4 ms·

I have NOT found that, when taken at a therapeutic dosage, people with ADD/ADHD thinktheir medications are fun other than the "fun" feeling of satisfaction you

I have NOT found that, when taken at a therapeutic dosage, people with ADD/ADHD thinktheir medications are fun other than the "fun" feeling of satisfaction you get when you complete a task. I have found that people who do not have ADD/ADHD find those same medications to be fun, however, even at a therapeutic dose. Otherwise your comments on the effects are spot on. Personally I had to make a choice in my mid-twenties, the meds or a happy-go-lucky life where I feel unfulfilled but I have a fun time. I used to just sit all day, thinking about what I needed to do, yelling at myself in my head to do it, but never doing anything. Just constant maladaptive daydreaming. I have inattentive type ADD. I didn't develop mental executive functions until I was 28. I started recognizing there was a "manager" in my brain that wasn't there before. I sobbed when I found out most of my peers developed that 10 years earlier. From what I've seen, people with ADD/ADHD go through a cycle of recognizing then denying that they have a disability. I have done this personally 4-5 times in my life. I will accept I have a disability and deal with it, then eventually decide that it was my environment that was causing the symptoms, only to later come to a point where I once again have to accept I have a disability that cannot be managed entirely with CBT, task lists, meditation, mindfulness, etc... I'm happy for those that feel they can do it without medication, but I also have to wonder if I'm just meeting those people at a point in time before they have to get back on medication again...

sobellian 7y ago
You're right. Any psychiatrist that prescribes Adderall will tell you that it affects those with ADD differently than those without. Personally, I have never gotten high from it. In fact my medication made me drowsy as a child. A lot of the medical advice in this thread is dangerous. If anyone reading this thinks they have ADHD, seek a qualified professional's opinion - they aren't guaranteed to be right but (respectfully) the odds are much better than some dude on HN.
- sibeliuss 7y ago
  > You're right. Any psychiatrist that prescribes Adderall will tell you that it affects those with ADD differently than those without. This is based on the assumption that the person being diagnosed does indeed have ADHD, and is not, say, afflicted by a poor home life, or poverty, or any other contextual scenario that may lead to the inability to focus, temporary or otherwise. These are important questions because of the overprescription crisis we are in. Millions of children are being given these medications; many are misdiagnosed. And this isn't "medical advice" -- this is a frame of personal experience with an emphasis on very textbook side-effects: potential for loss of appetite; potential for loss of sleep; danger of misuse and / or abuse. All things a psychiatrist, if responsible, will / would have discussed before writing a script, but oftentimes don't. A reminder that "your milage may vary".
  - sobellian 7y ago
    > Before going down a road that involves powerful stimulants that have a high likelihood of abuse or misuse -- the danger is that they're fun, and one develops a tolerance, just like other similar illegal drugs -- it might be worthwhile to investigate a mediation practice, or other exercises to improve your attention. If you're already high functioning its likely not as bad as it seems. Sure sounds like advice to me. You're not just throwing this stuff into the ether for a purely academically interested observer.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]

sobellian 7y ago

You're right. Any psychiatrist that prescribes Adderall will tell you that it affects those with ADD differently than those without. Personally, I have never gotten high from it. In fact my medication made me drowsy as a child. A lot of the medical advice in this thread is dangerous. If anyone reading this thinks they have ADHD, seek a qualified professional's opinion - they aren't guaranteed to be right but (respectfully) the odds are much better than some dude on HN.

sibeliuss 7y ago
> You're right. Any psychiatrist that prescribes Adderall will tell you that it affects those with ADD differently than those without. This is based on the assumption that the person being diagnosed does indeed have ADHD, and is not, say, afflicted by a poor home life, or poverty, or any other contextual scenario that may lead to the inability to focus, temporary or otherwise. These are important questions because of the overprescription crisis we are in. Millions of children are being given these medications; many are misdiagnosed. And this isn't "medical advice" -- this is a frame of personal experience with an emphasis on very textbook side-effects: potential for loss of appetite; potential for loss of sleep; danger of misuse and / or abuse. All things a psychiatrist, if responsible, will / would have discussed before writing a script, but oftentimes don't. A reminder that "your milage may vary".
- sobellian 7y ago
  > Before going down a road that involves powerful stimulants that have a high likelihood of abuse or misuse -- the danger is that they're fun, and one develops a tolerance, just like other similar illegal drugs -- it might be worthwhile to investigate a mediation practice, or other exercises to improve your attention. If you're already high functioning its likely not as bad as it seems. Sure sounds like advice to me. You're not just throwing this stuff into the ether for a purely academically interested observer.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]