Steele

I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 10 years old and locked up in a hospital for over a month. During my stay, I was put on Ritalin. When I was released from the hospital, I continued to take my Ritalin until my doctor at the time put me on a higher dosage. Of course being a child, nobody would listen to me when I told them that it was making me feel funny and sick so I started hiding the pills instead of taking them. I immediately started feeling better as soon as I quit taking the pills.

I was eventually put on some other pills and diagnosed with Depression, anxiety, severe depression you name it. I know why I had depression, because my doctors kept putting me on any kind of pill you could think of and I would have the side affects like going from 122lbs at 15 years old to 215lbs within a three month period but the doctors never thought that that was a sign that something wasn't right. I had been on every kind of pill you could think of by the time I was 18.

By the time I was 18, I had been hospitalized for my problems 10 times, tried to commit suicide six times. I was an adult now and no longer had to be told I "had" to take my medication so I quit taking them and I immediately noticed a difference. I lost all the weight which for the past 3 years had been a big part in me being depressed and I started to view life in a whole different light.

I was doing great without medication until I turned 20. I checked myself into a stress Unit at Memorial Healthcare in Owosso Michigan because I was feeling suicidal again. As soon as I was on the unit after going through hell in the E.R., they put me on Adivan for "sleep".

I was released three days later from the hospital, the whole time I was a walking zombie. When I got out I was very confused and dizzy walking back to the car. The doctor had given me a prescription for more Adivan which I took until it ran out. The affects of some of these medications that the doctors will put you on is scary. Even my friends that know me better than my own family does kept asking me if I was ok because I wasn't acting like myself when I was on Adivan. I was really tired, moody, and dizzy most of the time. As soon as I quit taking it, I was back to normal and happy again. I didn't need medication, all I needed was a break from all the stress that I had in my life at that time and I just needed someone to talk to when I was feeling bad.

I think before parents let doctors start controlling their children's lives with medication, think about all the horrible side affects that these so called anti depressants have coming from someone that knows.

I let doctors control my life for 8 years and lost out on a lot because of the side affects of the medication. Medication that was supposed to help but did the opposite.