The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
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Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.
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Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.
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Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).
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Has anyone concluded that being on Adderall or other stimulants long-term is the right choice for them? I've been on a low dose for several years and find it almost necessary for basic functioning (having the motivation to buy groceries, go to work, focus for longer than 3 minutes, etc.). I take a day or two off each week, and I basically mope all day on those days.
But on priors it just seems wrong that I should permanently be on stimulants. I didn't have trouble focusing as a child. I find the whole "I have a condition that didn't exist 50 years ago and need to be permanently medicated by something that makes me mildly high" thing just embarrassing and suspect. Also, it's getting harder and harder to get my hands on the stuff where I live.
I tried taking a break for several months and it didn't work out. I thought I would have withdrawal at first and then slowly get back to normal. Instead I was fine at first and things seemed to get worse over time. I was getting depressed from a cycle of not accomplishing anything all week, beating myself up over it, and doing the same the next week. That was kind of what life was like before I started on Adderall, though it might not have been quite as bad - hard to say. I didn't know what else to do other than to start taking stimulants again. Could being on stimulants simply be the right choice?
I have ADHD, though I need the meds primarily so I can even force myself to open a textbook. It does help with normal day to day stuff, but the experience on Ritalin is unpleasant enough that I don't bother most of the time.
I'm not embarrassed in the least by it. Studying, on top of work, is something I can't dispense with at this stage of my career, so it is what it is. I did have problems focusing on studies as a kid, but personal tutors keeping me under their gaze handled the worst of it, unfortunately it turns out that in their absence I won't study unless my life depends on it, and such last minute grinding doesn't get you anywhere when the books could kill a toddler if dropped on them.
Evidently the meds work for you. Try a lower dose and see if that keeps you functional without a "high". But if it makes life more bearable and you suffer without them, longterm use is warranted as far as I'm concerned.
Did you use to take meds back in India as well? If so, which ones?
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