#And my meds are classified as almost-drugs and I don't like taking them

[lil-gae-disaster]

My aunt when my disability is disabling me in not a stereotypical way: 😧😠 "Why don't you just [thing I'm limited in because disability]! I also have [disability] and I don't struggle with this at all! You're just a lazy child!"

[sistermclarens]

Had to look this up to satisfy my own curiosity re: Oscar competing with a broken rib. FIA is a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which does ban some of the most common "heavy" pain meds from use during competition (pg 16 in the English version of the rules). Banned during competition basically means you can't have it in your system on the day of a competition, but you can take it before and after that time. Not sure how F1 classifies free practices, but almost certainly for qualifying you couldn't have any of these in your system.

I know nothing about pharmaceuticals but a bit of basic googling seems to indicate that morphine and oxycodone are reliably out of your system within 24 hrs to the point that they wouldn't show up on a drug test. Just making basic assumptions, the last time Oscar could have taken any pain medications is probably the Friday before a race and depending on the free practice rules possibly as early as Thursday morning.

Interestingly, while cocaine is expressly prohibited both in and out of competition, some of its anesthesia derivatives (lidocaine, etc) are not listed in the banned stimulants section (pg 14-15). So possibly they could give him a shot of local anesthesia before races. The big treatments I'm seeing come up repeatedly for broken ribs are rest, ice, and deep breathing (shallow breathing apparently can lead to pneumonia). None of these things can be accomplished in the car, obviously. All the ice bath pictures after Hungary are much more depressing in retrospect.

Of course some other significant complications of rib fractures are a punctured lung and severe internal bleeding. Presumably the McLaren medical staff were monitoring his condition very closely, but let's not pretend that they don't have a conflict of interest: they're paid by the company to get him back in the car asap, NOT to get him back to peak health. Oscar himself was likely advocating for whatever medical options would get him back in the car fastest, not the ones that would be the most beneficial overall. I've certainly done stupid things and caused myself severe injuries in the name of sport over the years, but none of them carried this kind of risk of death. But then again he risks death every time he gets in the car so 🤷‍♀️ both through nature and nurture adrenaline junkie always outweighs his self preservation instincts. Something something support his rights and his wrongs

[mintybreakfast]

Ok, I'm an addict. I've been to rehab for addiction. I definitely have an "Addictive Personality."

The way that OP describes their "love" for taking their medication sounds almost identical to the way an addict would describe their addiction. They "look forward to it."

So one might be able to argue (as OP's friend did in the scenario thus presented) that OP is actually an addict.

Conversely, one might also argue that an 'addiction' isn't necessarily a bad thing. Pleasure that comes as a result of something doesn't necessitate that said thing is negative. That is a fair and arguable position to take.

Yet, it may still be 'classified' as an addiction. I don't exactly remember what potentially arbitrary methods are used to classify such things anymore, but; personally, i feel that being drawn to and 'dependent' on a chemical substance might qualify one as being addicted.

I've been taking ADHD meds myself for a while now (unprescribed) and they definitely help me in my day-to-day life. I also look forward to taking them. I also try to limit myself to a specified quantity mg per day. Yet, I recognize that I've become addicted to them.

That doesn't mean that I must feel guilt or shame for taking them. They do help me.

But then I think about it in terms of another substance. Were I to replace the word "medication" or "pill" with the word "alcohol" or "drug"... How does it sound?

The term "self-medicate" is in reference to one who takes substances without them being prescribed by an 'expert'. Usually in reference to an alcoholic or someone who smokes weed regularly.

Blah blah.

Essentially, those of us who are prone to using and/or abusing "medications" love to make excuses and come up with logical explanations for our usage. We're usually very good at it because we have to convince ourselves first of all.

Anyway, this is all just to say to be careful. And this message is directed at anyone who might, like me, be prone to chemical addiction and the formation of plausible excuses. So this isn't directed at OP, even if I thought it might have been at first

The other day I told a friend of mine that I never forget to take my ADHD meds because I fucking love my ADHD meds. I'm in my late 30s, I didn't finally get a diagnosis and meds until less than two years ago, and they have changed my entire life.

And he raised his eyebrow at me. We'd been discussing addictive medications a few minutes before, like the Tramadol I finally got from the pain specialist to take once a week or so to give me a break from my chronic pain, so I reassured him that methylpenidate (Ritalin/Concerta) is not addictive (at least not in people with ADHD).

His response? To raise his eyebrow even harder and say "Well it sure SOUNDS like it's addictive!"

And I had to explain to this man - who works in a healthcare related job by the way - that just because medication makes you feel good and helps you, just because you look forward to taking it, that doesn't make it addictive or dangerous. And he wasn't convinced.

The simple fact that I was excited to take a daily pill that has literally changed my life, after decades of fighting to get that medication, made him think I shouldn't be taking it so often. That it must inherently be dangerous.

