Dr. Rose Bridges (she/her)
@composerose.bsky.social
Musicologist researching film/TV music (particularly anime), popular music, Japan studies, opera. PhD via UT-Austin 🤘 Made in Detroit. @animenewsnetwork.com alumna. Currently teaching @ University of Mississippi. Posts do not represent my workplace.
It would be nice if the news could stop using "skeptics," which implies serious thought and questioning, for people who are just denialists
December 10, 2025 at 4:42 AM
It would be nice if the news could stop using "skeptics," which implies serious thought and questioning, for people who are just denialists
Tbf, nobody could really have predicted Trump (and him not existing is an interesting alternate history scenario). But it did seem likely that the game of chicken the GOP was playing with their radicalizing base would eventually spin out of control, we were just hoping it'd be bad for them only
December 4, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Tbf, nobody could really have predicted Trump (and him not existing is an interesting alternate history scenario). But it did seem likely that the game of chicken the GOP was playing with their radicalizing base would eventually spin out of control, we were just hoping it'd be bad for them only
I had this weird friend in high school who was really picky about strange things in her boyfriends (like requiring a minimum SAT score) and asked me for advice. I told her to be less picky about that. Instead she just found something else equally specific and bizarre to be picky about
December 4, 2025 at 4:51 AM
I had this weird friend in high school who was really picky about strange things in her boyfriends (like requiring a minimum SAT score) and asked me for advice. I told her to be less picky about that. Instead she just found something else equally specific and bizarre to be picky about
Unfortunately, even if you try to tailor advice, you can't really because it requires some degree of self-awareness in the person listening - and people who have really bizarre outlier dating practices that are keeping them from finding the relationships they want are generally pretty lacking there
December 4, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Unfortunately, even if you try to tailor advice, you can't really because it requires some degree of self-awareness in the person listening - and people who have really bizarre outlier dating practices that are keeping them from finding the relationships they want are generally pretty lacking there
I also think the issue is that a lot of people with real confidence issues are going to find ways to imagine the "be more confident" advice isn't about them, whereas the too-confident person who doesn't need it will take it to heart. Same with the reverse of telling people to lower their standards
December 4, 2025 at 4:48 AM
I also think the issue is that a lot of people with real confidence issues are going to find ways to imagine the "be more confident" advice isn't about them, whereas the too-confident person who doesn't need it will take it to heart. Same with the reverse of telling people to lower their standards
But I really don't think most of these people were people who had unusual learning needs that weren't being accommodated. I think it was an environment that encouraged people to be the best no matter what. These students WERE doing well, but they wanted to do even better, felt they had to.
December 4, 2025 at 4:29 AM
But I really don't think most of these people were people who had unusual learning needs that weren't being accommodated. I think it was an environment that encouraged people to be the best no matter what. These students WERE doing well, but they wanted to do even better, felt they had to.
Especially when you consider the different ways they affect people with and without. Too high a dose can give you serious heart issues. People with ADHD who take one a day just to get stuff done are in less danger of that, but someone without who is using it to stay up all night multiple nights?
December 4, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Especially when you consider the different ways they affect people with and without. Too high a dose can give you serious heart issues. People with ADHD who take one a day just to get stuff done are in less danger of that, but someone without who is using it to stay up all night multiple nights?
It's tricky because the process for getting diagnosed IS especially onerous for people with ADHD, especially ADHD-PI. But I also don't really buy what some are arguing that that's purely due to ableism, because there also are compelling reasons you don't want those drugs too easily accessible
December 4, 2025 at 4:27 AM
It's tricky because the process for getting diagnosed IS especially onerous for people with ADHD, especially ADHD-PI. But I also don't really buy what some are arguing that that's purely due to ableism, because there also are compelling reasons you don't want those drugs too easily accessible
Yeah, it says something about the kind of environment that competitive high schoolers and college students were under when I was there that they felt the need to abuse stimulant drugs to stay up for days at a time to study. I don't think the solution is to remove those guardrails for them, though
December 4, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Yeah, it says something about the kind of environment that competitive high schoolers and college students were under when I was there that they felt the need to abuse stimulant drugs to stay up for days at a time to study. I don't think the solution is to remove those guardrails for them, though
Also, I'm sorry, but people who didn't have ADHD getting addy illicitly in one way or another in order to abuse it was well known enough in the 2000s and early 2010s that everything from Desperate Housewives to Gucci Mane referenced it. Where were some of you, really?
December 4, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Also, I'm sorry, but people who didn't have ADHD getting addy illicitly in one way or another in order to abuse it was well known enough in the 2000s and early 2010s that everything from Desperate Housewives to Gucci Mane referenced it. Where were some of you, really?
