

If Calvin Took Ritalin (A Tragedy In Four Panels) - Trey-Jackson
http://laughingsquid.com/if-calvin-took-ritalin-a-tragedy-in-four-panels/

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eavc
This is cute and interesting, but it's grossly misleading, informed by a
pervasive stigma that we would do well to be rid of.

There's no reason he'd be less creative or imaginative. There's no reason he
wouldn't decide to go play in the snow. Getting to work on a paper for school
early is a sign that he's learning to enjoy school, not a sign that he's
become some kind of little automaton as implied. The world would not go gray
for poor Calvin. In fact, he'd be better able to entertain even more
complicated fantasies, to even better ponder life's mysteries, and to savor
the world around him more fully.

I'm not saying that medicine is always the thing for everyone, but this comic
implies that medicating children for ADHD is a tragedy. It implies that we'd
be left with Calvin alone rather than Calvin and Hobbes. An imagination
crushed and a childhood ruined.

On the contrary, it would be more likely to become Calvin and Hobbes and
Crusoe and Harry Potter and Native Americans and Beethoven and Newton. Because
he would be able to read a wider variety of books more easily.

And Calvin would finally be able to do math, complete his homework without it
taking three times as long as it should, and to think about what he wants to
say prior to actually saying it instead of lacking that capability.

It doesn't wipe out the interest in or capacity for daydreaming; it prevents
daydreaming from running unchecked and unintended over other valuable and
interesting things that a kid can do.

~~~
dlytle
I was diagnosed ADHD before it became a fad, and I've gone through a number of
different medications for the disorder. Every one affected my ADHD in
distinctly different ways. and Ritalin in particular did exactly what the
comic describes. (Productivity at the expense of creativity.)

The three that had any sort of effect were Ritalin, Strattera, and Adderall.

* Ritalin was robot mode. I'd get work done, but only in areas that were analytical, not creative. Off the Ritalin, my problem with creative writing was being easily distracted and procrastination, but my papers were (reported as being) entertaining with a sense of "flow". On the Ritalin, I was so analytical that my teachers started accusing me of plagarism, because it looked like I was writing for an encyclopedia.

* Strattera: Strattera had very little effect on my concentration or procrastination. Where it had a dramatic effect was my impulse control; it inserted a short buffer of introspection between thought/desire and action that had sometimes been missing. Off the Strattera, I'd buy a box of cookies I'd never tried before, because they looked interesting; no second thoughts would emerge at all. On the Strattera, I would think that I didn't need the calories, they were just a different arrangement of chocolate and biscuit, and a waste of money in any case. Didn't help with my schoolwork, but it did have a very positive effect. (Especially on my diet and my entertainment budget.)

* Adderall: Adderall is what I use now. It gives me extremely intense focus on whatever I am doing, without reducing my enthusiasm for the task or my level of creativity. The primary downside is that it allows that focus on anything I'm doing when it kicks in. If I'm doing the dishes when it starts to work, I'll do all the dishes, then clean the kitchen, reorganize the cupboards, clean the fridge, and only then start working. My tactic is to take the pill with my coffee, set a timer for 1 hour and play some casual games, then start on a problem for my job. When it kicks in, I'll be set. Adderall is notably different in SR and XR varieties as well; SR is a short intense spike that lasts 2-4 hours, whereas XR works after an hour and a half and keeps rolling for 5-9 hours, depending on food/caffeine intake.

~~~
silencio
> Adderall is notably different in SR and XR varieties as well; SR is a short
> intense spike that lasts 2-4 hours, whereas XR works after an hour and a
> half and keeps rolling for 5-9 hours, depending on food/caffeine intake.

I take XR in the morning and another XR or IR as needed in the afternoon and
evening, they're not exclusive. Works great for those really long days when a
few hours doesn't cut it, and it's a common ground between the XR lasting long
(not quite as intense though) and the short spikes from the IR version.

------
india
Just in case, it's not obvious to someone, that comic is built using panels
from different actual C&H. The first time I came across it I was intrigued how
I had missed this one and went out hunting for it's publishing date.

------
tkahn6
Everything turns out ok though:

[http://www.joeydevilla.com/2008/01/09/calvin-and-hobbes-
off-...](http://www.joeydevilla.com/2008/01/09/calvin-and-hobbes-off-the-
ritalin-and-high-on-life/)

~~~
moultano
I wish I knew who made this one, but it gets even better.
[http://media.photobucket.com/image/calvinhobbeskidsc8/Caspia...](http://media.photobucket.com/image/calvinhobbeskidsc8/CaspianX/calvinhobbeskidsc8.jpg)

