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by throwawadhd 536 days ago
> Taking medication _now_ may be counter intuitive for future development, as the brain never gets a way to fully (under)regulate/calibrate dopamine release on it's own until maturity.

OP, please review this video [0] about the neuroprotective effects of stimulant medication for children and teens with ADHD, or the summary here [1]. If these effects are real and turn out to be limited to or strongest in early life, eschewing medication now could be squandering an opportunity to improve brain development that won't recur (quite aside from the cumulative academic impact of going through secondary education with inadequately treated ADHD). It's important not to default to thinking of avoiding medication as playing it safe. (There's plenty of research you can find on other aspects of ADHD medication, but I wanted to respond specifically to the point about brain development.)

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bQVq1oKpDw

[1] https://reddit.com/r/ADHDers/comments/1d4mxi0/adhd_medicatio...