"A study aid".... the reason addy was popular when I was in college is because if you didn't have ADHD, you could use it to stay up for 24 hours or even longer. That's not a study aid, and yes, it's abuse that it's right for doctors to be concerned over, esp with amphetamines' other side effects
December 4, 2025 at 4:16 AM
"A study aid".... the reason addy was popular when I was in college is because if you didn't have ADHD, you could use it to stay up for 24 hours or even longer. That's not a study aid, and yes, it's abuse that it's right for doctors to be concerned over, esp with amphetamines' other side effects
I’m aware that a lot of people trying to find a way to get it are likely undiagnosed. (I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 28. I used to be one of those people!) But this weird denialism that a drug that has multiple street names and helps with focus would ever be abused seems counterproductive to me
December 4, 2025 at 3:04 AM
I’m aware that a lot of people trying to find a way to get it are likely undiagnosed. (I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 28. I used to be one of those people!) But this weird denialism that a drug that has multiple street names and helps with focus would ever be abused seems counterproductive to me
This is a question not just for you but: does “no one is ever faking it, you’re making up” actually help? Along with that any absolute statement like that is easily disproven, what does it accomplish to tell other disabled people that they are lying about their experiences?
December 4, 2025 at 3:02 AM
This is a question not just for you but: does “no one is ever faking it, you’re making up” actually help? Along with that any absolute statement like that is easily disproven, what does it accomplish to tell other disabled people that they are lying about their experiences?
Cool, I have ADHD too and was also speaking from personal experience. I’ve also known too many people who didn’t have it who used “addy” as a “study drug” in college (in ways that are fundamentally different from how it affects me and others with ADHD) to pretend that abuse of it doesn’t exist.
December 4, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Cool, I have ADHD too and was also speaking from personal experience. I’ve also known too many people who didn’t have it who used “addy” as a “study drug” in college (in ways that are fundamentally different from how it affects me and others with ADHD) to pretend that abuse of it doesn’t exist.
And while he's obviously not convincable, a lot of other people are. I don't know how many people I've had to explain to that while it might be overdiagnosed in some kids, ADHD is underdiagnosed in others (like my former, childhood self) - that both of those things can be true!
December 3, 2025 at 8:39 PM
And while he's obviously not convincable, a lot of other people are. I don't know how many people I've had to explain to that while it might be overdiagnosed in some kids, ADHD is underdiagnosed in others (like my former, childhood self) - that both of those things can be true!
And yeah, because it's such a lifeline for us, and there are people out there (including our current HHS Secretary) who are reflexively anti-psychiatric-drugs and think the diagnosis is completely imaginary, you always have to be careful how you talk about it, for fear of fueling their fire
December 3, 2025 at 8:38 PM
And yeah, because it's such a lifeline for us, and there are people out there (including our current HHS Secretary) who are reflexively anti-psychiatric-drugs and think the diagnosis is completely imaginary, you always have to be careful how you talk about it, for fear of fueling their fire
That said, I'm also glad in a sense that I knew it was a dangerous drug, because I did have some issues with the physical effects when I first got on it. It does make me think that it's prob good that people who don't need it for ADHD can't easily access it. But should it be Sched II? Idk about that
December 3, 2025 at 8:36 PM
That said, I'm also glad in a sense that I knew it was a dangerous drug, because I did have some issues with the physical effects when I first got on it. It does make me think that it's prob good that people who don't need it for ADHD can't easily access it. But should it be Sched II? Idk about that
Yeah, I don't think there's much risk for people with ADHD to abuse it. They've made a world of difference for me too, allowed me to have the career I have. Some of the specific regulations they had seem very strange especially in comparison to other drugs like SSRIs with their own dangers.
December 3, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Yeah, I don't think there's much risk for people with ADHD to abuse it. They've made a world of difference for me too, allowed me to have the career I have. Some of the specific regulations they had seem very strange especially in comparison to other drugs like SSRIs with their own dangers.
I knew people in undergrad who abused "addy" as a "study drug" that would let them stay up all night, for instance. It's easy to see how that has a high potential to become addictive, as opposed to with ADHD, where it makes us feel normal/functional and we get so used to it we forget to take it
December 3, 2025 at 7:56 PM
I knew people in undergrad who abused "addy" as a "study drug" that would let them stay up all night, for instance. It's easy to see how that has a high potential to become addictive, as opposed to with ADHD, where it makes us feel normal/functional and we get so used to it we forget to take it
(Sorry to keep adding to this! I just keep thinking of new things. That's ADHD for you, lol)
I was talking with a friend who also has ADHD and another issue is that the specific diff ways they affect people w ADHD and w/o, means much more potential for abuse in the latter
I was talking with a friend who also has ADHD and another issue is that the specific diff ways they affect people w ADHD and w/o, means much more potential for abuse in the latter
December 3, 2025 at 7:54 PM
(Sorry to keep adding to this! I just keep thinking of new things. That's ADHD for you, lol)
I was talking with a friend who also has ADHD and another issue is that the specific diff ways they affect people w ADHD and w/o, means much more potential for abuse in the latter
I was talking with a friend who also has ADHD and another issue is that the specific diff ways they affect people w ADHD and w/o, means much more potential for abuse in the latter