[derefr]

> ADHD seems to be simply a code word for prescribing amphetamines to people who are confronted by the genuinely boring reality of sitting in the same room with the same people who do nothing and go nowhere for years on end.

No. I have ADHD. The most obvious symptom has nothing to do with "being bored"—it's that I can't gather the motivation to practice any skill that I'm not already naturally good at, even when I really really want to be good at that skill. Similarly, I can't take care of pets, or even plants; I can't be anywhere on time; and I forget at least one thing I absolutely need to bring with me every time I leave the house. (Also, I'm absolutely never able to decide where to go to eat, rather than only unable to do so when worn out from work.)

Just as a clinically depressed person will still experience subjectively negative qualia even in a perfect world, a person with ADHD will be unable to remain focused on working toward even what they would subjectively consider the most wonderfully worthwhile goals.

ADHD medication allows me (that is, the part of my brain that holds my sense of identity) to take control of what "I" (that is, the part of my brain that decides whether things are worth doing right now) want to do with my life. If I (brain piece #1) am the rider of an extremely petulant horse (brain piece #2), the medication is a spur on the boot of #1, by which #2 can be brought to heel.

(Now, my case is probably unusual: I went to a psychiatrist after taking an ADHD self-assessment as an adult, rather than being diagnosed as a child. But I assure you that there is at least a core group of people within the "diagnosed with ADHD" group who, like me, consider their ADHD a thing they suffer from just as much as clinical depression is for those who have it, and would find it just as much of an obstacle to enjoying their lives even if they lived alone in a cabin in the woods.)

[tritosomal]

Dude.

  I can't gather the motivation to practice any 
  skill that I'm not already naturally good at, 
  even when I really really want to be good at 
  that skill. 

Symptom of the universe. Most people really want to be good at things, but just flop through life like a fish out of water. The world is mostly like this.

  Similarly, I can't take care of pets, or even 
  plants; 

Yeah. That's normal! I have chit chatted with so many pet owning city dwellers who have explained to me how stressful having a dog is, to the point of taking valium. My mom killed plants regularly throughout my childhood, and still does. It's a hobby. That's how it works.

  I can't be anywhere on time; 

No one can. It's not a disease. Punctuality is actually hard. It requires serious dedication. That's why it garners high degrees of respect.

  and I forget at least one thing I absolutely 
  need to bring with me every time I leave the 
  house.

Yes. Normal. So normal, that stand up comedians earn millions of dollars helping people realize how normal that is. People don't laugh at those jokes because they're fraught with bizarre and alien concepts.

Meanwhile, the relief you describe is the very premise of stimulant addiction. Stimulants make people feel like capable superheroes on the up, and miserable incompetant failures on the comedown.

That is how speed works. That's why people like it. You don't have a disability. You just like speed. Everyone likes speed. Lab animals like speed, and they have no social obligations.

If you ever learned how to cook meth, while taking your meds, you'd probably never come back.

[youareterrible]

Glad the internet doctor could chime in and try their hardest to shame someone after they just emotionally opened up about their personal struggles in a relevant open forum.

You come off like you carry a grudge!

"Man up snowflake, life is tough."

[tritosomal]

  *WHOOP* *WHOOP* Pull over, shame police!

Not quite. Try again.

From 1990 forward I watched a trend of chemical leashes swallow up perfectly normal kids, to test subordination to parent/teacher/doctor control and extract bragging rights while keeping up with the Joneses. Loads of high school classmates got shamed by their parents into "just say no" prescription drug doublespeak, because B+ just isn't good enough.

Before there was the prescription opioid pill crisis, there was the prescription pep pill crisis, masquerading as the "you are mentally ill and need a chemical crutch to be normal" crisis. I didn't start that trend. I didn't invent it. I didn't make money off it.

Point your shame finger at the real enemy, if you can guess where to find it.