Insecurities & hang-ups

[Cassie]

Hi guys,

In Mike's article about the common characteristics of Adderall users, one of the character traits I feel we share is insecurity. I agree with him that many of us intelligent, capable people use Adderall as a crutch to mask our own deep-seated insecurities and conform to society's idea of 'normal.' Yesterday, while I was bored at work, I stumbled upon a fascinating article that changed my perception of my own insecurities. In it, the author suggests that what we (and perhaps modern culture) perceive to be our worst flaws are actually our core gifts, and that pain arises from either building walls around them or expressing them in ways that exceed healthy boundaries in our relationships with ourselves and others. He explains that his greatest insight as a therapist has been seeing his clients' strengths where they see character flaws, weakness and insecurity. Really, the article is about self-acceptance - to perceive your weaknesses as strengths is to see two sides of the same coin - that kind of thing. I'm rarely enamored or inspired by an advice article, but the way this author explains these concepts really hit home for me. Check it out and tell me what you think:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/finding-love/201109/how-your-greatest-insecurities-reveal-your-deepest-gifts

Cassie

[Greg]

That was interesting and a fresh perspective on looking at insecurities. I also thought Mike's article hit the nail on describing the adderall addict. It seems we are very insecure. It seems like a lot of us take adderall because we think it helps us to become the person that we THINK we should be, the person that society puts expectations on us to be. The person who has it all and can do it all!

When I first started to use stimulants, I was so excited about the way it made me feel and how I felt I was performing on it. It made me feel like I could "fool" the world and my friends into being this super hardworking high achieving person that could do it all - a person I always wanted to be but never could be. Someone who could impress everyone.

Little did I know that this mentality is what got me so addicted to the drugs in the first place. They were fulfilling a need - a deep rooted insecurity that I was just not as good as everyone else.

I read somewhere, someone said 'you can't hire someone else to do the push-ups for you'...But that is exactly how I viewed adderall. As something doing the pushups for me, and not myself. I no longer was giving myself credit for the positives in my life - it was all because of adderall, not me! The more dependent I became on the adderall, the less I looked to within myself for self confidence to get things solved.

Already insecure to begin with, I found myself getting more and more insecure because of the adderall!

I guess one of the best parts about quitting is that I'm finally getting over my insecurities and the whole mentality that made me want to use and abuse adderall in the first place. I look to within myself now for the self confidence to solve problems. I do things because of me now, not because the adderall enabled me to do something. I don't feel helpless like that anymore. As a result I've built so much more self esteem.

Thanks for sharing the article!