitions
Altered sexual behaviors
Increased risk-taking behaviors
Unrealistic goals for achievement
Unrealistic beliefs about personal power and ability

Physical:
Dilated pupils
Addiction
Tolerance
Increased respiration rate
Cardiac arrhythmias
Headache
Nausea and vomiting
Malnutrition
Cardiovascular system abnormalities
Hypertension
Angina pectoris
Skin disorders
Seizures

Psychological:
Psychosis
Hallucinations
Delusions
Paranoia
Hostility
Aggression

Bipolar Disorder Symptoms (NAMI, SAMHSA)

Never, EVER, accept medications from someone that are not PRESCRIBED TO YOU. The ideal road to recovery is to never step foot on that path to begin with. If you, or someone you know, is addicted to adderall, YOU CAN GET HELP. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. There are many, many resources available.

Check out the Coalition Against Drug Abuse here: drugabuse.com

In addition to their live chat services they also have a hotline you can call that operates 24/7. Need Help Understanding Your Addiction Treatment Options? Call 1-800-943-0566.

Overdose Awareness and Memorial Vigil, Eddystone, PA Saturday August 23

An overdose awareness and memorial vigil/walk is being held tomorrow (Saturday, August 23) in Eddystone, PA at 5:00 pm.

The walk will begin at 1000 E. Fourth St. and conclude at Dom Marion Field, behind Lighthouse Hall, where a candlelight vigil will commence to remember loved ones lost to addiction and overdose.

Pre-registration is $25. Same day registration is $20. Children under 12 are $10.

Please contact Christine Cocker at 610.803.6934 with any questions.

Find Your Light Within

It may not be just a ‘city thing’ but growing up in New York City taught me a thing or two about public transportation. Some are obvious social cues – you know, don’t put your wallet in your back pocket, stand clear of the closing doors (please) – that sort of thing. Others are vestiges of a more primitive time, when any and everything could become a step in a dangerous direction. One thing my father, who’s lived in a city all his life, taught me growing up was more reminiscent of canine behavior than human. “Keep your head down but on a swivel. If you look someone directly in the eyes, they’ll take it as a challenge,” he’d tell me on the Brooklyn cross-bound local (The next stop is… a life lesson.) Whether he was right or not I never questioned his sage advice for fear of him not being wrong, and so I learned to keep my head down and grind forward. But somewhere in the “be aware of my surroundings” initiative I forgot to be aware of my surroundings in a literal sense.

When I relocated to Philadelphia in September 2006 I continued the well-worn habits of my NYC self. It wasn’t until recently that I began to really look and take in what I was seeing. There’s a SEPTA bus that takes you all the way down Chestnut from Wycombe to Penn’s Landing. I ride this bus often enough the route has rendered itself habitual to the extent I can signal my stop through muscle-memory alone. All those times I neglected to look outside the window of that bus as we passed 31st and Chestnut, I missed a most marvelous mural dedicated to a cause near to my heart.

The mural, ‘Finding the Light Within’, is meant to be a conversational piece about mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Created by lead artist James Burns, a member of the Mural Arts Program, the painting tells a story of all faces, races, and ages – not just of those who’ve lost a loved one to suicide, but of a community struggling to come together during times of crisis.

Whether we think we do or we don’t, we all know someone struggling with mental health issues. Oftentimes the stigma masks and blurs the hurt on a familiar face. Visit the mural. Contemplate it. Then go on the website and tell your story.

Finding the Light Within
Horizon House
120 S. 30th Street, Phila, PA 19104

website: http://www.storytellingmural.org

Image courtesy of afsp.org

 

Mental Health First Aid

I recently took a course in Mental Health First Aid. Haven’t heard of it before? Neither had I until I had come across it when looking to sign up for something else. What is Mental Health First Aid and how can it be a benefit in our communities?

Mental Health First Aid originated in Australia and has recently been slowly accumulating in the world of mental health. Although you may find most of your classmates to be social workers or special education teachers it is a free course offered by the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS.org) and open to the general public. You can see if a course is offered in your area by checking out the website here: mentalhealthfirstaid.org

But what is Mental Health First Aid? Modeled after the physical First Aid most of us are aware of, Mental Health First Aid is designed to provide the first-aider with simple intervention and initial care of a mental health crisis. A mental health crisis can range from panic attacks to psychosis to suicidal ideation. Much like First Aid, it is not intended to diagnose a mental illness, but rather to direct a layperson to appropriate help and reduce the risk of the person coming to harm.

You can put a band-aid on a scraped knee but ebbing the floodtide of an onset mental health crisis can be a lot trickier. This course not only teaches you appropriate responses but may also help to reduce the stigma of mental illness. Stop and think how often you may have walked away from a situation because you just didn’t know what to say. How might the situation have played out if you did know what to say or do? Would you be more likely to help someone in a crisis if you were properly trained?

 Important Note: AAES tries not to be biased or opinionated when it comes to these articles (preferring to the usual straight facts only) but because this course is so young we may not agree with some of the steps – however they ARE steps in the right direction. If we don’t agree or if there is an attempt to clarify, the responses will be in bold.

The course teaches three essential points: determine the nature and severity of the situation, determine what service is applicable and how urgently this service must be rendered, and determine appropriate support for recovery after or during care. (Sounds a lot like regular first aid, right?)

Here is the 5-step action plan taught in the course:

1. Assess for risk of suicide or self-harm
2. Listen non-judgementally
3. Give reassurance and information
4. Encourage appropriate professional help
5. Encourage self-help and other support strategies

Which is very similar to the (much simpler) 3P’s and ABC’s first aid action plan:

1. Preserve life (Airway)
2. Prevent further harm (Breathing)
3. Promote recovery (Circulation)

Over the next few postings, we’ll take an in-depth look into each of the five steps and how you can recognize the warning signs of a mental health crisis.

In the meantime, do you:

Have any questions for the webmaster? Contact Ashley Aleksey atomsandemptyspace08@gmail.com

Have any questions about the course? Or Where to find a course near you? Check out http://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/find_mhfa.php

Need help now?

For non-medical emergencies call 24/7: 1-888-545-2600 or TTY: 1-888-436-7482

For a delegate hotline: 215-685-6440

For the Suicide and Crisis Intervention Hotline: 215-686-4420

Mostly Peaceful Protests Follow George Zimmerman Verdict