[dns_snek]

That's a terrible oversimplification. Stimulant treatments for ADHD are not supposed to produce pronounced mood-enhancing effects. Stimulant treatment has been shown to be effective indefinitely in majority of people without increasing the dosage over time.

These days formulations like lisdexamfetamine and extended release methylphenidate are preferred because they have all-day efficacy with typical duration of action of around 8-12h which carries lower abuse potential.

[andoando]

extended release are just two doses of the drug where half the beads are delayed by ~4 hours. How is that different from taking two edibles a day and claiming full day efficacy?

[dns_snek]

That's not the case for lisdex nor Concerta methylphenidate. Some generics work that way and they're generally regarded as being worse than Concerta.

The benefit is that the medication automatically produces a smooth effects profile allowing you to live your life without timing medication to perfection.

A pronounced come-up and crash is a risk factor for abuse and addiction, so smoothing or removing the peaks and valleys is important.

[yosame]

I mean the difference is that you just take one in the morning? Which makes adherence easier, makes sure that the delay is constant rather than variable, and reduces abuse liability.

(As an aside, there are more complex extended release mechanisms than just delayed bead release - like lisfexamfetamine is a inactive prodrug, so cleaving the lysine off the amphetamine is rate limited. This has the effect of extended the duration of effect, and reduces the potential to abuse by snorting/iv/etc).