I'm not even in America, but I'm pretty sure this attitude began there and then spread over here to Europe. This Puritan idea of "if something feels good, you must beware of it. Pleasure is dangerous, it is sinful, it is addiction, it is evil."

I know too many people who subconsciously believe that pleasure = addictive = dangerous = bad. Joy is a slippery slope to hell.

So here is your reminder for today that you don't need to be afraid of feeling good. If something improves your life, use it. Even if it is addictive - learn what that addiction means, whether the addiction is inherently dangerous or not, and whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks and risks.

My ADHD meds are, in fact, not addictive. But I will take them every day because they make my life orders of magnitude easier. I will enjoy them every time I take them.

My tramadol is addictive. I will still take it. I will keep it on a schedule to avoid becoming addicted, primarily because addiction in this case would mean reduced effectiveness. But I am not afraid of my painkillers. They are life changing.

Take your meds, everyone. Don't let anyone scare you away from doing something that improves your life.

[donnnoir]

Hey, as someone with severe schizophrenia who spent two whole years of my life thinking I was being tortured by the Illuminati, Satan, and so on, I have to tell you that what you're experiencing is an illness. I avoided meds because I didn't think I was sick until I was in so much pain I asked my own mom to shoot me. You don't have to live in constant fear and pain. Please seek help - Invega saved my life.

Hahaha... first allow me say, I hope you are doing well.  If so I am glad for you.  Secondly; your unfortunate mental illness does NOT in any way define the experiences of others.  So, according to your ill mind’s perceptions my being shot twice in my left leg and as I was attempting to exfiltrate from the area and being run-over by an F-350.  Which resulted in my being hospitalized for almost a week and spending 30 days in a recovery facility till I could walk without the need of a walker.  All that is just a fabrication of my mind.  Hmmmmm, seems you are a gifted psychic as well, my schizophrenic friend.  I have been shot, stabbed, in explosions, on fire, burnt by chemicals and acids, beaten almost to death, run-over several times, drugged and subject to the protocols of the New Phoenix Program just to name a few things I have experienced and been subjected to by various groups or elements, many associated to or with the Shadow Government.  Yeah, I know you will want to say that that statement in and of itself is demonstrative of your point.  If so, I suppose you would have said the same to all the victims the Government tested LSD on back in the day, or the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment victims, or the those children - now adults who were tortured under MK Ultra, or the thousands many still have not been informed of the Radiation Experiment done on them, or the Thalidomide Children that were murdered in experiments during the Cold War even unto the present, this list of victims is near endless.  What would you and your schizophrenic mind tell all these Very Real Historical Victims, cause guess what; many were locked in institutions and drugged out of their minds for decades.  Till the Truth came out, and the Government says, “Oooops Sorry”!  Wholly inadequate, and criminal beyond belief.  So I guess, someone like yourself, who obviously is mentally ill and subject to delusions and hallucinations can explain all that away because of you sickness.  I have no desire to be rude or cruel to the handicapped or mentally deficient.  However, I do NOT suffer fools lightly either.  Why don’t you read some of my other posts, and do the research to find out the facts of the matter to each.  I include all the ancillary information to help those that may doubt what I say.  Not that being right in one area makes me correct and Truthful in another, because believe me I am very well aware of how “crazy” most everything I discuss sounds; and I haven’t even gotten to the really fantastic and surreal stuff.  Made all the more so since I am discussing very obscure and much of it still classified material and events; nonetheless I am giving a True and Factual account.  Like why did Nixon go to China, a historical event that even Kissinger in his recent book admits the actual purpose is still classified.  And NOT that it is any of your business; but I have undergone several psychological evaluations and have PASSED each and everyone of them.  A consequence of the “Barney Fifes” in the world doing what they have been told to do.  The FACT that you have a mental illness; Does NOT change my histories and realities.  Unlike you, who still lives at Mommy’s, I have Lived a very full Life.  I am use to small minds judging me and calling me a lair for telling the Truth.  I wish you well, and hope you have had a Merry Christmas and that your New Year is prosperous.   Please keep taking your medication, though if you think you KNOW anything about me or the TRUTH of the matter.  I think you need to adjust your dosing, or add some additional psychotropics to your cocktail.  Hahahaha...  cause I sincerely wish you the best. 

I encourage anyone and everyone who reads any of my essays/posts to correspond or ask questions.  Even you, all I ask is that instead of trying to waste mine and your time with trying to impugn my mental state or assassinate my character, try to focus on the facts or elements within the content I post.  The reason I have invested the effort to answer your sad statement is so that should others in similar fashion presume to do so in the future I can reference my response to your’s.  Not that anyone bothers to read anymore, LMFAO.

P.S.  For my part I don’t Live in Fear, just so we are clear on that point.  Since your Mommy did NOT teach you; a brave man dies only once.  A coward dies a thousand times a day.  Any concern I have is for others especially the innocent and weakest members of our society.  And the Pain, mostly physical is from actual encounters as the one I mentioned above.  Please don’t project your issues of Fear and Pain onto me.

Donn