How ADHD Medication Works

the ornate “The” on a blank sheet is so true

I went on methylphenidate a couple of years ago, made huge improvements to my life! Anxiety, depression, & weight down. I still regret wasting all those years thinking SSRIs would fix anything.

"decreased appetite" yeah thats an understatement

Everyone in these comments being properly medicated makes me both envious and glad :) I hope I get my phone call and diagnosis soon..

can confirm, getting on adderall significantly improved my mental state because i could actually hear myself think

Damn Kurzgesagt, I just got diagnosed and prescribed my medication, the timing is perfect!!! :)))

I’m 46 and only diagnosed 5 months ago. I’m on a non stimulant based drug and it has changed my entire life. I no longer feel anxiety around small things and requests, I don’t overthink everything and the “rabbit holes” of thinking as I like to call them, don’t happen anymore. My mental health and happiness has been the best it’s been in 20+ years. I finally have the focus and calm thoughts to see and take into my life the smaller things that make it worthwhile instead of everything being a chore, hard or mentally exhausting.

As someone who has ADHD and was diagnosed at 7, I can't thank enough the work doctors put into making such medicine. They allowed me to reach otherwise unachievable heights

I love my ADHD medication! the main things it helps with are brain fog, memory, and self-esteem. self-esteem may sound like it’s not directly related, but I genuinely used to not be able to feel a sense of accomplishment or pride after completing difficult tasks, not in the way I do now at least. I would have to give myself a reward like ice cream or earn a medal or certificate or something, or receive praise. now, I literally just do a task and my brain automatically goes, “yes! that was so good! let’s keep going!” and it’s AWESOME. I so vividly remember my first time taking ritalin, because it was such a tiny dose, and I was sick (I have a chronic illness and it was a bad pain day) but I got up to do my singing practice in the evening anyway because I really loved singing and cared about it. I remember getting to my practice area (a closet padded with a spare mattress, lol) and already feeling good. then I started singing and I just felt better and better, until I was DONE, and I felt like I was on top of the world! I was so excited and also a little mad because what do you mean everyone else just gets to feel like this for FREE?! I felt so GOOD inside, like I was proud of myself for doing that instead of just feeling happy I hadn’t disappointed my singing teacher by skipping practice. I wanted to go do other tasks instead of wanting to go back to bed. it was amazing. I think sometimes people forget how important dopamine is. like, people with ADHD have, among other issues, an inadequate supply of a VITAL brain chemical that affects our ability to link actions to consequences and cement positive memories and associations. our brains are missing something they need and are wired to seek out! and, fun fact, a new study is showing that the earlier you give kids with ADHD appropriate doses of stimulant medication, the more the brain starts to rewire itself to create more dopamine and use it better on its own! new, beneficial neural pathways are formed from longterm stimulant use! :D

If you ever wondered why stimulants work for people who already appear to be overstimulated, scishow has a great video about this. But the gist is that these types of people have brains that don't create a lot of dopamine on their own. That means they try to create this dopamine through behavior. Stimulants which help to keep dopamine in the brain then result in a brain that doesn't have to create this behavior to stimulate the release of extra dopamine.

This has been the bane of my existence since I started highschool several years ago. Didn't even know it was ADHD until it was too late. edit: "too late" as in "my grades suffered before I realized i had ADHD 😭"

Walter White was secretly making ADHD medication, what a great guy

the spongebob ref 🙏