I agree for the most part. I think I am talking about exceptions and you are talking about the majority. I just bring it up because I think understanding the exceptions is important if we want to unlock potential from these people.
I do think people have very different abilities to handle work/stress
For example, a lot of my friends took multiple maths/CS courses a semester + TA and some research and excelled
my “tough” semesters were not nearly as bad as their “normal” and I did worse in classes. I struggle to function with less than 8 hours of sleep + go stir crazy if I don’t have walking/thinking and lifting time. I don’t necessarily think I’m lazy, but I do wish I could handle more
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You handle more by taking on more. That way, the only way out is through.
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Do you think you would be as successful without adderall? I ask this as someone also on it, not as a put down.
I think there are some people out there with things like ADHD or depression that are perceived as lazy or underachievers. I think treatment for those people would in most cases improve their actions and they would be more successful.
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No. I cannot organize thoughts or tasks well without it. If I’m doing it, it’s either due in 6 months or 2 weeks ago.
I’d like to experiment with -afanils when I finish my degree to see if I can get the same results with less amphetamines.
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Me too. I have a much easier time staying on a task. I am much better at remembering things I need to do. I am better at managing tasks and working on important things.
I was considered a lazy kid in elementary school. Was a C- student. I went on Ritalin and started getting straight As on all my tests and assignments. I wasn’t old enough to even understand what I was taking, but all of a sudden, I was acting like the smartest kid in class (my best friend still haha). I was sitting still and listening. That was a brief period for me. My mom took me off when she heard it could stunt my growth (that has been debunked mostly). Stuff like a small class, and clearly defining what was expected helped me after I went off the Ritalin.
This is kinda what I’ve been trying to get at a bit with all the talk of exceptions. I think part of the group that is labeled as lazy or underachievers could be helped if they have something like ADHD or depression. I can’t quantify what percent of that group this is, but it is part of it.
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I have taken Adderall before (to do marathon study sessions) and it definitely helps you focus, but so does meth from what I hear.
I never want to be dependent on a substance for my brain to function at its peak.
I know it helps people, but I am not sure the tradeoff is worth it for me. That is just my opinion.
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I think of focus more as a spectrum than a binary choice of ADHD or normal. Basically like every other human trait. It can be modeled as a normal distribution. That is partly why some people don’t think ADHD (or depression) exists. Most conditions are you have it or you don’t. You can kinda have ADHD, you can’t kinda have cancer.
The choice to use medication is a personal one, but I think wiser people would only use it if they are towards the end of the spectrum of can’t focus hardly at all. Many of the kinda have ADHD folks don’t need medication. Those are the type of people that things like making lists, or blocking calendars out for activities will work. I’ve tried these things (and do them in combination with medication), but I’ll forget I even made a list until the day is nearly over without medication.
I don’t disagree.
It just seems with the advent of a miracle medication this has become RAMPANT.
Did it always exist? Is it something new brought on by exposure to something?
What has it just become common place once a “miracle” drug was taken to market.
I mean I know housewives that don’t work that are taking this stuff that have functioned perfectly fine for 30+ years and now they need Adderall or some form of it…
I am no doctor and don’t claim to be, but I don’t really have much respect for a lot of the medical community after my experience with PEDs with them and more recently covid in general.
Just my opinion, it always existed. It just didn’t matter as much. Not to long ago almost all women didn’t work, 90+ percent of men did some sort of manual labor where focus generally isn’t needed as much. At those times those who couldn’t focus well just didn’t make it as a desk jockey. The ones with terrible focus were probably bums.
Now, a lot more have jobs were more focus is needed, and also distractions are more plentiful.
I think one should basically make their own decisions about drugs and medical procedures. I wouldn’t take something a Dr. gave me blindly. Lots do though.
FWIW, I think it is over prescribed. I am not trying to gate keep a drug I take haha, I just think that is reality. For myself, the triggering event to getting diagnosed was getting kicked out of kindergarten for ADHD related behavior. I think I fall closer to the can’t focus much at all end of things.
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The OP just isn’t trying though. This is much different than varying levels of experience, intelligence, energy and discipline beyond inherent work ethic. The smarter you are in general and the better at your job the easier it is to a) do more in less time and b) do more in general as it isn’t as taxing as it may be for another. And if you’re incentivized for greater time or output, why not if it isn’t killing you?
For the other side of the spectrum, or even the middle, either get in where you fit in or learn to embrace the grind. Unlike the gym bills need to be paid, you’re not just stalling a bicep peak.
Sort of like weight training where some people just have better genetics, better optimized hormones, better knowledge of programming et cetera. Of course they’ll enjoy training more than the guy who struggles to gain a pound and takes all week to recover from squats.
This doesn’t mean you don’t get in the gym though. You may never be the 6’1” 230lb lean natural guy but you’ll be better than yourself without it.
Fortunately in the gym you can’t just “borrow” somebody else’s sets.
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*you’re
This was a weird thread.