Adventures of Youngsters

Chapter 5

Chapter 9

            While Alex finally got along with his family, Aurélia got good grades and finished the first semester of Medicine with praise. Artur, on the other hand, was going through an almost opposite situation, he did well in the physics tests, however in the other disciplines, he had very bad results.  

           —I don't know what to do, Aurelia. I will fail, I am a fool, do you believe that my mistakes are all because lack of attention? s**t! I've been like this since high school, I can only concentrate on something when it gets my interest, besides that I'm always forgetting a lot.

            —Love, there is a colleague  who is a Neurologist, she can helps you, request some tests, I believe it will be beneficial.

            —My father always says that I am supposed to look for a specialist, but he spoke with such aggression so I didn't want to do it. But recently,  he improved a lot! You're right, give me her contact and I'll make an appointment.

             June 12th, 2018.

           Arthur arrived at the clinic, a little nervous and downcast. He waited to be seen by the doctor Renata.

       —Artur Donetes, is that you?

        —Yes, that´s me.

       —What brought you here? Any memory problem?

        —Not only because of memory, I´m a student of environmental engineering and I´m having a bad period… very low grades, despite having made a lot of effort and established a routine recently, I feel that I cannot pay attention to the most of these subjects, on the other hand, when I like something, I get a little obsessed, I think about that theme and forget everything around me, it was like that with physics.

      —And since when do you have difficulty for regulating your attention?

       —Since I was a kid, I was too much or nothing, very good at exact subject, but terrible at humanities and language, I could never feel myself in the class, the teacher talked about a subject and I thought about the garden, my home, the movie I watched the day before, but not about the class, because of that everyone always called me distracted. Do you believe that when I was 8 years old, one teacher booked an excursion to Porto de Galinhas, all the boys were in swim trunks and prepared for get in to the sea and I was the only one who forgot my swim trunks and took a bath in my underwear on the beach ?! Everyone laughed at me.

      —And does that affect you today?

         —Yes, it bothers me a lot, those bad comments I hear, implying that I am out of my mind and what make the things worse, is that I´m a little restless

           —What do mean with restless?

—Since I was a kid, I always messed at school, I couldn't stay quiet, I ran for the place... I really liked adrenaline! Even today, I´m like this, I have insomnia, I can't sleep well, then I walk around the apartment at dawn. And i have the habit of interrupting other people's conversations and answering questions before people asked.

—I understood.

— Do you believe that you have a diagnosis associated this with something like I´m from another planet?

— In fact, I believe it is ADHD.

—AD what, doctor?

— Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

—I've heard of it, but doesn't it only happen in children? Wouldn't I need to have an exam to receive this diagnosis?

—There are no tests to detect ADHD, the diagnosis is clinical. It starts in childhood and in many cases continues into adulthood. In fact, I prefer to say that it is unstable attention, in matters that arouse your passion, such as physics. You present episodes of ‘‘ hyperfocus’, forgetting the world around. Despite this, in most cases has a strong inattention, which causes losses in  academic life. And all this reported unrest is caused by that diagnosis.

—I understand! And if I don´t treat this, can it cause a lot of damage?

—Sadly yes. From a greater risk of being involved in accidents to inattention, to a greater danger of abuse of alcohol to illicit drugs.

— And do you have treatment? Is there anything that can help me?

—Yes, in addition to psychological counseling, there are psychostimulants, drugs used for these cases of attention deficit. I will prescribe you and you will use it three times a day, regularly. In the beginning, it can give boring side effects, such as headache and anxiety. However, they tend to disappear after a few days, you will notice the improvement. obs: psychostimulants in English becomes psychostimulants.

- I understand.

—I also advise you to set up a routine, organize your appointments, maybe buy an agenda to write them down.

—I've been doing this, I'm going to continue.

Hours later, the blonde commented to his girlfriend about his diagnosis.

—It is never good to receive such news, although knowing all that  has a known cause, encourages me to better understand my case.

— I had already studied a little about ADHD, I will help you. I will continue to help you to remember your commitments, in the same way, I will help you set up a study schedule.

—You are na Angel in my life, Aurélia.

—When we love someone, we just feel complete when we realize that we have done all the positive possibilities to see the happiness of the loved person. Aurélia declared.

—That´s so romantic. Artur melted.

Arthur and Aurélia kissed and slept together again.

The other day, the protagonist commented about the consultation with the parents, who were quite surprised.

— I, as a pharmacist, have already attended to some young people who used medication for ADHD, in fact you have some characteristics of this disorder, I should have noticed before, but, as people say, it is sometimes easier to evaluate people outside of our social circle than your children, because as a mother I always had a tendency to see everything in a more pleasant way, I am a terrible mother, right? Isabel complained.

