5 ms·

> My reason was that I had realized that a lot of my old ADHD symptoms were actually still happening. I was still procrastinating, still getting stressed when

> My reason was that I had realized that a lot of my old ADHD symptoms were actually still happening. I was still procrastinating, still getting stressed when forced to focus on stuff I don't care about, still forgetting stuff. Anecdotally, I've watched a lot of friends and colleagues go through this exact cycle: Going on meds and then just focusing more intensely on their distractions. I really think we're doing a disservice to all the people who get a prescription and get sent out the door without a more involved framework for how to use the meds as part of their ADHD treatment strategy rather than a presumed cure in a pill.

TeMPOraL 4y ago
N=1, I can confirm this effect. I started to call stimulant medication "sticky". As in, when they kick in, I find it much easier to focus on doing whatever it is I am doing at that time. So, if they kick in while I'm on HN, I can kiss the next couple hours goodbye. It's a trap that took me too long to figure out, and one I still fall into quite often (the period between taking a pill and it kicking in is long enough that I may habitually start procrastinating), but wrt. differences in my life on vs. off meds, in times when I feel similar to what GP described, I'm reassured by my wife who can smell me taking a med break even if I don't tell her, because from her POV, I change for the worse in the scope of a day or two. She sees the change even before I feel it. > I really think we're doing a disservice to all the people who get a prescription and get sent out the door without a more involved framework for how to use the meds as part of their ADHD treatment strategy rather than a presumed cure in a pill. As much as I believe the meds are a net benefit overall (they definitely are for me), I 100% agree with this sentiment.
- hawaiianbrah 4y ago
  This was my experience with adderall in college, as someone who I don’t think suffers from these conditions.
- nicbou 4y ago
  This feels so validating to read. I was having problems with my attention cannon and they just handed me a bigger one. I stopped when I caught myself in a deep dive about the different types of flour in Germany. It also affected my mood in really unpleasant ways, both for me and people around me. And it gave me a productivity boost at work at the expense of my life past 4PM. Nowadays I just have a coffee before work.
  - TeMPOraL 4y ago
    Everyone's different. In my case, medication almost entirely eliminates the anxiety that's been a constant background presence, slow-burn torture, for most of my life. They also stabilize my mood. If the meds were to suddenly stop having any other positive effect, and kept the negative and neutral side effects, the anxiety reduction and mood stabilization alone would make them worth their weight in gold for me.
bitexploder 4y ago
Similar for me. It is like shooting a bullet. If I was pointed at a distraction by god I did the shit out of that thing. Maybe I was supposed to be reversing an app for a project but instead I made the most beautiful CSS thing I had ever created. Or some other highly unrelated tangent O_o
pmarreck 4y ago
> Going on meds and then just focusing more intensely on their distractions ... shit, that was today for me. Oops. (But in all fairness, I'm still recovering from a flu.)

TeMPOraL 4y ago

N=1, I can confirm this effect. I started to call stimulant medication "sticky". As in, when they kick in, I find it much easier to focus on doing whatever it is I am doing at that time. So, if they kick in while I'm on HN, I can kiss the next couple hours goodbye. It's a trap that took me too long to figure out, and one I still fall into quite often (the period between taking a pill and it kicking in is long enough that I may habitually start procrastinating), but wrt. differences in my life on vs. off meds, in times when I feel similar to what GP described, I'm reassured by my wife who can smell me taking a med break even if I don't tell her, because from her POV, I change for the worse in the scope of a day or two. She sees the change even before I feel it. > I really think we're doing a disservice to all the people who get a prescription and get sent out the door without a more involved framework for how to use the meds as part of their ADHD treatment strategy rather than a presumed cure in a pill. As much as I believe the meds are a net benefit overall (they definitely are for me), I 100% agree with this sentiment.

hawaiianbrah 4y ago
This was my experience with adderall in college, as someone who I don’t think suffers from these conditions.
nicbou 4y ago
This feels so validating to read. I was having problems with my attention cannon and they just handed me a bigger one. I stopped when I caught myself in a deep dive about the different types of flour in Germany. It also affected my mood in really unpleasant ways, both for me and people around me. And it gave me a productivity boost at work at the expense of my life past 4PM. Nowadays I just have a coffee before work.
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  Everyone's different. In my case, medication almost entirely eliminates the anxiety that's been a constant background presence, slow-burn torture, for most of my life. They also stabilize my mood. If the meds were to suddenly stop having any other positive effect, and kept the negative and neutral side effects, the anxiety reduction and mood stabilization alone would make them worth their weight in gold for me.

bitexploder 4y ago

Similar for me. It is like shooting a bullet. If I was pointed at a distraction by god I did the shit out of that thing. Maybe I was supposed to be reversing an app for a project but instead I made the most beautiful CSS thing I had ever created. Or some other highly unrelated tangent O_o

pmarreck 4y ago

> Going on meds and then just focusing more intensely on their distractions ... shit, that was today for me. Oops. (But in all fairness, I'm still recovering from a flu.)