We're talking about ADHD though, not someone looking to just pull some all-nighters or cram on a Sunday night.
When I realized there was a low dose medication that could basically cure me of ADHD (thus cure me of underperformance, procrastinating my ambitions, low professional self-esteem), the choice was obvious. Know what also does harm? Underperformance, procrastinating my ambitions, low professional self-esteem. Far worse than any side-effect from amphetamine. And I'd take on much worse harms if they would cure my ADHD like amphetamine does.
Edit: lol, when I started my reply to you, your comment was two sentences long. Take it easy.
Btw, I'm in my mid-30s and I've been taking amphetamine since I was 18. Perfect bill of health. Though, granted, there's plenty of life left.
Stimulant addictions are one of the most common functional addictions.
I don't think most people would consider someone servicing an active physical dependency to have a "perfect bill of health", even if you are totally free from disease.
You are making assumptions the parent did not imply. You can be on ADHD meds and not be addicted to them, ffs. I am on low-dose adderall xr on days that I need it and I have never had an issue. Everyone is different, but to imply that the adderall has caused an “active physical dependency” is no different from stating that too many people drink caffeine (except that because I only take it as needed it’s not even a fair comparison).
You’d be right, but it does not do significant harm, especially given how therapeutic the right drug can be in the right doses.
Can it do significant harm? Sure. So can Ibuprofen.
I take ADHD meds, and I will admit I have a dependency. When I go without my meds, I'm in a really bad mood the first day and get much worse the following days. That said, I don't have an addiction disorder, because it doesn't impair my ability to work, maintain relationships, pursue goals, or remain healthy. In fact, it does the opposite. That's why my doctor prescribes them.
(As an aside, the reason I've gone days without meds is because my insurance company has a harmful policy of requiring "prior authorization" from the same doctor who prescribes the pills, and more than once I've found out it needed renewed from a pharmacist who was only allowed to try filling it the day I took my last pill. I'm tired of this incredibly helpful medication, and the people who depend on it, being thought less of.)
Mental disease is a disease too. The options are either to have ADHD, which is a potentially very destructive disease, or to have a low-grade dependency on stimulants with few side-effects that can be severed in a week or two.
Of course, many medications that aren't psychotropic fit the bill. Corticosteroids, for a common example, lead to physical dependency too. Most medications lead to some kind of physical dependency after prolonged use, it's just sometimes of very low grade.
The second option is much better from any pathological point of view.
To note, perfect health doesn't exist. We're all broken in some way :)
When I realized there was a low dose medication that could basically cure me of ADHD (thus cure me of underperformance, procrastinating my ambitions, low professional self-esteem), the choice was obvious. Know what also does harm? Underperformance, procrastinating my ambitions, low professional self-esteem. Far worse than any side-effect from amphetamine. And I'd take on much worse harms if they would cure my ADHD like amphetamine does.
Edit: lol, when I started my reply to you, your comment was two sentences long. Take it easy.
Btw, I'm in my mid-30s and I've been taking amphetamine since I was 18. Perfect bill of health. Though, granted, there's plenty of life left.
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