Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?

Many patients and providers are both afraid of "dependency." However, what seems to escape me is -- isn't that somewhat of the point?

I depend on the medications to help treat a chronic condition. I see it no different than being dependent on eye-glasses for poor vision.

What many are worried about is the potential for addiction. I do not feel addicted to the medications in the slightest. I do not "crave" them or anything like that. I just crave/am addicted to not fucking up my life any further, and losing what I have barely been able to piece together. I do not feel "high" or feel "good" from these medications. If another medication provided similar level of functionality and was not a stimulant, I'd be on it in a heartbeat (I've heard the non-stimulant options are of dubious efficacy in adults... to say the least).

To answer your questions, does taking weekends off or weeks off help? Well, in the beginning -- yes. Taking weekends off for the first few years was highly effective. I noticed a notable increase in efficacy upon resuming my treatment.

However, something changed down the road once I stopped taking weekends off. I started taking weekends off again, but once I resume treatment, it now takes me like a day or two to "get back" to normalcy while on the treatment. However, the mild side-effects seem to be stronger upon resuming (this was always true).

From what I understand, it takes longer than two days to clear the medication from your system (half-life is around 10-12 hours), so weekends might not be enough time off for me.

As for weeks, I have not taken weeks off in probably 6 years, because I have not been at a point in my life where I have been able to do such. This has more to do with my employment than the medication i.e. the longest I have had off work is 5 consecutive work days in 6 years, so that is the main reason (I need a new job).

Though from what I have discusses with others, taking weeks off here and there is far more effective than weekends off. Current research claims there is no tolerance build-up, and the only tolerance that one acquires is to the negative effects, but I call bullshit.

However, I will leave you with this. I have always felt that these medications were a gigantic help -- especially in the beginning. Though when I look back on my life, things really aren't, nor were they truly ever, "better." I did not magically turn from a struggling developer into a FAANG prodigy. I was your below average, struggling dev in a bottom-of-the-barrel job. After all the time, effort, and treatment, I am still in the same situation.

The doctors handed me a rx and I thought that'd I'd be on my merry way towards achieving the things I wanted in life, but I have come to realize over the years that it's not that simple.

There is no need of focus, if something pulls you more, you will know.

If you are referring to the recent Joanna Moncrieff cherry picked literature review that had a press moment, then do some checking to see what her peers said in response. Moncrieff has a well established bias against pharmaceuticals and this is confirmation-bias writ large and has damaged the layman's understanding of what's happening.

There are objective tests for ADHD. You can look at how the brain responds under MRI or ECG to show the depressed activity in the prefrontal cortex. It's not required for diagnosis but anyone who tries neurofeedback or checking/confirming dyspraxia maybe as it relates to other nervous system issues.

What most people don't realise is the way stimulants work in the ADHD brain compared to the non ADHD brain are different. Superlatives like "shockingly" really mischaracterize what's happening and perpetuate a dangerous myth. Mostly based on anecdotes of the short-term effects of high-doses on young neurotypical individuals under stress. It's not the same.