I think a lot of people’s fears come down to some combination of these silly reasons:

• Drugs bad
• Drug name is similar to methamphetamine and meth is bad
• I know someone who abused stimulants and it didn’t go well for them, so that’s what’s going to happen to you too, even if you just take them as prescribed
• ADHD is fake and you’re just taking drugs because you’re lazy
• ADHD is real, but if you can’t overcome it through sheer effort of will, you’re lazy. And a drug addict. And that’s bad
• ADHD is fake; it was invented by big pharma to peddle addictive drugs. So you’re being taken advantage of and you should stop taking your medication

Wow this is crazy to me. I always believed I was just going to die sooner because I needed stimulants just to hold my job down.

The FAA prohibits pilots from using ADHD medication for 90 days before getting or exercising the privileges of a pilot's license.

because sometimes people take them and feel "high" and one of the pillars of global capitalism is the puritanical "suffering is virtuous" ideology that targets drugs that have any positive emotional effect.

It's why we so heavily target opiates*, cannabinoids, and amphetamines.

* yeah even if opiates aren't as safe as other drugs they're important for pain management and their stigma, not their safety, is what drives their repression.

Lower life expectancy? Not like I can afford retirement anyway.

I'd like to know more about these lobbying groups from the 1970s they mentioned.

Capitalism really do be making it hard to be on the right frequency doesn't it

It always feels like this sort of quandary is utterly defined by its existence in a world order that lets people who don't perfectly fit their groove starve. Like I can't even picture what the ideal substance relationship would be without capitalism to define why I would take them. I'm picturing someone with ADHD who, without anything to directly coerce them into doing labor, might just have ADHD and live in a way that is comfortable for them, bouncing between tasks and finding their own groove.

This is not at all to say these drugs are dubious, just that whenever I consider this question I wind up feeling especially asphyxiated by the current status quo.

(If I'm completely off the mark someone tell me, this topic is something I used to grapple with a lot before I personally decided against going on antidepressants in high school, and I sometimes wonder if I made a mistake)

I personally stopped taking mine because I felt my emotions where too flat.

Otherwise I think meds are fantastic for anyone with ADHD and have recommended people to look into them.

Ok sure, but they just feel bad.

all i know is adderall made me insanely fucking horny and really really good at Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends. It did not make me study or go to class

It still does all those things tho, it did but it still does

To be fair though my adhd assessment was basically going to a GP and saying "hey doctor, i can't read so good no more, it's hard to focus on the page" and he said "yup sounds like the adhd, here's your amphetamines my good sir"

i was 19

ADHD lowers a person’s estimated life expectancy

You WHAT?!

The bush-created DEA

Mechanism being understood doesn't matter if it contradicts hegemonic ideology (many such cases).

I tried a dexamphetamine a few times and although I went into robot mode and unstacked and restacked a giant shed in about 3 minutes, I felt a big crash at the end.

It just felt unnatural to me I guess.

I decided not to pursue diagnosis when I read that taking stimulants with high blood pressure is bad. I’d be happy to have this notion corrected.