Hi everyone. Since so many people who have ADHD self medicate with Cannabis, I thought it might be nice to have somewhere to chat about it here.
I just got diagnosed within the last year and looking at my life through the lens of ADHD there are many things that make so much sense to me. When I was growing up and going through the Canadian school system, I think many people who leaned toward the inattentive side of ADHD often got left behind in terms of actually being identified as neurodivergent. Whereas the kids who were more on the hyperactive side of the spectrum, disturbing class and being impulsive got identified.
One thing many don’t realize about ADHD is that it also often involves hyperfocus on things that interest us. I was a book worm (fantasy nerd) growing up and I think that mostly kept my head above water as I always was great at reading and that alone will get you pretty far in public school. That being said I still failed a grade because I would always lack the motivation to do any schoolwork. I would fail not because I was doing bad on tests but because I didn’t hand in homework. I would almost always have the "is smart but needs to apply himself, easily distracted in class ect. on my report cards.
After school I tried going to post secondary a few times but couldn’t get it together enough to pass anything. I ended up following in my pops footsteps and taught myself on the job and studying at home how to become a land surveyor. It was a terrible job for me haha… I look back and wonder how I pulled it off sometimes as you need to be very meticulous. I had all the knowledge and had 10 years of experience by then end of that career for me, but I had to jump around companies as I would get fired or demoted when my ADHD inattentive tendencies would cause me to fuck something up. Forgeting to do a simple thing that I had done a million times, forgetting equipment ect ect. It was stressful.
I was very hard on myself for many years because everyone around me would wonder why I cant get it together and I would wonder why I couldnt find the motivation to do simple things like keep my house clean or remember to pay bills even at times I was flush with cash and could easily pay them… or have to come back to my house 3 times in a day because I keep forgetting thing is need to bring with me.
I think cannabis has helped me quite a bit in terms of self medicating even when I didn’t have diagnosis. It slows my mind down a bit… sort of like it downgrades it from a Lambo speeding at 200km/h where its hard to see whats passing you by because its going so fast to a K car just cruising smoothly at normal highway speeds. Actually typing for me is hard because I often skip typing words because my brain has already moved on and Im typing my next thought without finishing my last… I do a lot of editing! And run on sentences haha.
Recently got on stimulant medication and my life has completely changed… I actually FINISHED a post secondary course and am in the midst of changing careers away from surveying (finished with 91%), and I actually have the ability to start tasks that I dont want to do. Its fucking amazing. But also a sense of loss for all those years wasted spinning my tires and getting treated for a depression that stemmed from my ADHD.
Anyways that’s a bit of my story… I would love to hear some of yours. I know there a bunch of you are out there OG…
Cause you have lost more nuts than a magpie I think hahah
