The common factor is not guns

All the press is focus, or should I say misdirecting us toward guns as the main factor in the many mass shootings that have taken place in this country. There is another far more sinister link though, drugs. Not illegal drugs either, prescription meds. it is true of the Columbine killers, it is true in Sandy Hook. There are a long list of cases where people on meds had vicious side effects.

My experience with these meds was short, thank GOD, but it was bad. I didn't hurt anyone, but I sure wanted to.

Let me explain. My eldest son was diagnosed ADHD when he was in fourth grade. Soon after, he was put on meds, Ritalin to be exact. It wasn't long until my RN wife commented that his behavior resembled mine. I admit, I get distracted when I work, so when she started talking, I listened. She had worked with mental health, or is that hell, patients. On advice of our family physician, I started taking Ritalin. It helped me to stay focused even though the dose was only 5 mg a day. When I reported it to the doc, he prescribed me Ritalin.

Insurance stepped in though and said I needed to be examined by a qualified mental health professional though, so I was refereed to the Hospital in Topeka. The mental health professional who examined me asked very few questions, and those mostly about insignificant history items. There was no real testing. She then prescribed Ritalin, but upped the dose from 5 mg a day to 15 mg three times a day.

It wasn't long before I was having anger issues. I never hit or hurt anyone, but I sure wanted to. I guess I and my kids are lucky I didn't go off the deep end. I was mad all the time, and by mid afternoon, if I took my doses, I was ready to snap at the least provocation.

Soon my wife and I separated, and I moved into a rental I was renovating. I went to see a marriage counselor, I knew I needed help. On their intake form I listed Ritalin. When the Doctor saw that, he immediately asked me why I was on ritalin. When I said I was ADHD, he threw the flag. I had seen him before, we had been in marital counseling with him only a year before.

He told me to immediately stop the Ritalin, and I am glad to tell you that in three days I was back to being my old happy go lucky self. I underwent a long series of tests. No ADHD, no mental health problems along those lines at all. They did determine I was suffering from mental abuse, and that came from my first wife. She is a control freak. How bad? She was still stalking me six years after the divorce. I had a trail cam on a post near my driveway, and we had her on film late at night out on the road.

I took an important lesson away from that. I now read up on every med I get. I'm not big on stuffing pills down my throat any way. Two years ago I had a high fever. when I grabbed the Tylenol bottle, I noticed it was expired by over a year. Tylenol isn't my pain reliever of choice, but when I've got a fever I switch between it and Motrin. Seeing that, I checked my bottle of Motrin, it expired in 2002. checked the contents, it was still half full. Never will be pill popper.