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People who use ‘smart drugs’ worse at complex tasks, study finds
(www.theguardian.com)
If i could weigh in here, I've been on meds for my ADHD for about 9 years now. I've had it since I was tiny, but I started getting medicated as an adult (my parents were anti-meds growing up).
The goal of medication is not to have you do everything: it's to get you to be able to do something. Without medication, I could lie in bed all day and my brain will literally not allow me to get up. I feel so trapped in my own body, begging my brain to allow me to do what I need to do in order to live. It only responds to tasks that provide instant dopamine (and sometimes not even that). Showering? Nope. Getting up? No way. Getting groceries? Forget it.
I could literally eat until I throw up, though. Because food = dopamine source.
This is not a matter of laziness, either, a common hand-waving explanation to dismiss ADHD. It is a neurological disorder– a disorder of the brain that I cannot control.
Being medicated bridges the gap and allows me to do tasks without fighting with my brain for control. It definitely doesn't help with multi-tasking, at least for me. You need to train your brain to work with the meds, so you don't start hyperfocusing on the the wrong task. It's a tricky line to walk, and some people just thinking "taking meds = fix problem!" Ahhh... no. I wish.
Truth is, I've tried many medications that just did work. One made me angry & aggressive (I am the most chill person, so this was terrifying), one caused depression, paranoia, amd visual hallucinations (horrifying), and my current is what I want to stick with. It's worked SO well, and I need to be aware of my diet, vitamins, hydration, and exercise habits (among other things) in tandem in order to have it work the way it's supposed to.
There's such a stigma against ADHD meds, it makes me angry to see the idiotic "it's just legal meth" argument.
......this post is a classic ADHD rant dump. AMA lol