It’s a pretty meaningful, objective difference actually between ‘normals’ and folks with ADHD.
The neurochemistry is different for them, objectively and visibly so.
I've had a lot of people tell me I'm brilliant etc when working with me (not a humblebrag), and that's fine. Internally I absolutely know I'm operating at like 15/100 and I could be operating at 100% with medication. The issue isn't being smart or not, its about impulse control, the ability to focus and put in long hours, etc. I get so much less done than I could get done because I can't focus on the task as much as a normal person can, even if my decision making/research is good.
so enjoy or not enjoy, if you want to be operating at the same level as your peers in high performance workplaces what you enjoy doesn't really enter into it. I just found for me the medication was too habit forming, and I'd rather be me at 15% forever and figure out what I can do with that than be at 100% and addicted to amphetamines. I completely understand the other decision, though.
I love my ADHD medication, but it probably has to do with the fact that I'm taking pure dextroamphetamine directly instead of Adderall (which also contains levoamphetamine). When I did Adderall, it did nothing for weeks until I raised the dose all the way to 20mg and then it suddenly made my ADHD way worse.
Switching to dexedrine fixed everything and zapped my ADHD completely for a while. I don't really have any side effects besides urinary retention, which is very tolerable in return for what I get, honestly.
Everyone's mileage varies, but here I am, someone who enjoys their medication~
I often think that I'm simply screwed for life: Without medication my life goes off the rails within days, with medication I'm at least barely able to hold it together, but I hate the nausea, hate the rebound (disorientation after the effect wears off), and the fact that I still don't remember to eat and rehydrate properly. I think I would need a life coach for a while, but as I'm surviving on a subsistence level, that's not an option.
If possible, using them to help get started tackling the other issues may be worthwhile. CBT and Mindfulness/Meditation have evidence supporting their efficacy.
Unfortunately, many prescribing Dr’s just do the one button (meds), and never mention or provide useful refs to anything else.
Also notably, talk therapy is not recommended (it tends to encourage rumination, instead of using different, more useful thought patterns which CBT helps with).
It might be worth investigating.
‘How to ADHD’ on YouTube seems useful to a number of people I know, and is pretty ADHD friendly - unlike a great many other resources.