— Isabel. Don't blame yourself my dear, telling you the truth, I always asked Artur to look for a specialist, but he always thought it was my exaggeration, but I have to take half of guilt, it's been a while since I realized that I've been very thick, impatient, sorry my son, you are right when you say that because I am obsessed with work, I left your mother and you aside, forgive me, being a father is difficult, I want to try to start again. He surprised Gabriel by making these revelations with an air of sadness and, at that times, he even cried with regret and guilt.

— You can't delete the past, but analyzing and recognizing mistakes is an excellent opportunity to not repeat them, I think it's important to talk about what we feel and try to understand each other's point of view, I believe that this whole situation represents a new beginning, despite all the confusion, you are my parents and I love you. Arthur said.

Arthur, Isabel and Gabriel hugged each other and promised to be more patient with each other.

Chapter 10

July 13th, 2018.

Alex completed now 4 months without drinking  alcohol, he had turned into 18, his relationship with his family was more harmonious, he started the Nutrition course and decided to attend meetings at AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), a community that help people who has problems with alcohol, at the meetings he started to understand his case better and started to work harder and harder to overcome this disease.

Yasmim was standing out in the Law course, Patrício and her were more and more united, he was studying Physical Education, and with great dedication, he managed to improve himself in swimming and his dream of being a professional athlete was not so distant.

Júlia now lives in Rio de Janeiro, in a luxurious apartment close to Ipanema Beach, she was enjoying the Psychology course and engaged in a relationship with Danilo Gutano, a millionaire and famous athlete of the Brazilian football team.

 The Recife School of Youth and Knowledge continued to be considered one of the best educational institutions in Brazil and received more and more students.

Artur, with the help of the psychologist, the medications and his parents, managed how to do better about his attention, and even it is hard, he could get good grades and pass the subjects. He and Aurélia had gone out to lunch and celebrate the news.

— Arthur, did you order crab? I don't know... yesterday I threw up all day, I feel very sick, I´m praying to God to not throw up again today.

—Aurélia, about these nausea, what do you think it can be?

— A pregnancy? I didn´t make the test yet, but based on the way we've been making love like there's no tomorrow, it's very likely.

— I never thought of it, what a happiness. - The lover celebrated.

— So, do you really want to have a child ?! I will have to lock the course when I am closer to give birth.

— No problem, I'll give you all the assistance you need, I can't wait to see a mini-Arthur walking around.

— I'm sorry to disappoint you, I was just joking, I didn't get sick or anything, I lied to see your reaction.

— This kind of joke is not funny.

—But I liked your reaction, besides that, it´s not the right time.

— Yes, we are still young, other opportunities will come. I have a surprise.—Artur said.

—What is it?

— Two passports to the wonderful city! If you want to come with me, we will stay in a trendy hotel in the pleasant neighborhood of Leblon.

—Of couse I want! When is the travel, Artur?

—Next week, Aurélia, I want to enjoy our vacation.

July 21th, 2018.

The lovebirds were surprised by the beauty of Rio de Janeiro, from the amazing beaches, such as Copacabana and Arpoador, to the friendliness and hospitality of those people. The other day, they went to Christ the Redeemer to exchange love wishes.

—Artur, I wanted to freeze the time to always have you in my arms.

—You don't need that much, I will always be closer to you, I will never leave you, my queen.

—Do you promise?

—I promisse if you kiss me.

They kissed each other and made plans for the future.

The end.

Author´s note

I

 consider adolescence as a very difficult and important phase, it is when discoveries and personality formation begin. For this reason, I decided to address themes that are present in the young world, such as family conflicts, bullying and alcohol, since I believe that giving visibility to some topics I can help to create more promising debates.

Unfortunately, some situations, with due proportions, are present in real life, since it is not uncommon for the media to comment about cases of alcoholism, even in this young age group. Therefore, I believe that must have more specific public policies to provide psychological support to young people who, like Alex, suffer from the complications of this addiction.

In addition, another issue present in today's society and which has been provoking debates in the scientific community is about the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In this perspective, I believe that certain themes should have greater visibility in the media, since information is a great ally in this trajectory.

In short, I want to thank my family members who encouraged me on this journey, especially my grandfather, Orcelina, my grandmother, Carlindo (in memoriam), my father, Eraldo, my sister, Maria Clara, my friends, Rosileide, Leiliane and Felipe. And to you, dear reader, who made some hours of your precious time available to read this book.

To you all, my most sincere thanks.

Knowing the author

E

rick Mathews dos Santos Cândido is a Brazilian pharmacist. Recently, he decided to launch himself into another career: author of literary texts, in order to provide his contribution to the universe of fiction, as well as to help to promote greater debates and discussions about complex themes.

Author contacts:

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