[blamarvt]

> Don’t listen to me, I don’t know anything about drugs. Obviously you’ll build up a tolerance over time and obviously it’s very bad to depend on a substance to perform.

Cool.

As someone on the same dose of Adderall/Vyvanse for 15+ years it's really hard to keep reading after this. Lots of people depend on substances to live. This article reads like it's trying to solve all psychological conditions with willpower.

[throwaway314155]

It's lesswrong. Those folks are just blogging masquerading as technical hypotheses and "published" (as in, self published on a glorified social media site) "science".

Scientology vibes over there. You can safely disregard most of it.

[botanical76]

It's not all bad. I've read some interesting explorations in morality there.

[UniverseHacker]

Same… there is tons of research on ADHD showing stimulants are safe and effective long term. I suffered needlessly for years because of ignorant ideas like this… and using medication was life changing.

Counter-intuitively there is data showing medications can help people develop better executive function- children who use ADHD medication are less likely to have adult ADHD.

That said, I think the core advice of this article is excellent- and addresses something entirely different than ADHD medication.

[salawat]

The problem is most stimulants subtly fuck with your reward and risk processing circuitry, and you don't tend to even realize it until you get clean for a hot minute, which is hard if you've been on a high dose. Especially if you don't know what you're in for, and doubly so if you've been on the same dosage for a long time.

Shit ain't magic.

[water-data-dude]

Yeah, taking adderall for the first time was a LOT like the first time I put on glasses. I never knew what it was like to be functional before that. There were deficits in every area of my life. From the obvious like focusing on work/school stuff (wish I’d found out before taking 6 years to get a BA), to stuff that completely surprised me (my handwriting improved, and I no longer have ZERO sense of direction).

[grvdrm]

When or how did you decide to take something vs what was happening before?

I’ve done lots of therapy work. Systemizing and structuring things. Definitely helpful.

But sometimes I just feel wired (this way) and wonder if chemically rewiring is the real answer. Rather than willpower, talking, and trying to adress the “root cause” over a prescription.

[salawat]

Stay away from Schedule 2. Just stay the fuck away. If it was mitigable by non-pharma means, do that. Because once you're on Schedule 2, you're basically tethered to a physician and pharmacy in your State of residence, and your insurer will make your life miserable. Further you will be locked out of many rewarding avenues of life just because the logistics involved.

Nevermind the fact that you will start completely losing any appreciation for non-medicated people's rate of throughput. Lifetime of experience and hard learned lessons speaking here.

[ilovecurl]

Amen. It's also hard for me to take someone seriously if they say "Do this thing, er wait, don't."