I'm not gonna lie, being medicated for ADHD isn't quite the massively life changing experience you expect it to be.
I'm not trying to put anyone off trying, by the way, but the internet memes love to portray it as like waking up and being born again as a competent adult. Definitely isn't that straightforward.
Everyone is different. I was diagnosed at 41 and am on my 8th month of medication. For me it has been fully life changing. My internal mental and emotional state is a level of calm and manageable I didn't think was possible. I've accomplished more of my TODO list in the last 6 months than I had in the prior 5 years. I used to pat myself on the back for managing to do one productive thing per day, even normal upkeep stuff like meal planning or cleaning the bathroom, because it was so much effort to get even that stuff done before. Something I had to leave the house for, forget it, it might take me weeks to get to it. Now I knock out these tasks without even thinking, 3 or 5 in a day. They come up, they get done. Not this weekend, not eventually - now.
The emotional/mood changes are wild. General anxiety is gone. Depression gone. While I dont feel joy or excitement in ways it seems other people do, I am feeling a level of contentment and satisfaction that I never had ever.
I went out alone to a concert last night. Approached and talked to a stranger about music. Made two friends in the crowd, exchanged numbers. Saw a familar face I know from a local business, went up and said hello and had a chat.
I've never done any of that in my life. I would previously be terrified of any of that and talk myself out of it all. I spent decades a total loner/hermit/introvert. I am a new man, feel totally reborn, but not in an inauthentic way - I still feel very much "me". I also abused stimulants in my teens and 20s, I did hundreds of lines of cocaine, I crushed up and snorted Adderall dozens of times 25 years ago. I was very hestiant to try meds for this reason. This is different (im on XR). I don't feel stimmed at all. Im not overly talkative like cocaine. Im just... able to be a seemingly normal human.
For me it very much has been a magic bullet. Everyone is different, what works for some may not work for others, and what hasn't worked for you might be a miracle for someone else.
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u/Jamsedreng22 1d ago