I've been using stimulants for almost five years (age 20 now). The last year or so I reached a point where like the article said — the effects of the drugs tapered off — and there was really nothing I could do about it. As a kid I exemplified the most extreme kind of inattention, behavioral, and regulatory problems that classify ADD, but once I began taking the meds I went through an equally extreme transformation, so I'm skeptical of any article that derides the use of stimulants. I'm also reminded of what the late Christopher Hitchens said in defense of his heavy drinking and smoking:
“Writing is what’s important to me, and anything that helps me do that—or enhances and prolongs and deepens and sometimes intensifies argument and conversation—is worth it to me.”
I recently met someone who has tourette's syndrome, which means he has increased production of dopamine. In other words — the inverse of ADD. The drugs he took induced a state of ADD that was identical to what I what I experienced sans-stimulants. It's crucial for those of us with the kind of dramatic impairment that comes with ADD to get by with as much help as possible from competent practitioners (of which there seems to be a very short supply of).
“Writing is what’s important to me, and anything that helps me do that—or enhances and prolongs and deepens and sometimes intensifies argument and conversation—is worth it to me.”
I recently met someone who has tourette's syndrome, which means he has increased production of dopamine. In other words — the inverse of ADD. The drugs he took induced a state of ADD that was identical to what I what I experienced sans-stimulants. It's crucial for those of us with the kind of dramatic impairment that comes with ADD to get by with as much help as possible from competent practitioners (of which there seems to be a very short supply of).