Went over to work for a few minutes today (I bought cool stuff, but that's another story) and saw one of my co-workers melting down in a bad way. He is in his late twenties with ADHD (at least, but that's his "official" diagnosis) and for about three weeks he has been off his Ritalin. I had seen people teasing him to take his pills and shit, but I only learned which pills and about his other troubles recently. He was off them already by then.
Sunday, when I was working with him, I noticed that he was stimming against the cold of the bare concrete floor while he was trying to change out a data flash card on a display. He could not concentrate on that one simple task. I had seen him get hyper a few times, but he never OPENLY stimmed himself while anyone watched that I knew of. I asked him at that point if he was still off his meds and he said it was three weeks since he had them. I told him to take a break and I would finish putting this little display thing back together for him. He went off on me, but I insisted in a brotherly way. He was still angry at me and probably feeling insulted, but I was trying to do him a favor and allow him to re-group in private.
Today, he blew up at the computer department supervisor in front of many customers. I saw enough to realize that the sup was taunting him like playing a game of chess with a beginner or maybe it was more like a Whack-a-Rat game. I swear! It was pathetic to watch (I was a little perturbed at the sup!) and when I tried to come to his aide (kind of as a mediator between the two), he turned on me. I managed to get him shuffled to the back warehouse areas, but two of the managers met us there and I was "dismissed" from the issue.
Anyway, they wrote him up, suspended him without pay for a week and he may end up losing his job - all from trying to get off meds on his own with no professional guidance.
I feel really bad for him, but there is absolutely no way I can help.
