Comments by "SmallSpoonBrigade" (@SmallSpoonBrigade) on "Psychiatrist Tells The Truth About Adderall u0026 ADHD Meds" video.

I do think that ADHD medication is a bit odd like that because by definition you will be dependent upon it as it's usually not practical/possible to change the things that you'd need to change to properly get your stuff done without it. It's not like depression or many other psychiatric conditions where you can go to therapy and have it go into remission. ADHD is baseline condition for those with it. You can manage it better and arrange things to better suit you, but it doesn't really go away.
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For medications like ritalin and the extended release formulations, that's what's intended. You can take it every day, but there's little point in taking any at all if you're not doing something that requires focus. If the stimulant is improving your anxiety, make sure to get screened for OCD, a significant minority of people with ADHD also have OCD.
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If it's a concern, stick with Ritalin, it's been in use for quite a few decades now and the health impacts are pretty well established. Newer medications may work better, but they don't have the same amount of study in terms of long term effects. That's not to say that they're necessarily unsafe, it's that we don't have as many years to uncover unexpected and rare side effects.
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@Everythingmaxxer I'd be curious about that as well, unfortunately, it depends a lot on the particular medication. Tylenol can destroy the liver with small, but repeated, overdoses, whereas most other medicines you need to either take a lot more than the recommended dosage or do so on a regular basis before you have issues.
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One of the nice things about ritalin is that it's out of the system pretty quickly, so if you want to take a break from it you can, even the various extended release versions will leave the system pretty quickly at the end of the release period. I do think that it's unfortunate that they're addictive to the rest of the population, but usually not those with legit ADHD. It makes for a big pain in getting the medication at times.
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